Lady of Spain

Gwyneth Paltrow speaks almost perfect Spanish—and she does it with an Iberian accent. The Oscar-winning actress says she traveled to Spain as a teenager, fell in love with the country, and embraces the culture to the point that she visits at least once a year and makes sure her young children, Apple and Moses, also speak the language. “When I was 15, I went to a small town outside Talavera de la Reina and I had the most wonderful experience. It really changed my life,” Paltrow said in fluent Spanish during a recent interview. The 36-year-old actress, who is married to Coldplay’s Chris Mar-tin, says she talks to her children in Spanish. “Moses speaks a little bit, but understands everything. Apple speaks a lot,” she says.

Paltrow said Spain “became a second home,” and she remains close to the family she lived with from Spain, calling them “my Spanish mother” and “my brothers” from Spain.

She loves the slower pace in Spain. “They seem to enjoy life a little bit more. They aren’t running around as much as in New York,” she said. “They enjoy time with the family. They don’t always have their BlackBerries on.” Paltrow recently launched a Spanishlanguage version of her Web site, GOOP.com.

JMJ Way

A New York City street corner will be renamed for the late Jam Master Jay and Run-DMC.

The New York City Council has approved the new name “Run-DMC JMJ Way” for the corner of 205th Street and Hollis Avenue.

Jason Mizell, known professionally as Jam Master Jay, was the DJ for Run-DMC. The 37-year-old was gunned down in a recording studio in Jamaica, Queens, in October 2002. His killing has not been solved.

The group’s other rap pioneers are Joseph Simmons, known as Run, and Darryl McDaniels, known as DMC. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in April.

Whale of a tale

The story of a man’s lifelong obsession with whales has won the BBC Samuel Johnson Prize for nonfiction, the BBC reports.

“Leviathan, Or The Whale,” traces British author Philip Hoare’s fascination with the marine mammal, which he calls “a living thing past our comprehension.”

Last year’s winner was Kate Summerscale, whose book, “The Suspicions Of Mr. Whicher” investigated the brutal 1860 murder of a 4-year-old girl.

New to ‘Desperate’

Drea De Matteo is moving to Wisteria Lane.

Aime Wolfe, the publicist for ABC’s “Desperate Housewives,” confirmed she will join the cast for the sixth season. Wolfe did not have further details, although EW.com quoted sources as saying that De Matteo will portray an Italian matriarch whose husband is a landscape designer. De Matteo recently got engaged to country singer Shooter Jennings, with whom she has an 18-month-old daughter, Alabama.

De Matteo had a breakout role in “The Sopranos” as a mob girlfriend-turned-FBI informant.

Stiles on stage

“Bourne” trilogy actress Julia Stiles, 28, will make her Broadway debut in David Mamet’s controversial take on sexual harassment, “Oleanna,” opposite Bill Pullman. The play is currently on view in Lalaland and will open in New York Oct. 11 at the Golden Theater.