BOYS DON'T CRY star CHLOE SEVIGNY sometimes regrets being raised with good eating habits, because she often finds herself scrutinising other people's table manners.

The 28-year-old actress admits her disciplinarian mother demanded high standards, and her efforts may have worked too well.

Sevigny says, "She would go to great lengths to really instill manners. When I was little I would smack my lips when I ate, so she made me sit with a sign in front of my plate that said, 'Don't smack your lips!' until I stopped.

"But I also had fun with it. I had a book called THE MUPPETS DO MANNERS.

"I think it's kind of a blessing in a way but it's also a curse, because I had this boyfriend I lived with for years and his eating habits were really disgusting. We'd get in fights sometimes in restaurants and he'd often leave and stick me with the bill... that wasn't very nice. He was kind of extreme. I think he was doing it just to p*** me off."

10/11/2003 02:16