Esteemed British actress Janet McTeer, who is up for Independent Spirit Award and Golden Globe honors for her performance in "Albert Nobbs," is delighted that she and her character are being embraced by the gay and lesbian community.

"I think it's awesome," says the 6-foot-1 Tony-winner and officer of the Order of the British Empire, who wanted her character to be markedly different from Glenn Close's titular butler in the film.

Warning: the following three paragraphs contain spoilers. Albert Nobbs is a woman in 19th-century Ireland who took on a male persona in order to get a job and get off the streets and has lived as a man for 30 years. Her path crosses with that of McTeer's Hubert, who also turns out to be a woman passing as a man.

"Albert is very different from Hubert. With Albert, you're not sure if he's gay, straight or whatever, and I'm not sure Albert knows. Albert is a damaged human being. What I very much wanted to portray with Hubert is someone spectacularly happy and at peace being themselves," says McTeer. And she did. Hubert, who is happily married, comes off as "a bloke you'd like for a neighbor, or someone you want to go out and have a pint with, yet still has all these lovely female qualities."

She's been told, she says, that, "The lesbians and the cross-dressers and the transsexuals are all going to want to claim you.' And I said, 'Good, because they can all claim Hubert. Hubert is someone I think of as both a he and a she ... I really wanted to play a character like that — one who doesn't explain herself, doesn't feel the need to justify herself. I can't bear labels. I couldn't give a —— about anyone's sexuality unless I want to sleep with them myself."

Right now, McTeer and Close are busy working together again — as opposing (female) attorneys who have a history — on the final season of Close's "Damages." McTeer jokes that they're in each other's contracts nowadays. They'll be breaking from series production on the East Coast to head to Hollywood for the Jan. 15 Golden Globes — where Close is up for best actress and best original song. They're each up for Screen Actors Guild Awards, too. And they're considered by many to be shoo-ins for Oscar nominations.

THE VIDEOLAND VIEW: Will "Out of Character with Krista Smith" become a regular late-night offering on the USA Network? Smith, a.k.a. Vanity Fair's West Coast editor, insists she isn't thinking beyond the Wednesday night (Jan. 11) premiere of her special with Gwyneth Paltrow, Seth MacFarlane and fashion designer Jason Wu. "I just hope people watch it and like it," says the personable Smith, who has whetted her on-camera interviewing chops on ABC's Oscar pre-show, as well as VF's website. "I love doing it, being live in the moment. I talk. That's what I do," she adds.

She does acknowledge that network chieftains Chris McCumber and Jeff Wachtel have made it clear they're interested in opening up that 11 p.m. slot. But whether it will be with an interview show, a comedy or something different remains to be seen.

"Out of Character" attempts a bit of a different approach by getting its subjects out of the studio and into environments where they're theoretically more themselves. MacFarlane is at his house. Paltrow is cooking in Smith's own home kitchen. "I didn't change a thing in my kitchen. I cleaned it up, that's all. I was really nervous because I'm not that comfortable cooking, and she was showing me how to make a meal for my kids. And by the way, my kitchen is small."

Wu, who is best known for designing Michelle Obama's inauguration dress, gave Smith a tour of his design facilities. "He was so great, really interesting. His mother moved him out of Taipei when she realized he was different and would not be allowed to be who he was. She supported and nurtured his gifts ... I've been a journalist for a long time, and he just has a great story."

GREENS SCENE: "House of Lies" costar Richard Schiff admits he's never been a big fan of living in L.A. — yet here he is. "After 'The West Wing,' I thought I would go back to New York. That was the original plan. But my kids are in school here. My wife, Sheila Kelley, has her business here, and it's really going strong," he says. "Golf is my savior in L.A. I said, 'If we're not going back, I'm going to join a golf club or I'll go insane. I'm utterly addicted to golf."

He's wound up with link-ups on the links — on a project involving filmmaker and golfer Marshall Herskovitz, for example. And the upcoming "Fire With Fire" with Josh Duhamel. "He's a great guy and really sweet, and I'm utterly in love with his wife," says Schiff, referring to Fergie of the Black Eyed Peas. "We play golf a little bit."

Schiff stresses, "I don't play golf to network. I don't even like the word 'networking.' But it's great when people get to know each other and then be friends, and then decide to work together." Hey, might as well be on the ball, so to speak.

To find out more about Marilyn Beck and Stacy Jenel Smith and read their past columns, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.