TINSELTOWN SPYWITNESS.

Byline: Jenny Peters, Iain Blair and Joel Stratte-McClure

BATHING BEAUTY: Charlize Theron almost took a dip in a pool covered with red and white rose petals when she picked up the L.A. Film Festival's Spirit of Independence award at the W Hotel in Westwood on Wednesday night.

``I've always wanted to play the mermaid in the sequel to `Splash,''' she confided to moderator Elvis Mitchell during a poolside chat.

``Go ahead and jump in!'' Mitchell urged the 30-year-old Oscar-winning South African-born actress.

Many of the 250 dinner guests -- including Theron's boyfriend Stuart Townsend, Target's bull's-eye dog and presenters Jimmy Smits, Virginia Madsen and Woody Harrelson -- looked ready to join her.

Instead Theron discussed her career. She mentioned that Teri Hatcher gave her a six-pack of beer after a rough scene in ``Two Days in the Valley,'' and thanked Tom Hanks for suggesting that she go to the bathroom during a nervous audition for ``That Thing You Do.''

``I was really influenced by Tom Hanks and inspired by actors like Susan Sarandon, Jessica Lange and Meryl Streep,'' added Theron.

``They're fearless on every level and encouraged me to convey emotions that make people believe in my characters.''

Harrelson mentioned some of these emotional portrayals when he presented the award to salute Theron's artistic independence in ``Monster,'' ``The Devil's Advocate,'' ``North Country'' and other films.

``She's one of the most amazing, dynamic, beautiful, awesome and gifted actresses alive,'' said Harrelson. ``She'll sometimes lose herself in the parts that she plays and you can't see Charlize anymore. Except for `Monster,' where she played herself.''

Everybody laughed nervously and waited to see if Theron would throw Harrelson in the pool.

She didn't. But maybe Hanks could cast them both in ``Splash 2.''

QUITE A DRAW: The ultra-cool Les Deux Cafes was the setting Thursday night for Warner Independent Pictures' bash celebrating its edgy new release, ``A Scanner Darkly.'' Stars Keanu Reeves and Winona Ryder were there, along with celebs like Owen Wilson, Gretchen Mol, Parker Posey and writer/director Richard Linklater, who said the two long years it took to animate the film was ``a labor of love.''

Based on the novel by sci-fi legend Philip K. Dick, the intense, paranoid tale of drug use, which premiered earlier in the evening as part of the L.A. Film Festival, is a long way from the breezy pothead vibe of Linklater's breakout film ``Dazed and Confused'' -- maybe that's why co-star Robert Downey, Jr., who knows a little something about paranoia and drug use, was a no-show.

So it was brave of Winona, who's kept a very low profile in Hollywood since her ``shopping scandal,'' to even show up for the party. And what does it take to get her in a movie these days? ``This guy (Linklater) -- I wanted to work with him,'' she said.

Keanu, who plays the object of Winona's affection in ``Scanner,'' called their movie relationship ``deliciously painful, with all of that yearning and love that was unrequited. It's part of the tragedy.''

Coincidentally, it turns out that Winona has a family connection with Dick. ``My godfather was actually roommates with him briefly,'' she said. ``When I was really little, apparently I met a lot of really interesting and great people. I wish that I could remember them, but at the time they were just grown-ups to me.''

Ironically, Winona's ``Scanner'' character is under surveillance much of the time. So what did the actress, who's had, ahem, some experience with that, think of it all and the film as a cautionary tale?

``It's happening,'' she said. ``To me, it's really eerie how relevant it is politically and socially.''

GOT SILK?: When is the best time (if ever) to spend $4,400 on a silk quilt, or $1,800 on a kimono robe? When there's a double whammy like at Thursday night's party at Frette on Rodeo Drive, that's when.

Frette, the fine Italian linen house, offered 15 percent off most of its fabulous stock that night to the well-heeled partiers and will contribute 15 percent of all proceeds sold in the store from last Thursday through today to the Starlight Starbright Children's Foundation.

That foundation is dedicated to making the lives of seriously ill children a little brighter as they fight for their existence.

That's what brought out a packed house of models and businessmen, young hipsters and older society types, and actress Jamie Lee Curtis, whose love for the Starlight Starbright charity goes back a ways.

``Choosing to support Starlight was easy for me. I think people choose things that they connect the dots to, there's some connection. In my case, my son had ruptured his spleen -- he fell in school,'' Curtis said, recalling an incident that happened five years ago.

``Luckily, he was admitted to a hospital that had one of Starlight's mobile Nintendo units -- they call them `fun centers' -- that allowed him to deal with a very invasive procedure and his hospitalization by taking his mind away from his illness. By focusing on that, he recovered quicker, he needed less drugs, and when he got out, I said to them, `Whatever you need, I'm there.'''

``Need'' was a relative term at the Frette party, as gorgeous male and female models wandered the chic store dressed in $1,000 silk pajamas, but for such a good cause and with that discount, why not drop $850 for sleepwear?

CAPTION(S):

3 photos

Photo:

(1) CHARLIZE THERON and THE TARGET DOG: Puppy love

(2) RICHARD LINKLATER, WINONA RYDER and KEANU REEVES: Animated reality

(3) JAMIE LEE CURTIS: Starlight, star bright