Keeping their cool during summer shoot

Not even the sweltering heat of a New York summer could stop the humor of Hollywood's funniest couple - Burlington native Amy Poehler and hubby Will Arnett (right) - or take away the smile of "The Office" hunk John Krasinski (above). The three are among the celebs who are part of a new ad campaign for the Gap's winter wear that was shot in July at the Chelsea Piers. "Good stylists" is all we could get out of the Gap types as to how they kept Newton native Krasinski looking so cool in his winter garb. Other celebs you'll see popping up next month in the ads include Amanda Peet, Will.i.am, James Marsden, and actress Angie Harmon and her husband Jason Sehorn, the former New York Giants player turned TV commentator.

Friends of Julia Child say they're thrilled that Oscar winner Meryl Streep has been chosen to play the late, great chef in a movie being written and directed by Nora Ephron. "I can't think of anyone better, anyone more elegant to pull it off," says chef Jasper White, a friend and confidante of Child for many years. "Julia was extremely intelligent, witty, and strong. . . . There was nothing wimpy about her at all." Variety reported yesterday that Streep will play the larger-than-life chef in "Julie & Julia," a biopic of sorts based on Julie Powell's book "Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen." (In the book, a frustrated secretary, to be played in the movie by Amy Adams, embarks on a yearlong culinary quest to cook all 524 recipes in Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking.") Child, who lived in Cambridge, had many close friends among local foodies. All say Streep, though much shorter and more angular than Child, is the perfect choice to play "The French Chef." "I love it," said restaurateur Michela Larson. "The truth is she doesn't look anything like her, but she'll channel her brilliantly." Chef Lydia Shire, who became fast friends with Child after their first lunch date in 1973, hopes Streep can capture Julia's quirkiness. "She'd call me up out of the blue and say, 'We haven't been to Chinatown lately,' " says Shire. "Julia was just a normal, fun-loving lady." Rialto's Jody Adams, whose culinary career Child helped kickstart, called her friend "authentic through and through. . . . No matter who she was talking to or where she was, she was focused and interested on who your are." White, who cooked for Child more than 100 times and is frequently mentioned in books about her, wondered whether he'll be in the movie. "If so, I'd like to be played by Jack Black," he said. "That's who I liked then." Filming of "Julie & Julia" begins next year.

To listen to George Benson reminisce about his gigs at the Boston clubs of yore, his memories are so detailed you'd think he's reading from a script. "Boston is an essential part of my history," the "Masquerade" singer told us. "Lots of nights logged in Boston. There's Lenny's on the Turnpike, 888 Tremont St., Connolly's, the Jazz Workshop and the one right beside it . . . Paul's Mall - all of them," the guitarist rattled off, hardly pausing to take a breath. The Grammy winner is the headliner for tomorrow night's Steppin' Out at the Emerald Ball to benefit Dimock Community Health Center. (Others performing at the glitzy gala include Cyrus Chestnut, Andre Ward, Rebecca Parris, Freddie Jackson, and Tito Puente Jr.) Benson is one of those musicians who embraces his successes rather than run from big hits that make audiences happy. "It might be 30 years since 'Breezin' ,' but it feels like six months ago to me when I'm playing it," he said. "People can expect from us the things they want to hear. If they're yelling for a song, they're going to get it."

Joss Whedon is welcoming Eliza Dushku (below) to "Dollhouse," a sci-fi project that's received a seven-episode commitment from Fox. Of course, Whedon worked with Dushku before, on his TV series "Buffy the Vampire Slayer." (Dushku played Faith.) In the new show, Dushku will play Echo, one of several people imprinted with different personalities to undertake assignments. Between tasks, they're "mind-wiped," living like children in Dollhouse, a futuristic dorm/lab. "Joss has been my favorite friend, genius, ally and confidant in the business since I was 17," said Dushku, who's also a producer on the project. "It's incredible how much energy and excitement I have for this; I can't wait to be this Echo character."

Jonathan Papelbon, Manny Ramirez, and David Ortiz are turning into quite the TV stars. Big Papi's got a full day today in the Big Apple with a stop this morning to chat with fill-in host Damien Fahey, the Longmeadow-bred MTV star, and Kelly Ripa. (A fan of the Yankees, Regis Philbin kept mispronouncing Papi's name yesterday.) Tonight Ortiz will likely find a more welcoming crowd when he stops by Brookline native Conan O'Brien's show. Meanwhile, Manny is headed west for Andover native Jay Leno's show tonight, which also includes "Dan in Real Life" star Steve Carell, an Acton-bred actor who has a home in Marshfield. As for Papelbon, the dancing closer's appearance on David Letterman's show Wednesday brought in the highest local numbers for the CBS program since Nov. 20, 2006, when Jerry Seinfeld and ESPN's Dan Patrick were guests. With an estimated 173,800 viewers watching, Papelbon's TV stats rank with Johnny Damon's visit to Letterman's show after the 2004 World Series and Bill Belichick's chat with Dave after the Pats won the Super Bowl that year.

They win a second World Series and suddenly the Sox are everywhere. While Papelbon was prattling to Letterman, center fielder Coco Crisp was at the Rue Melo show at the Paradise. When Melo introduced Coco, the crowd didn't know if the singer was joking. "We just called him up to give him a shout-out, and at first the crowd didn't believe us," Melo told us yesterday. "Then he came up, and they were like, 'Oh my God!' I think we caught him off guard by calling him up." Crisp, whose cousin Bryan Bush is in the band, brought his father and grandfather to the show, and afterward everyone headed to District to hang out.

Clarke draws crowd at Bar Association

Whenever Boston native Richard A. Clarke, who served as an adviser under seven presidents, returns to his hometown he seems to draw a big crowd. And his keynote address at the Massachusetts Bar Association's annual gala last night continued that trend, with a packed house overflowing the ballroom at the InterContinental Boston hotel. The Boston Latin alum is known for speaking out, but now he will be going Hollywood. Clarke's bestseller "Against All Enemies" is being turned into a Robert Redford-directed movie that will reportedly star Sean Penn and Bruce Willis .

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