The Cradle Will Rock
Eric McCormack has bags of gags to entertain Will & Grace viewers, but his options are limited when it comes to amusing his newborn son. "He's only 8 weeks old, so mostly I sing to him," says the first-time pop of Finnigan, his son with wife Janet Holden, a director. But McCormack, who just ended his run in Broadway's The Music Man, cops to having an ulterior motive. "I'm hoping to get into his brain and really pervert it—in a good way. I'm singing a lot of stupid songs, like bad '70s songs and musical theater," says McCormack, 39, intent on raising an over-achiever. "I would love him to be a musician, speak eight languages, be a zoologist, play great jazz piano—all the stuff I was too lazy to do." Perhaps he should work on the potty training first.

Stage Plight
While Gwyneth Paltrow earned raves this summer for her turn as a mathematical genius in the London production of Proof, her pal Madonna received less than stellar reviews for her role in the West End's Up for Grabs. Did the Oscar winner console the Material Mom? "No," says Paltrow, 29, currently starring in the romance Possession. "I wouldn't know about the reviews, because I don't read the papers there and she doesn't either." Besides, she adds, "every aspect of our relationship is exaggerated. I was at her wedding, and people kept saying, 'Are you living with Madonna?' I was like, 'Noooo, we are not roommates. We are friends.' We sometimes hang out, we sometimes do yoga or have a girls' dinner with a few friends. But really, that's it."

Tech Supporting Actress
In his new comedy Simone, Al Pacino plays a washed-up director who creates a computer-generated actress to replace the difficult screen diva he originally cast in his comeback film. In real life, he wishes it could be that easy to replace a disagreeable costar. "I've worked with actors that if you don't hit the ball exactly in the spot they want it, they throw the ball back and say do it again," says Pacino, 62. "In one movie, this girl was really acting up, and I thought, 'How am I going to act like I love her?' And the director looked me right in the eye and said, 'Al, grow up.' Of course, I didn't. I can't grow up."

Kiss and Tell
Since he got to make out with Julia Roberts in the risqué new film Full Frontal, Blair Underwood says his buddies have just one request: "Details," says the actor, laughing. "They are like, 'Give me all the details.' I tell them, 'I have no complaints, but look, kissing America's sweetheart—it ain't that deep.' " Underwood, 38, is more apt to gush about his real-life sweetie, wife Désirée, who unwittingly helped him prep for his nude scene a few years ago. "When we were dating," he says, "we went to the Caribbean, and there was a nudist camp on the beach. I'm thinking, 'I'm not taking a stitch of clothing off. I am just going to observe.' But we got there, and everybody was so nonchalant about it. Plus, I want to see how free she is and she wants to see how daring I am." So did they bare all? "Not only did we do that, we rented a jet ski and went flying around the ocean," says Underwood. "After that, I think she was like, 'Okay, I can marry this guy.' "

Bed, Bath and Beyond
Rosario Dawson, now starring in Men in Black II and The Adventures of Pluto Nash, has come a long way since her days of dwelling in a New York City tenement with no heat or hot water. "The other night, I ran home to my beautiful apartment and got in my tub with the jets and sat there thinking, 'Girl, you're reading a script in a $2,000 tub with those smelly bath bombs in it that cost more than you used to have to eat with in two days,' " says Dawson, 23. "Life is good."