Nicole's twitchy over weight fears

Nicole Kidman was busy perfecting her nose twitch for the film version of famed television comedy Bewitched. Really, though, she was wishing she could 'magic away' persistent and what she called 'absurd' rumours that she was suffering from a bone disease.

'I'm supposed to have it because of my weight and apparently I'm having tests in hospital, but I laughed because no one told me.

'I haven't had tests for anything. The only thing I've been testing is how to twitch my nose for Bewitched,' she told me during a quick break from rehearsing with Will Ferrell, who plays her panicky husband Darren, and director Nora Ephron in Los Angeles.

'I've always been thin,' she protested. 'Yet the same story keeps getting more and more absurd. It's amusing that, with everything else that's going on in the world, people are concerned about my weight. But guess what? I've always been like this - ever since I studied ballet as a girl.

'I'll give you a twirl when you see me in Venice and you'll see I'm the same weight I've always been,' she joked. The Oscar-winning actress will be attending the Venice Film Festival for the world premiere on Wednesday of her new film, Birth.

The original reason for my phone call had been to have a quick gab about that film, which was directed by Britain's Jonathan Glazer, who also made the acclaimed Sexy Beast with Ray Winstone and Ben Kingsley.

'I loved working with Jonathan,' Nicole said. 'I love to have as many different experiences on film and work with directors who can push me in different directions.'

Nicole started work on Birth after making Cold Mountain with Anthony Minghella, then shot The Interpreter with Sean Penn and went directly into preproduction on Bewitched, which also stars Shirley MacLaine, Michael Caine and Joan Plowright. Filming will begin after Nicole returns from Venice.

In the classic TV show of the same name, actress Elizabeth Montgomery created the role of Samantha Stephens who, with the twitch of her nose, caused much magical mayhem.