Not-So-Popular Mechanics
"I realized how tough a gig it is to be a tin man," says Robin Williams, 48, describing the physical demands of his 32-lb. robot costume in the comedy Bicentennial Man. "Getting in was like a NASA drill, because you had to make sure everything was working. It was like, 'Fingers, check. Elbows, check. Hands—whoops, his pinkie is malfunctioning!' One day I was in the metal suit for 12 hours. It was like bondage without the fun. You would chafe in a bad way. All of a sudden you would pop some hip bolts from the costume. You'd blow a knuckle. My ro-booty always needed work."

Quarterback Sneak
Comedian Jamie Foxx fulfilled his childhood goal of playing pro football when he scored the role of star quarterback Willie Beamen in the gridiron drama Any Given Sunday "Growing up in Texas, I wanted to be [Dallas Cowboys running back] Tony Dorsett and [Cowboys quarterback] Roger Staubach," says Foxx, 32, who costars with Al Pacino, Cameron Diaz and Dennis Quaid. "I was a quarterback in high school, so this movie gave me a chance to show what I can do." But Foxx was hit with the painful reality of what an NFL career might have been like. "I was getting toasted," says the star of The WB's Jamie Foxx Show. "You watch TV and you say, 'Oh, man, why did you go out-of-bounds?' Now I understand why they go out-of-bounds. They want to live to see another day."

The Crying Game
R&B songstress Erykah Badu, who makes her movie debut in the new drama The Cider House Rules, says that her film career didn't get off on the best note. "The first scene I did was the toughest, It was me and Tobey Maguire," says Badu, 28. "I had to sit on a bed and cry on his shoulder. I always found it so weird how people can cry on cue. But all of a sudden I did it—I was sitting there crying." So how did Badu get her tear ducts working? "I thought about my paycheck," she says. "I thought about getting fired. I thought about the 200 people in the crew who wanted to go to lunch. I was so nervous that I started crying for real." After that, she says, "the rest of the movie was easy."

Politically Incorrect
"Please don't call this a political film," says Tim Robbins of his latest directorial effort, Cradle Will Rock, a fact-based period drama about a government-banned musical. "I'm not interested in politics or political statements. I'm interested in telling stories about individuals and human courage." Besides, he adds, "a politically sensitive actor? That's an oxymoron!" But what about those rumblings that he might someday seek political office? "I would never run," insists Robbins, 41. "Me as President? Maybe in another Austin Powers movie. But in real life that would be a disaster."

Foster's Care
Contrary to published reports, Jodie Foster says she is still champing at the bit to reprise her Oscar-winning role as FBI agent Clarice Starling in the Silence of the Lambs sequel Hannibal, based on Thomas Harris's 1999 novel. "I would love to do it," says Foster, 37. "I've been waiting for 10 years to do the sequel. We all have—and that includes Anthony Hopkins and myself. We just haven't read a script yet. And if you're going to do a sequel, you want it to be just as good or almost as good as the first one. So I've just got to wait and see the script."