SAY IT LOUD
Role models for African-American men are in short supply, according to director Spike Lee. "When you turn on the news, what are the images you see of African-American young men?" he asks. "Being pushed into a police car. Or sports highlights." Lee, whose family drama, Crooklyn, just opened, doesn't think they fare much better in film. "I've never said every image of every African-American in a film has to be angelical," says Lee, 37. "Just that there has to be a balance. The African-American community can learn a lot from the Jewish community. If somebody says something [derogatory] about Israel or Jewish people, there'll be letters, telegrams, demonstrations. African-Americans have to do the same thing, because that stuff works."

WHEN A MAN DISSES A WOMAN
The angrier that Meg Ryan and Andy Garcia had to get with each other in front of the camera for the new drama When a Man Loves a Woman, the nicer they were to each other off the set. "We were very gentlemanly," says Ryan, 32, who plays Garcia's alcoholic wife. But they made an exception when filming the frenetic moment when Garcia, who has been coping patiently with his wife's excesses, loses control. 'There's a big scene where Andy throws the coffee table. That was one of the hardest things to do. We just couldn't figure out how to get mad at each other, so we ended up sitting down on apple boxes before the take, insulting each other, finding like these really mean things to say. Whoa. I can't believe we still like each other."

OCCUPATIONAL HAZARDS
The success of Claudia Shear's off-Broadway hit, Blown Sideways Through Life, has led to traffic jams backstage as celebs like Sigourney Weaver and Bernadette Peters stop by to meet her. "The worst [time] was when I found out I had to dance in front of Shirley MacLaine," says Shear, 31, who does a routine at the end of her autobiographical monologue about the 64 jobs she has gained and lost. "I was mortified. But [later] she said I was a great dancer. Then we discussed spot reduction for my thighs." Shear's play ends its New York run in July, and she plans to open in L.A. this fall, so she expects more life changes from her sudden stardom. "I always had call waiting on my phone," says Shear. "But now I actually have to use it."

WEDDING BELLE BLUES
Fans of Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman can rest easy. Myra, the hooker with a heart, finally goes legit in the series' two-hour finale (May 21). She'll leave her handsome, brutish pimp, Hank, and marry the bookish Horace, played by Frank Collison. "She goes for the good guy instead of the good-looking guy," says Helene Udy, 30ish, who will don a wedding dress befitting a Barbie. "Myra definitely shouldn't wear white, so she ends up in a hotpink ballgown that looks like a large piece of bubble gum. It's a kid's dress-up dream come true." Should Udy, who is single, ever marry, her dress would be somewhat simpler. "I'd probably go with your basic white...suit. This dress would even be too gaudy for the Academy Awards. Plus, I'd need three seats for myself."