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No, Paris Hilton is not a player in the Oscar race, but when the opportunity arose to speak with the celebrity heiress/socialite, who is undisputably one of the world's most famous and intriguing personalities, I bit anyway. Paris was principally in town today to receive the Harvard Lampoon's Woman of the Year award, but also agreed to do a few interviews at The Four Seasons to promote her next film, The Hottie and the Nottie (2/8, Regent), which will be released on Friday. (Click here for my unvarnished opinions on that..)

I have pretty mixed feelings about the day. Scheduling was a disaster... I believe it was less the falt of Paris or the local publicists than her personal handlers, but journalists were kept waiting for hours before being informed that it was time for Paris to go to Harvard to accept her award, and that she would therefore only be able to honor her commitments after, if at all. Many who were on deadline or were insulted and unwilling to wait bounced, but I stuck around and ended up negotiating a compromise in order to make things work—I spoke to Paris by phone while she was on her way back from Harvard, then briefly met with her at the hotel, and then went on my merry way.

Anyway, based on our conversation and observing her with journalists and regular folks, she actually comes across as very pleasant and down-to-Earth. Yes, she has a tendency to revert to infantile behavior, probably because she has been overly sheltered by those around her from the harsh realities of the real world, but considering my preconceived notions I was actually pleasantly surprised by her.

As you can hear for yourself below, I asked her why she would want to subject herself to criticism as an actress when she is already rich and famous... how she sees herself and her role in our culture... how the public and prviate Paris differ... what she thinks is "hottest" and "nottest" about herself (forgive me, but what was I going to ask about, the state of the health care system?)... whether she and other women would really give a man-child (like the one portrayed by her co-star/love interest in the film) the light of day... how the paparazzi impact her life... her thoughts on our society's obsession with celebrity... where she sees herself 30, 40, or 50 years from now... and what she would like people to know about her that they might not already.

Take a listen...