"My father had 10 kids, so he didn't have time to sit down and talk. He believed in hitting me with a frying pan [when I misbehaved]," says Damon Wayans, the star of ABC's My Wife and Kids, "I'm 43 now, and I'm still scared to do things like curse in front of him." It didn't stop the comic from becoming something of an outlaw—until he got caught stealing a taxicab and spent the night in lockup. "When I got arrested, I told the police not to call my father. I'd rather spend a night in jail than face him," says Wayans, who has four kids of his own. "But I was never going to be a great criminal: I was born with a clubfoot, so it was hard for me to get away."
Hard Cell
Performing live theater requires Zen-like focus, according to Mystic River's Laura Linney, currently starring in the Broadway drama Sight Unseen. "During the most important moment, someone's cellphone ditty will go off, like the national anthem, and it really throws you," says Linney, 40. "You're also dealing with audience members who forget that we can hear everything they whisper. Crinkling candy wrappers is ungodly, and people do it slowly, so they take forever. It's a battle to keep your concentration."
High-Pitt Shrieks
Robbie Coltrane, who plays the giant Hagrid in the Harry Potter series, may go deaf attending premieres with his teen costars because of their young fans. "These girls have such high-pitched screams," says the Scottish actor, 54, adding that the noise continued in Europe, where he filmed Ocean's Twelve with George Clooney and Brad Pitt. "We were in Amsterdam, and a boat of women came down a canal shrieking their lungs out. One night George stuck his head out a hotel window, and we heard the girls [yelling]. He said, 'Okay, Robbie, your turn.'" Alas, Coltrane reports, nothing happened. "But at the [Prisoner of Azkaban] premiere [in New York City], there were screams when I hit the red carpet. I wish Clooney was there—he'd never believe it."
Scent of a Man
Sean "P. Diddy" Combs, now starring in Broadway's A Raisin in the Sun, takes his grooming rituals seriously. "I take a bath around 3 a.m. when I get home to wind down. I'm a bath connoisseur," says Combs, 34. "I have bath salts, bath beads—I can make you the best bath in the world." His wake-up routine is even more luxe. "After my shower I lotion myself head to [toe], brush with an electric toothbrush and shave with my M3 Power," he says. "I walk around naked for 10 minutes to air dry." The finishing touch? His cologne. "I spray it all over my body, call it my 'smell good.' I test the fragrance out every day."
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