Former Bond girl Famke Janssen (Goldeneye), who plays telekinetic, telepathic mutant Jean Grey in the film version of X-Men, says that, like her character, she has sometimes felt like a freak. "I felt different being born into a family with two sisters who are blonde and blue-eyed, with me being the only brunette," says Janssen, 35. "And then I started growing and growing and growing. I never seemed to stop." In fact, the 5'11" actress adds, "when I was 12, all my girlfriends seemed to come up to my waist."
Hatemonger
British actor Jason Isaacs admits that doing battle with Mel Gibson in the Revolutionary War epic The Patriot wasn't as rough as it looks. "I was lucky," says Isaacs, 37, who plays sadistic Col. William Tavington. "I was the type of commander who had an air-conditioned trailer to retire to when the battle was over. The most grueling thing for me was wearing that colonial hat. It was like having a bear on my head." Although fans haven't exactly given him a hero's welcome, Isaacs is proud to have earned his stripes as a movie villain. "A few people have come up to me to say, I hate you, man,' he says. "And I couldn't be more pleased."
It's All Geek to Him
"Everywhere you turn, you see me in a movie—and I'm sorry," says American Pie's Jason Biggs, who follows up his recent role in Boys and Girls with the new comedy Loser. "At this point, people must be saying, 'God, Biggs again? Can't we get away from this guy?' The actor says he could easily identify with the nerdy college student he plays in Loser. "In high school, I got picked on," says Biggs, 22, who grew up in Hasbrouck Heights, N.J. "It's funny that I got tormented for what I'm doing now—the acting thing. People would see me in a Nickelodeon commercial and I would hear about it the next day at school. Kids would say, 'Hi, TV Boy.' They heckled." But at least, he adds proudly, "I never got beat up."
Politically Incorrect
In the TNT movie Running Mates, airing Aug. 13, Tom Selleck stars as a presidential candidate who may have to compromise his ideals to finance his campaign. The actor says that the subject matter is particularly timely during this election year. "Financing campaigns is a problem of our political structure," says Selleck, 55. "We're living that awful scenario where incumbents have all the advantage and their only challengers are famous people or rich people." Selleck himself has been raising a little extra dough on his ranch in Ventura County, Calif. "I have 21 acres of organic avocados on my ranch," he says. "It's very good for me because the avocados I grow there are real, as opposed to the movies I work on."
Gross Profit
Newcomer Anna Faris, who parodies Neve Campbell's Scream character in the raunchy horror spoof Scary Movie, learned quickly that moviemaking isn't always glamorous work. "I knew it was going to be gross, but I had no idea how gross," says Faris, 23, who found the experience humbling. "I think the most important thing Keenen [Ivory Wayans, the director] taught me was that there is no vanity in comedy. And there is no comedy in being vain." So what is Faris's own favorite scary movie? "I would have to say Jaws right now," she says. "But I didn't see it until I was older. There was no way my parents would let me watch it as a kid. My parents barely let me watch E.T."
Saved by the Bell Reunion
The hookups, the meltdowns, the memoires
The case reveals what was really going on what they think of each other now!
