Brittany Hits Paydirt

Who'd have thought it? While the glittering career of her old Clueless colleague Alicia Silverstone disappears down the proverbial pan, former ugly duckling Brittany Murphy has bagged not only her first headlining role but $4 million to boot. Showing what a bit of canoodling with Eminem can do for your career, the 8 Mile star is getting her biggest pay packet yet to appear in romantic comedy Little Black Book. And after her honeymoon-gone-wrong flick Just Married surprisingly hit number 1 in the US a few weeks ago, Murphy can safely wave goodbye to mere supporting roles and the 'smaller' fees of $1 million she earned in 8 Mile. Playing an associate producer for a daytime talk show in Little Black Book, Murphy dares to unlock the secrets of her boyfriend's Palm Pilot to find the dirt on his ex-girlfriends. But naturally – this being a rom-com and all – her unforgivable act of intrusion makes the inquisitive little minx find out more about herself than any of the love rivals of her man's past.