The Vanities Girl in Vanity Fair for February 2009 is Vinessa Shaw (mark that, not Vanessa Shaw). You might know Shaw from movies like 40 Days and 40 Nights, The Hills Have Eyes, 3:10 to Yuma, Melinda and Melinda or the ol’ classic Ladybugs. Which, by the by – wow, I’d forgotten about!

I’m not sure that the picture used in Vanity Fair is my favorite picture of her – facewise (it makes her face look so long, like a horse…!), but the picture itself is very vibrant and pretty. I don’t know if she’ll fix the car herself (I won’t rule that out), but either way she’d get some help!

Vanity Fair tells us about her next project:  “Soon to be tempting the conflicted soul of … Joaquin Phoenix, who must choose between her and a shiksa’d-out Gwyneth Paltrow in James Gray’s Two Lovers. ‘I play the nice Jewish girl that every parent would want their child to marry,’ says Shaw. ‘It’s funny, there was a guy who came up to the producer and said, ‘’Vinessa Shaw isn’t Jewish.’’ [But] my grandfather’s original last name was Schwartz!’”

Joaquin Phoenix decided to announce on Extra that he was planning to retire from acting…

“I want to take this opportunity…to give you the exclusive … that this will be my last performance as an actor… I’m not doing films anymore.”

Probed further by “Extra’s” Jerry Penacoli, “Are you serious?” Phoenix, who was curiously being followed by his own camera crews, reiterated, “Yeah. I’m working on my music. I’m done. I’ve been through that.”

I can’t believe that Jerry kept on probing at him. That was so awkward. As an interviewer I hope I never make someone feel that way! I will miss Joaquin acting, I loved him in Signs!