Pandora: Anthony's charitable Christmas day

As the festive season draws to a close, news of an admirable gesture from Sir Anthony Hopkins.

While most of us have spent have the past few days sofa-bound, happily scoffing mince pies and sipping mulled wine, Hopkins has been quietly extending some seasonal goodwill to his neighbours.

I hear that the Welsh star, who no doubt commands a small fortune for his film roles, spent Christmas Day visiting a shelter near his home in Los Angeles, where he provided food for a "Christmas Day brunch" for over 2,000 homeless and near-homeless local people.

Hopkins, who celebrates his 71st birthday today, explained that he wanted to pay tribute to the Midnight Mission's work because, after several years of alcohol abuse, he could easily have ended up on the street himself.

"I could have been homeless," he told assembled guests.

"I could have been on Skid Row.

"But, fortunately for me, I found a way out, and I've had a great, blessed life.

"And the people, this Mission, give back so much hope to people."

Heather's PR coup

Heather Mills's entanglement with her daughter's erstwhile child-minder Sara Trumble gets uglier by the day. After news that the two would be meeting in court over Mills' alleged sex discrimination, a video has leaked showing Trumble singing Mills' praises. The whole shebang coincides with news that Mills has found herself a new publicist, the swanky New York PR firm DolceGoldin. Let's hope that relationship goes better than that with her former publicist, who has reportedly described Mills as "impossible", "calculating" and "a witch".

Bean grins and bares it

Before he became a Hollywood heart throb, Sean Bean was best known for playing northern tough guys in gritty low-budget dramas.

Reassuring, then, to hear that he hasn't let success go to his head.

His latest film, Far North, is an appropriately quirky indie-flick from the young east London director Asif Kapadia. It includes a scene with Bean running naked through the snow in the minus-20 conditions of the Arctic tundra – a stunt which I hear Bean was only too willing to perform at a moment's notice, without the aid of a body double. "He was getting into make-up and costume," recalls Kapadia. "I went in and said 'don't bother, you're going to shoot this scene naked'. He looked at me, totally bemused, and said, 'How naked?' Of course the answer was totally."

To make matters worse, despite getting a perfect shot in the first take, Kapadia insisted on a filming a second one – just in case.

Graciously, Bean obliged.

A word of advice from Sir Terry to the knights

Sir Terry Wogan has offered a bit of timely advice to those named in today's New Year's Honours.

"I don't go round referring to myself as Sir Terry," he says. "I keep to Michael Caine's rule, which is that he doesn't insist that anyone call him Sir Michael at all, but if someone writes to him addressed to Mr Michael Caine, he throws it in the bin!"

An unexpected Gest

Texas Frontwoman, the Glasgow-born Sharleen Spiteri, has found herself with an unlikely admirer, in the form of David Gest.

The eccentric 55-year-old producer confesses in this week's edition of New magazine that he is Sharleen's No 1 fan.

"I would do cartwheels to meet her," boasts the one-time husband of Liza Minnelli before adding, somewhat creepily: "I'd like to put my tongue through her hair and lick every part of her head.

"It would probably be appalling to her, but not to me."

pandora@independent.co.uk