Most actors won't admit to phoning it in, but Brittany Murphy has no problem with it. Her voice work as Luanne on TV's "King of the Hill" originates from all over, including a San Francisco hotel room.

"I just did it this morning over the phone," said Murphy, a sparkplug out to revive the old-fashioned art of winking. The busy young actress was in town to discuss "Uptown Girls," about a party girl who falls into poverty and a nanny gig with a stern child played by "I Am Sam's" Dakota Fanning.

"It's really a kind of a love story," Murphy said of "Girls," in which adult and child learn from each other and all that stuff. Murphy's own love life occasionally has overshadowed her movie career. She hooked up briefly with Eminem when they made "8 Mile" and more seriously with "Just Married" co- star Ashton Kutcher, now boycake escort to Demi Moore.

She said she thinks "it's hilarious" to see her ex-boyfriend splashed all over magazine covers. The press loved her own romance with Kutcher "because it was a sexy story. We were in this young relationship, talking about a movie where the same thing was happening to the characters. It helped me see how the press works." It also taught her never to spill the beans again about her personal life, even though "that's not my nature."

A few months ago, fledgling singer Murphy entertained troops in Iraq and Kuwait with a USO contingent led by Wayne Newton and Kid Rock. "It was a privilege and an honor," said Murphy, who comes from a New Jersey military family. "We basically represented home to these soldiers, the closest thing to family."

Some of the guys seemed really homesick, which Murphy discovered during her rendition of the Beatles' contemplative "In My Life." "I was singing, 'There are places I remember . . .' and then I hear 'Show your tits!' " Murphy recalled with a laugh. She didn't comply, but the good-natured star did drag the shouters onstage for her next number

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