Family jewels
A selection of Ellen Barkin's jewelry netted her a pot of gold at a recent auction at Christie's auction house. After being dumped by her ex-husband, billionaire financier Ron Perelman earlier this year, the actress disposed of her marriage's mementos to the tune of $20 million. Obviously not one for sentimentality, Barkin's collection included her wedding band, which fetched $156,000, $100,000 above its estimate.

Head of the class
Halle Berry is set to play a different kind of hero, signing up to play a teacher in Class Act. Based on a true story, the Oscar winner will portray Tierney Cahill, a single mother who accepts a challenge from her students to run for U.S. Congress. Though the real Cahill is white, the filmmakers said, "it was more important to find the right actress to play the role."

Oh, baby!
She just finished filming the role of the Virgin Mary in the upcoming film The Nativity Story, and now Keisha Castle-Hughes has announced she is pregnant. The 16-year-old actress, who received an Oscar nod for her performance in 2002's Whale Rider, is expecting her first child with her boyfriend of three years, Bradley Hull, 19. The two met in high school. In other baby news, after months of speculation, Tori Spelling has announced she is expecting her first child with hubby Dean McDermott.

No Brokeback reunion
Jake Gyllenhaal has quashed rumors that he will reunite with his Brokeback Mountain co-star Heath Ledger in the upcoming Batman Begins sequel, The Dark Knight. Gyllenhaal was in talks to play bad guy Harvey "Two-Face" Dent while Ledger has already been cast as The Joker. Gyllenhaal's agent responded to the story saying, "No, the other guy from Brokeback Mountain is in it if you haven't heard."

Men weep
Sexy actress Jessica Alba says fans won't see her appear naked in a film any time soon. The Sin City star recently told Elle magazine, "I don't do nudity. I just don't. Maybe that makes me a bad actress. Maybe I won't get hired in some things. But I have too much anxiety." In fact, the actress was furious when Playboy put her on a cover in a bikini, which she said suggested she appeared naked inside. Publisher Hugh Hefner apologized and made donations to two charities Alba supports to make amends.