Dustin Hoffman was giving a reading of a book called Dog Breath!, and Minnie Driver was taking on junior Jeff Gordons in a simulated car race, but the prime attraction at June 10's Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation carnival in L.A. was a game of dunk the hunk. For an hour Tom Cruise plunged into a water-filled tank each time ball-throwing kids hit their target. The sight was a riot for his pregnant ex-wife Mimi Rogers, who—with daughter Lucy, 6, in tow (dad is producer Chris Ciaffa)—chatted with Cruise between splashes.

They weren't the only ones having fun at the annual bash (sponsored in part by PEOPLE), which raised about $2 million and drew 1,800 revelers. Celebs oversaw games from basketball to mock cow milking ("the secret is not pulling but squeezing," said That '70s Show's Danny Masterson). That is, when they weren't distracted. "Tom Cruise," sighed Fran Drescher, "takes my breath away."