Chatting with the stars

Actress Kate Beckinsale was at Brandeis last night for a screening of her new film, "Nothing But the Truth," in which the British-born beauty plays a journalist loosely based on former New York Times reporter Judith Miller. Beckinsale and her costar Alan Alda were brought to Brandeis by professor Alice Kelikian, chair of the school's new film and visual media studies major. Afterward, they did a Q&A with LA Times blogger Scott Feinberg. Alda's daughter, Eve Coffey, surprised her dad by attending the screening. . . . Getting in on the wave of boy band nostalgia, former 'N Sync member Lance Bass was at Northeastern last night, talking to students about his experiences as a teen idol and closeted gay man. After the talk, Bass planned to chat up fans and sign his tell-all, "Out of Sync."

The best revenge

Timothy Hutton (below) was in town last night to talk with fans about his new TNT action drama, "Leverage," at a screening at the AMC Loews Boston Common. In the show, which airs Sunday, Hutton plays a crack insurance investigator who turns to a Robin Hood-like life of crime after his company refuses to pay for his dying son's medical care. He's accompanied by a team of high-tech miscreants who get filthy rich even as they take down "the man." "They take great pride in humiliating people who have humiliated others," said Hutton, who said he enjoyed taking his character, Nathan Ford, from a hard-drinking man "who has basically thrown a grenade at his life" to an avenger. And the episodes have that ripped-from-the-headlines quality. "The story lines are certainly topical," Hutton said. "We did one with a post-Katrina situation, where contractors were preying on people who were rebuilding their homes. And we get them back in a very mischievous way."

Pitching a Fitch

A comment Dana White made in this space yesterday caused a bit of a stir. In touting his own show, White, the UFC president who's producing a Spike TV pilot that's filming in Dorchester, dissed "The Black Donnellys," NBC's short-lived gangster series. Here's what he said: "The kids looked like [expletive] Abercrombie & Fitch models. If they ever tried to extort money from you, you'd kick the [expletive] out of them." That prompted Jonathan Tucker, a Charlestown native who starred in "The Black Donnellys," to stop by White's set yesterday. And this being the holiday season, he was bearing a gift - specifically an oversize Abercrombie & Fitch bag containing a $5 gift certificate. "I just wanted to wish him the very best on the show," Tucker told us afterward. "I was just coming back at him with a little good humor." Unfortunately, White wasn't at the Boston Winery yesterday, where "War of '04" will be filming for the next few weeks. But the show's publicist said everyone got a big laugh - after a few anxious moments - and the bag will be sent to White in Vegas. (Tucker, by the way, is doing just fine. He's just finished two movies: "Veronika Decides to Die" with Melissa Leo, and "An Englishman in New York" with John Hurt.) No sooner did Tucker leave the set yesterday than another celeb stopped by. Aerosmith's Steven Tyler dropped in to see his pal Tom Lynch, the show's executive producer, and also actor Kevin Chapman.

Taraji Henson can do the Christian Louboutin heels, fancy dress, red carpet thing with panache, but what she really loves are her skinny jeans, T-shirts, and sneakers, though they're Chanel kicks, of course. In town for a screening of "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," the tale of a man who ages backward, the actress was only too happy to kick back in comfort and give us the lowdown on her role as Queenie, the adoptive mother of Brad Pitt's Button. She had the script for a whole year before filming began, so she really got into her character. And it brought out her nurturing side, much like her star turn in "Hustle & Flow." "I think that's just the essence of who I am," she said. "I'm a mother." To the other extreme, she'll play a kid-hater in the upcoming "Not Easily Broken" with Morris Chestnut, she said, laughing. "And I really want to play an evil villain."

Ashley Olsen will be among the stylish swarm attending ICA 360, the Institute of Contemporary Art's upcoming celebration evening of art and fashion. Olsen, who along with sister Mary-Kate has launched a luxe line of clothing called The Row, will join a dozen or so hip young American designers at next week's event. Others invited by ICA director Jill Medvedow and Louis Boston owner Debi Greenberg are Brian Reyes, Sari Gueron, Jason Wu, Magda Berliner, Lyn Devon, Elise Overland, and Chris Benz.

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