Tattle: Clark Duke talks about his 'Sex Drive'

IT'S A LONG WAY from Hot Springs, Ark., to Hollywood, but

Clark Duke

made the trip.

Now he's starring in "Greek" on television, will next year be seen in "A Thousand Words" with Eddie Murphy, is filming a big superhero action-comedy, "Kick-Ass," and touring to promote his raunchy laugh-fest "Sex Drive." (Gary Thompson's review, Page 50.)

That's what brought Duke to Philadelphia and to a post-screening Q&A on the film last week at the Pearl Theater next to Temple University.

"The highlight," said Duke, sitting in the lounge of the Sofitel Hotel last Friday, "was this little girl who walked up and scowled at me the whole time."

Duke couldn't figure out what she was even doing at the R-rated movie.

But until a few weeks ago, Duke didn't know such promotional tours existed for movies, so he's been surprised by just about everything.

His most memorable question from a radio shock jock was, "Your character gets laid a lot. How often do you get laid?"

All he would say is, "It's good being Clark Duke."

Someone else wanted to know when he lost his virginity.

"If I get nominated for an Oscar for 'Sex Drive,' " he joked, "I'll tell the story."

Most memorable question at a screening: "What was f------ that Amish chick like?"

Uh, she's not Amish.

Not that Duke would know. Although "Sex Drive" has a number of funny "Amish" scenes with Seth Green, Duke acknowledged he'd "never seen an Amish person."

Then again, he's never seen his TV show, either.

"I'm on it," he said of "Greek." "It's sort of my day job."

Duke said some of the guys on the show have become good friends, but he has no idea what's going to happen.

"My storylines never really intersect with any others," he said.

Whether or not people see "Sex Drive" in theaters, Duke says the DVD will have a lot of new stuff, claiming it will be sort of "a weird, post-modern take on the DVD."

"There's probably a half-hour of me and Seth sitting in the buggy," he said, "and we're very aware this was for an unrated version."

Tattle lightning round

* TMZ.com reports that

Barack Obama supporter Jon Bon Jovi is peeved that Sarah Palin's rallies have featured the Bon Jovi song, "Who Says You Can't Go Home."

The irony, of course, is that Palin should be going home in less than three weeks.

* James Taylor will play five

free concerts in swing state North Carolina in support of Obama.

Taylor, a Chapel Hill native, has concerts scheduled in Charlotte, Asheville, Chapel Hill, Raleigh and Wilmington beginning Sunday.

* A visibly scarred DJ AM (aka

Adam Goldstein), joined Jay-Z at a special concert Wednesday celebrating the reopening of the Hollywood Palladium, the historic venue that once hosted the likes of Frank Sinatra, "The Lawrence Welk Show," Led Zeppelin and the Emmy Awards on its more than 11,000-square-foot circular wooden floor.

The concert was DJ AM's first performance since surviving a Sept. 19 plane crash in South Carolina with former Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker.

* John McCain appeared on

CBS' "Late Show with David Letterman" last night, telling the host "I screwed up" by canceling an earlier appearance on the show.

Couldn't "I screwed up" have been the McCain campaign slogan?

But yesterday, McCain was so determined to show up for his Letterman appearance, he flew by chopper from Philadelphia to New York after a weather delay grounded his campaign plane.

* The economy has gotten so

bad that even Eminem has decided to return to work.

Billboard.com says his new album will be called "Relapse," with the first single being, "I'm Having a Relapse."

The album should be out before the end of the year.

* People magazine reported that

rehabbing sex addict David Duchovny and wife Tea Leoni have separated.

Gee, no one saw that coming.

"In light of continuous speculation over the lives and marriage of Tea Leoni and David Duchovny, the couple has confirmed that they have in fact been separated for several months," said a statement from their reps. "The couple had hoped to keep this separation private for the sake of their children."

According to London's Daily Mail, the reason for the split was not Duchovny's constant Californicating but his discovery that Tea was having a relationship with Billy Bob Thornton.

Billy Bob's people denied to "Extra" that an affair took place.

* First Holly Madison moves

out of the Mansion and now this . . .

Playboy says it plans to trim 55 employees from its payroll and eliminate 25 vacant positions.

Playboy chairman and chief executive Christie Hefner sent a letter to workers Wednesday saying the troubled economy was to blame. Yes, soon even the centerfolds will be downsizing.

Still, it's hard to believe there's anything left to trim at Playboy. *

Daily News wire services contributed to this report.

E-mail gensleh@phillynews.com.