Knightley and Levine in Begin Again

For Keira Knightley and Adam Levine, their movie Begin Again was an experience of firsts. Knightley sings in the movie, whereas Levine, the frontman of Maroon 5, acts. "I kept telling her she was great and she wouldn't believe me, and she told me that I wasn't bad at acting either, but I didn't believe her, so it was perfect," Levine said on Saturday as the movie closed the Tribeca Film Festival. "I was completely terrified," Knightley, 29, said of her singing. "I found myself in a studio with real people who did it for a living and I was like, 'I don't know what I'm doing. I'm pretending.'" Begin Again is directed by John Carney (2007's Once) and co-stars Mark Ruffalo and Hailee Steinfeld. – AP

Clooney engaged to lawyer

George Clooney is engaged to the lawyer Amal Alamuddin. Born in Beirut and now based in London, Alamuddin, 36, was spotted last week wearing a large ring at a Los Angeles restaurant where she and Clooney, 52, were apparently celebrating their engagement with friends, reported People magazine. "George and Amal are trying to keep things very low-key, but they also aren't really trying to hide this, it doesn't seem," said a source quoted by People. Clooney and Alamuddin have been dating since October. She practises international and human rights law, and Clooney is an international human rights activist. – Reuters

Spielberg to direct The BFG

DreamWorks has tapped Steven Spielberg to direct a film adaptation of Roald Dahl's 1982 children's book The BFG. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Spielberg "is planning a 2015 start date with a release in 2016". Melissa Mathison, the screenwriter of Spielberg's ET the Extra-Terrestrial, has already written the script. – The National staff