Max Casella had me totally fooled. I mean, for three years I felt really sorry for Doogie Howser, M.D.’s best bud, Vinnie, the bumbling, gawky, insecure kid whose greatest fear in life is girls. Casella is so convincing, I bet he gets tons of advice-filled letters from his supportive fans. Well, that kind of sympathy will be history when you get a look at Casella’s film debut in Newsies. While the twenty-four- year-old actor may not be tall, dark, and handsome (but he’s really cute) as some of his costars, Casella definitely steals the spotlight on more than one occasion, playing Racetrack, a nervy, devious gambler. "I loved making this movie," admits the Massachusetts native. "But the best thing was getting into the role, collecting the props, dressing the part. And," he adds in a heavy New York accent, "it was really easy for me to grasp the New Yawk accent." Casella even went so far as to smoke cigars. "I knew not to inhale them," he says, "but I had a bad time of it. They’re pretty nasty." When Casella’s not in front of the camera, he likes to spend time watching boxing matches, listening to the blues, or brushing up on one of his favorite pastimes: serenading his girlfriend with his guitar. Is this guy cool or what? Sorry, Max, but you don’t get any more sympathy from moi.

-- Malissa Thompson