PHOREN
What money can't buy

they seem to have it all, but julia roberts, meg ryan and nicole kidman struggle to find the right script for romance julia roberts was in fine form. walking the red carpet for the la premiere of america's sweethearts last month, she was radiant in a sheer gold top, strappy sandals, a flirtatious toe ring _ and the kind of wide-screen grin only the woman time declared america's best movie star can muster.she gave hello hugs to co-stars john cusack, billy crystal and, finally, catherine zeta-jones, who locked her in a tight embrace as they rocked back and forth. while cameras flashed, mrs michael douglas leaned in for a second's girl talk. "how are you?" she whispered. roberts pulled back, grinned, and quietly responded, "i'm great." but zeta-jones wasn't having it. "no _ how are you?" she persisted. roberts looked at her again, apparently just getting the question behind the question: how are you now that your it-all-seemed-so-perfect four-year romance with benjamin bratt just collapsed in smoke and ashes? photographers closed in before roberts, 33, could respond. but the 20 million-dollars-per-film, oscar-winning addition to the dating game had effectively given her answer two weeks earlier on the late show with david letterman, revealing to the host the never-complain-never-explain line she has been practicing in front of her mirror lately: "hi. i'm julia. i'm single. doesn't make me a bad person." the next mr lucky probably won't need that assurance before jotting her phone number down on a cocktail napkin. and, yes, it's unlikely that roberts _ as well as recently single stars meg ryan and nicole kidman _ would have to do more to get a date than approve applications. but while power, fame, money and sex appeal are a powerful quartet, they don't always lead to romantic harmony. and though it might be hard, in a world full of lonely hearts, to feel sympathy for a few superstars who just made life more difficult for everyone else, things are tough all over. "being a star brings its own set of problems and baggage," a close friend says of ryan, 39. "men don't seek her out. friends of mine will say, 'so-and-so would like to go out with her, but he doesn't have the (glandular fortitude).' these girls are not stupid _ you have to have a really secure guy. they don't just fall off trees." ewan goes back home star wars actor ewan mcgregor was picked to be chieftain of the highland games in his hometown of crieff _ and confessed that was where he learned to swear. mcgregor, 30, said he was honoured to open the games but he declined to toss the caber or throw the hammer, saying he was not strong enough to pick up the caber. but he confessed to monday's daily record: "this is where i learned to swear. i like to swear a lot. there's a fantastic character here i won't name but he used swear words the likes of which you have never heard. "i still see him here and i've never forgotten those words i picked up as a wee boy. i've been using them ever since." the trainspotting star, sporting a kilt in the mcgregor clan tartan, was accompanied to the games by his pregnant french wife eve and their five-year-old daughter clara. eminem: a loving father! chainsaw-wielding u s rapper eminem says he is doing it all for his 5-year-old daughter. he may sing about "murdering my baby's mother" but he doesn't really mean it _ and he is busy saving money so daughter hailie can go to college one day. the grammy award-winning rapper, whose real name is marshall bruce mathers iii, has stirred controversy worldwide. while critics say his lyrics are violent, homophobic and misogynistic, his fans say they are witty and poignant. "everything that i am doing right now is for hailie. the money. the money _ it's for her college," the rapper told q magazine on the eve of his latest trip to britain. eminem, who has been in divorce proceedings with his wife kim, told q that his daughter 'knows at the end of the day daddy is not what he says in his songs.' "when i say i'll murder my baby's mother, maybe i wanted to do it but i didn't do it. anybody who takes it literally is a bigger idiot and 10 times sicker than i am." eminem has already performed a sell-out tour of britain in february despite angry protests from gay rights activists. the rapper was warned by london authorities that his chainsaw-wielding act on august 23 in the british capital must meet safety regulations or risk being halted mid-concert. and eminem kept making it clear in the q interview that his daughter was his big motivation. "you know i think my little girl was the real wake-up call for me. she made me get my ass in gear _ to make something of my life and try 10 quadrillion times harder than i had before." jagger no-show at enigma premiere mick jagger failed to appear at the premiere of british film enigma this weekend in edinburgh, scotland. the rolling stone star co-produced the film, but was nowhere to be seen as it was screened at the edinburgh film festival _ he pulled out at the last minute for unknown reasons. and despite the film being publicised as a 'must-see' one of its stars left after only 15 minutes _ to a watch a soccer match in a pub. actor dougray scott was more interested in the match involving his beloved team hibernian fc and rangers fc than the film. at the premiere, scott confessed, 'it's really nice to be here, but i'd rather be at ibrox [home of rangers] where the match is being played." kuerten, hingis toplists for us open mary pierce, richard krajicek and magnus norman on injury list gustavo kuerten and andre agassi were pegged as no. 1 and no. 2 seeds among the men for this year's us open, which starts on august 27, while martina hingis and jennifer capriati took the top slots for the women, the us tennis association announced monday. it was the first time the brazilian kuerten, who won his third french open title in june, had taken the no. 1 seed at the tournament. the 24-year-old made his best showing at flushing meadows in 1999, reaching the quarter-finals. agassi, 31, has won the us open twice, in 1994 and 1999. agassi is followed in the seedings by defending champion marat safin of russia, lleyton hewitt of australia and juan carlos ferrero of spain. for hingis of switzerland, it was the fourth consecutive year as no. 1 pick. she has won it once, beating venus williams in the 1997 final. with the no. 2 slot, the 25-year-old capriati took her highest seeding to date after nine previous outings here. in 1991, capriati -- then 15 -- made it all the way to the semis at flushing meadows, where she was ousted by monica seles. capriati is followed in the women's seedings by lindsay davenport and venus williams, both of the united states, and kim clijsters of belgium. this is the first year that the us open has selected 32 seeds, twice as many as in past years. the usta said the new number "better reflects the depth of the men's and the women's games, while rewarding the top players for their performance over the past 52 weeks." two stars withdrew from the men's competition and two from the women's. in the men's section big-serving dutchman richard krajicek and last year's french open finalist magnus norman withdrew because of injuries. krajicek, 29, has been sidelined for several months with an elbow injury. he is ranked 93rd in the atp entry system after skipping the first half of the 2001 season. norman, 25, is out with a persistent hip injury. the 24th-ranked swede, who reached the semi-finals at bastad in july, will undergo surgery next week that will sideline him for the rest of the season. markus hipfl of austria and mariano zabaleta of argentina will replace norman and krajicek in the main draw. in the women's section, france's mary pierce and tathiana garbin of italy have withdrawn citing injuries. pierce, 26, pulled out facing continued problems with her lower back. pierce, who won the 2000 french open, has made it to the quarter-finals of the us open twice, in 1999 and 1994. garbin, 24, suffered a herniated disc at the estyle.com classic in manhattan beach, california. her best result in the us open came last year, when she made it to the third round.