POPSTAR! JULY 1, 2001

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MOVIE HUNKS HAVE CRUSHES, TOO!
JERRY O'CONNELL

That Tomcats cutie gives us all the scoop!

We were thrilled when Tomcats star Jerry O'Connell invited Popstar! to lunch to talk about his hit gross-out comedy.  The movie has been a teen fave along the lines of American Pie, but we discovered that Jerry is much more of a gentleman than the girl-crazy character he plays.  We've loved him since he was "the chubby kid" from Stand By Me - so in a way, he was our own secret crush!  And we were face to face!  Here's all the scoop we got Jerry to give us!

Popstar!:  So, why did you decide to make Tomcats?  It's pretty racy!
Jerry: Well, a major reason why I did this movie was, I was like, "Oh, yeah, it's so funny.  It's a great script."  Then they're like, "Shannon Elizabeth is going to be in it."  And I am like, "Where do I sign?"

You were excited to be working with Shannon?
Yeah!  But no one was more excited than my 13-year-old cousin Nicholas.  He and his entire class thanked me for doing the film.  It was a closed set, so I wasn't going to be like, "Shannon, can my cousin bring you for show and tell?"  Could you imagine bringing Shannon Elizabeth in for show and tell?  That would be instantaneous popularity.

No, she's a doll.  She's so hot.  It gets a little tricky, gets a little freaky, it does a couple of things to your psyche.  When you're on the set and you're kissing Shannon Elizabeth, you get into it, you hear cut and you open your eyes and you see these dudes standing around you with microphones and lights  It's like, "Okay, that was fake." [Laughs]

Any things that were too crazy to make it into the outtakes?
The outtakes are so indicative of what our set was like.  It's pretty funny when you can laugh at something that you said.  That's classic.  It was such a blast to work on.  I did Mission to Mars, which was kind of dramatic.  It was a serious set.  After that, I wanted to do a young comedy.  My agent sent me this and I was like, "This is hysterical, this is exactly what we should be doing.  It's really a lot of fun."

Any embarrassing moments while shooting the movie?
I had to be in my underwear a lot.  Okay, I'd better watch what I eat that week.  That was probably the most challenging.  And also, not laughing during scenes.  I have a big problem with that.  Controlling laughter is really the only acting I have to do in this film.

Another challenging thing for me in this film is shooting for two weeks in Las Vegas.  Never will I ever be tested as much as I was.  I didn't know it was possible, but you could go without sleep for two weeks.  I didn't sleep a wink.  We went out every night.  It was really a lot of fun.

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SECRET CRUSH ALERT!!

When we asked Jerry O'Connell about any personal, secret, celebrity crushes he's had, we were surprised when he gave us his candid reply!  "I really like that Dido," he admitted, naming the girl with the ethereal voice in Eminem's controversial "Stan" song.  "I really think she's cute.  What's her status?  I didn't see any rings.  How does she feel about American actors?"  He was clowning around, but then he confided, "I'm definitely into her, she's cute.  But I have to admit, I definitely had a thing for Shannon Elizabeth...but then she got engaged after American Pie.  So then she's immediately untouchable."  Sorry Jerry!!!

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