PEOPLE

Grounding Tom Hanks
Think your layover was rough? TOM HANKS has been stuck at the airport since October. In The Terminal, a Steven Spielberg movie due out next summer, Hanks plays a traveler who is stranded at J.F.K. when a coup in his home country renders his passport worthless. At the airport, Hanks' character "is able to experience both the bounty and the falsehood of America," the actor says. The set is a 75,000-sq.-ft. terminal constructed inside a hangar in Palmdale, Calif. "There's a lot of very tasty restaurants in the food-court area," Hanks says. "Have you had Auntie Anne's pretzels yet? They're pretty good." That proves it: even airport food is better than airline food.

Stage Fight
At least Lou Grant was the kind of grumpy boss a gal could love. In playwright Neil Simon, MARY TYLER MOORE seems to have a harsher critic. After receiving a note from Simon last week slamming her performance in his new comedy, Rose's Dilemma, Moore withdrew from the off-Broadway play, scheduled to open Dec. 18. "Mary was devastated and completely debilitated personally and professionally," says her publicist's statement. If she had just pouted and whined "Oh, Mr. Simon," none of this might have transpired.

Gwyn's Great Expectation
Brad Pitt was the one that got away. Ben Affleck was the one that got J. Lo. But Coldplay rocker CHRIS MARTIN is the one that got GWYNETH PALTROW pregnant. The couple confirmed last week that Paltrow, 31, is expecting their first child next summer. The willowy actress, who adheres to a strict macrobiotic diet, had begun to draw attention for looking more curvaceous. Though mum on wedding plans, the couple have reportedly applied for a marriage license. Can a family sitcom be far behind?