Supermodel Karolina Kurkova (second left) beside actors Joshua Jackson and Diane Kruger during a game of boules at the Chanel party in St-Tropez in May. Photograph: MaxPPP/PacificCoastNews.com According to Martine Pilate, who wrote La Véritable Histoire de la Pétanque and so should probably know, none of this would ever have happened without her grandad. Round [...]

Sally Hawkins: six major roles this year. Photograph: Linda Nylind for the Observer Nervous, petite and a bit shy, Sally Hawkins is about to become one of Britain’s most successful exports – and to give the town of Dagenham an unexpected moment of international glory. The 34-year-old actress from south London has played starring roles [...]

My Child’s Big Fat Birthday Party, BBC1 Photograph: BBC/North One Television /Karen Zetter/BBC I wish I was a kid again. It looks brilliant now, especially if you’re filthy rich and spoiled rotten. The birthday parties I remember involved a few chocolate fingers, a paper cup of squash, those rolled-up things that straighten up and make [...]