Brokeback Mountain star Jake Gyllenhaal says he wants to be taken seriously as an actor - and is not just a Hollywood “pretty boy”.

The 26-year-old is uncomfortable with being called a sex symbol and would rather fans focus on his talent as an actor.

He tells Cosmopolitan: “I don’t want to be judged on my appearance because I didn’t do anything to get my looks. I’d rather be appreciated for what I do in my movies.”

Jazz songstress Amy Winehouse travelled to Pete Doherty’s rehab clinic to prepare for their latest track.

The Rehab hitmaker, 24, has teamed up with the Babyshambles to record a “ska-type” single close to Doherty’s clinic in Wiltshire.

Winehouse will play the guitar for the collaboration - and her efforts have impressed Babyshambles’ guitarist Mik Whitnall.

Cult filmmaker David Lynch met Israeli President Shimon Peres on Monday as part of a five-day visit to the Middle East, where the Blue Velvet director is promoting transcendental meditation.

Lynch, who has been meditating for more than 30 years, is in Israel to encourage the use of meditation to combat violence in school and for creating a peaceful environment in general.

Comedian Jerry Seinfeld once sold cheap jewellery on the streets of New York after graduating from university.

Before finding fame and fortune as the writer/star of hit sitcom Seinfeld, the 53-year-old struggled to earn a living as an illegal street vendor.

In an interview with American magazine Parade, Seinfeld says: “It was a very proud moment in my parents’ lives. I graduated college and a week later I’m running from police in Manhattan.”

Singer/songwriter Marc Cohn had no idea he’d been shot in the head during an attempted carjacking in 2005 - until he felt blood streaming down his face half a minute later.

The Walking In Memphis singer was seriously injured in the Denver, Colorado shooting, but didn’t realise how serious his situation was at first.

“I didn’t even know I’d been shot until 30 or 40 seconds later,” he says. “We thought the driver had been shot. Then I sensed blood on my face.”