ALEC BALDWIN HAS BUTT DOUBLE IN NEW MOVIE: Alec Baldwin used a butt double in his new film, It’s Complicated. Director Nancy Meyers admitted to USA Today that the actor said, ‘Mine’s beautiful. However, I don’t want to do that.’” Baldwin also clarified a report in Men’s Journal that he’s planning to quit acting after his 30 Rock contract expires in 2012. He said, “It’s ridiculous. What I wanted to say is I wanted to do other things.” Co-star Meryl Streep added, “He’s not quitting acting. He was just telling me what he is doing next. I can’t tell you what it is. I’m just saying: He’s not quitting.”

BRODY JENNER AND GIRLFRIEND SPLIT: Brody Jenner and Jayde Nicole have called it quits after having dated for more than a year. Sources close to The Hills stars confirmed that they finally ended things for good after a tumultuous relationship that was often highlighted on the MTV reality drama. 23-year-old Nicole hinted at the split last week, tweeting, “‘Sometimes when you truly love someone you have to let them go.’ I never really understood that quote until now.”

‘SESAME STREET’ ACTRESS DIES: Sesame Street actress Alaina Reed Hall died of cancer last week. An Ohio radio station confirmed that the actress, who starred as Olivia for 12 years on the show, passed away after a battle with breast cancer on December 17th at the age of 63. In addition to working on the show, Hall starred on the sitcom 227.

COURT WON’T DISMISS POLANSKI CASE: A California appeals court rejected Roman Polanski’s bid to have his sex case dismissed on Monday (December 21st). The court’s opinion stated, “We encourage all participating parties to do their utmost to ensure that this matter now draws to a close in a manner that fully addresses the issues of due process and fundamental fairness raised by the events of long ago.” However, the court said they are “deeply concerned” about the concerns raised by Polanski’s lawyer, who argued earlier this month that misconduct in the case was grounds for dismissal of a charge of having unlawful sex with a minor.

BRYAN SINGER RETURNING TO ‘X-MEN’ FRANCHISE: Bryan Singer has reportedly signed on to direct the latest film in the X-Men series. PerezHilton.com reports that Singer told reporters last week that he’s “very excited” to be back on board with the franchise. The project will be titled X-Men: First Class.

SUSAN BOYLE TO SING NEW BOND SONG? Susan Boyle is reportedly being considered to record the theme song for the next James Bond movie. ContactMusic.com quotes Monty Norman, composer of the classic 007 theme music, as having said, “They’ll think seriously because she’s got the right kind of sweeping voice.” Others who have recorded Bond theme songs include Paul McCartney, Madonna and Duran Duran.

NEW CASTING ON ‘TRUE BLOOD’: Lindsay Pulsipher of The Beast has been cast as Crystal, a new love interest for Ryan Kwanten’s characters Jason in the upcoming season of HBO’s True Blood. PerezHilton.com reports that the twosome apparently share an “electric connection.”

An autopsy on Brittany Murphy’s body was completed Monday (December 21st), however TMZ.com reports that nothing was found that pointed to a cause of death. Sources told the website that there were no signs of foul play and the body appeared “normal.” The coroner will not determine the cause of death until the toxicology report, as well as the histopathology (study of her organs and tissues) and neuropathology (study of her brain) reports have been submitted.

• A source told RadarOnline.com, “Autopsy surgeons took a slice of her brain for testing. It will be 5-6 weeks for test results to come through.”

REPORTS OF MURPHY’S UNHEALTHY LIFESTYLE EMERGE

As fans and friends continued to mourn the 32-year-old’s death, reports painted a picture of a troubled actress who may have struggled with drug abuse and an eating disorder. Sources told People magazine that Murphy suffered from “a lot of inner demons.”

Clueless director Amy Heckerling said, “She seemed to go through a change on Clueless. Maybe she felt like she was not the, like, skinny, pretty girl, you know? And then the next few movies she was, you know, thinner, blonde . . . going out with Eminem and Ashton Kutcher.”

• Another friend agreed saying, “A lot of her problems were due to poor self image. She wore extraordinary amounts of makeup, tons of fake eyelashes, got her teeth capped, dyed her hair blonde, lost weight — she wanted to be a beauty. She didn’t want to be the fat girl from Clueless. She didn’t eat a lot. She would drink copious amounts of coffee.”
• Others noted that Murphy seemed especially troubled towards the end of her life. One insider said she was “unfocused” on the set of her films and one source on her most recent indie flick, Something Wicked, claimed that Murphy “was barely there … She’d go in and out of consciousness in the middle of takes.”

FAMILY SAYS MURPHY WAS ILL BEFORE DEATH

Meanwhile, Murphy’s family said that she was ill with flu-like symptoms in the days before she died. TMZ.com reports that Murphy began vomiting early Sunday morning and told family members she was feeling very sick. Sources say various prescriptions were found in the home written for Brittany Murphy, husband Simon Monjack, and Brittany’s mom.

OTHER MURPHY UPDATES

TMZ.com reports that Murphy has a will that she executed before meeting husband Simon Monjack. In it, she reportedly left her estate to her mother.

Monjack told Access Hollywood on Monday, “My world was destroyed yesterday.”

Her half-brother — who hadn’t seen her since 2001 — said, “People come into the town with their dreams and get chewed up alive and those who make it get chewed up alive anyway. And that’s what happened to Brittany. She’s a casualty of that town.”