Diva Diplomacy

By Rebecca Winters

Even U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan can't resist the lure of a certain statuesque Oscar winner. For years the U.N. has denied filmmakers access to the inside of its New York City headquarters--Alfred Hitchcock couldn't get in to shoot his 1959 thriller North by Northwest. But director Sydney Pollack won approval last week to film The Interpreter, in which NICOLE KIDMAN plays a translator who overhears an assassination plot. Diplomats are now inquiring whether they'll get to meet Kidman and how they can become extras. Perhaps peace in the Middle East can be brokered in the catering truck.