Lohan's Need for Speed
"I thought I was going to die," says Lindsay Lohan of her first experience in a race car. To prep for her role as a fledgling NASCAR driver in the comedy Herbie: Fully Loaded, the actress went to a driving school and rode along with a professional driver. "He was going 195 miles an hour. You get so close to the [racetrack] walls. I was screaming and almost started crying." The ordeal didn't stop Lohan from trying out one tricky maneuver for real recently, when she pulled a U-turn on an L.A. street while a paparazzo was tailing her. The photographer ended up crashing into her car. "I was in shock. Thank God no one was seriously injured," says Lohan. "I thought I was a race-car driver. I should have known better."
From Bale to Bail
Filming on location in Chicago for Batman Begins was an eye-opening experience for Welsh-born actor Christian Bale. "Coming from London, it seemed like everybody [in the Midwest] was just fantastically happy," says Bale, 31, who stars as the Caped Crusader. "I thought everyone was on Prozac." However, one Chicagoan definitely wasn't smiling after a run-in with the super-hero. "The Batmobile was being driven down the street, and there were huge police escorts on either side of it. But one poor drunken [driver] managed to ram sidelong into the Batmobile, and he actually got hauled off to jail," says Bale. "I would've liked to hear his story to his fellow inmates that night: 'What did you do?' 'Oh well, I hit Batman's car.' 'Yeah, right—and I hit Superman.' "
Nicole's Witchy Skills
Mastering the art of schnoz-wiggling for the movie remake of the 1960s-70s sitcom Bewitched was initially a nose-wrinkling exercise in frustration for Nicole Kidman. "I would put Elizabeth Montgomery's nose in slow motion on the VCR, then put up the mirror and try to mimic it," says Kidman, 38, who costars with Will Ferrell. "My mum would say, 'No, that wasn't very good. Try again.' " Broom-riding was also more trick than treat. "Flying on a broomstick is a little difficult. You get harnessed on it, and then they lift you up like you're flying," says Kidman. "You're saying, 'Does this look okay?' while they say, 'Cross your legs!' "
My Most Embarrassing Moment
"When I was 12, I was on a swim team and I competed in a backstroke race by myself. I was supposed to race against one other person, but he didn't show up, so all I had to do was complete the race. But I messed up and turned around to touch the wall, which is illegal. So I lost in a race by myself. That was ugly."
—Jesse Bradford, costarring in the drama Heights with Glenn Close
Piven's Perfect Posse
If you were a Hollywood star with the power to construct an ideal gang of friends, who would be in it? Jeremy Piven, who costars in the HBO comedy Entourage, knows his group would be wildly diverse. "In my entourage would be Dave Chappelle," says Piven, 39. "I'd never have to work out because I'd be laughing so hard I'd rip up my core strength. Then [the late] Biggie Smalls, because no one raps like him." But Piven also would have room for women. "[Indy racer] Danica Patrick would be the designated driver."
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