A great day for golf and raising money

It's hard to slow Eliza Dushku (inset) down. At 28, the actress reckons she's been to 30 countries, including, most recently, Uganda, to meet with former child soldiers attempting to reintegrate into society. But even when she's sitting still, as she was yesterday with her boyfriend, former Celtic Rick Fox, at the Capital Coffee House on Beacon Hill, Dushku's mind is elsewhere. "I'm wearing my green today," said the "Dollhouse" star, showing solidarity for Iran's Green Revolution. "It's a bra, but that's OK." Dushku, who grew up in Watertown, has been in town shooting "Valediction," a psychological thriller in which she plays a temptress. (The target of her affection? A married man played by "Chronicles of Narnia" actor Ben Barnes.) "On paper, it's 'Fatal Attraction' and 'Black Widow,' " she said. "But when we shot it, Ben's character was more redeeming." Dushku is returning to LA today to begin work on season two of Joss Whedon's "Dollhouse," and to get cracking on a biopic of famed photographer Robert Mapplethorpe. Her company Boston Diva Productions is producing, and the actress's brother Nate is set to star. "We're working with the Mapplethorpe estate and Patti Smith is interested," said Dushku. (It'll be the first feature from "DiG!" director Ondi Timoner, whose most recent film, "We Live in Public," bowled over the actress and her boyfriend.) Is Eliza intimidated to be producing? "I've been in this business now for 18 years, I've taken some notes," she said. "I can't settle for showing up and looking pretty." We may see her again soon: She just read for the part of a tough-talking Charlestown chick in "The Town."

Not everyone who showed up at a recent casting call for "The Town" was looking for a role in the Ben Affleck film. In fact, one tall fellow lurking outside the auditions in Charlestown was just there to gawk. Chuck Hogan, author of "Prince of Thieves," the book on which the movie is based, said he couldn't resist. "Of course I went down there. I was curious," Hogan told us the other day. While he isn't involved in making "The Town," he is excited that homeboy Ben is directing and starring alongside Rebecca Hall. (Hogan said his wife likes to play casting director while he writes and mentioned Affleck long before the actor signed on to make the movie.) It's probably for the best that he isn't working on the movie because he's busy doing publicity for his new book, "The Strain," the first in a series of vampire tales coauthored with "Pan's Labyrinth" director Guillermo del Toro. "The Strain" is about grotesque vampires who sleep in the dirt. It's the opposite of "Twilight," but Hogan isn't opposed to the sexy-teenager version of the vampire myth. "My wife loves it. She'd never let me bad-mouth it," he said. Because del Toro will be spending much of next year in New Zealand making "The Hobbit," Hogan said the pair will have to meet in Middle Earth. Hogan reads from "The Strain" at the Brookline Booksmith tonight at 7.

Actress Annette Bening stopped into Nahas Shoes on Charles Street with one of her children yesterday and bought a pair of Ecco sandals for herself and some Converse laceless lowtops for the kid. . . . New Kid on the Block Joey McIntyre lunched with his wife and little one at Charley's on Newbury Street yesterday.

That's Sir Christopher Ricks to you. Per order of Queen Elizabeth, the Boston University professor is now a knight of the British Empire. Ricks, a British literary critic and scholar who's stepping down as Professor of Poetry at Oxford University, told us he's tickled by the honor and thankful to BU. "I'm tremendously indebted to John Silber and Jon Westling," said Ricks, who's famous for his love not only of Keats and Milton but also Bob Dylan. (Also promoted to "sir" were actor Christopher Lee and golfer Nick Faldo, among others.) "I don't think I can do anything with the honor," said Ricks, "except maybe expect to be bowed and curtsied to. And it brings me very nice letters from friends."

Gisele Bundchen can sell sandals, sunglasses, and handbags, but magazines? Not so much. The New York Observer reported yesterday that issues of Vanity Fair and Harper's Bazaar featuring Tom Brady's bride on the cover are the mags' worst-selling issues at the newsstand so far in 2009. Citing stats from the Audit Bureau of Circulations Rapid Report, the Observer said the May Vanity Fair sold only 280,000 single sale copies, the lowest total for the magazine in nearly two years. Harper's Bazaar's April issue sold only 132,000 copies, its lowest total since November 2008, when Drew Barrymore was on the cover. Harper's Bazaar has averaged 155,000 single copy sales this year, and Vanity Fair has averaged 342,000.