They speak their minds, recalling honestly and candidly what it was like to work with certain celebrities. Such was the case when we sat down with the youthful cast of the family drama October Sky, opening March 19.

The film is the fact-based story of Homer Hickman who, in 1957 as a high school senior, dreamed of becoming a rocket scientist. With the help of four friends, Homer rose above his coal-mining roots to eventually work at NASA.

Homer is played by introspective newcomer Jake Gyllenhaal, and his buddies by Chad Lindberg, William Lee Scott and Chris Owen, a trio of rambunctious twentysomethings.

Scott, 25, who starred opposite Christina Ricci in The Opposite of Sex, just completed filming director James Toback's highly controversial film Black and White.

It's a racially charged drama that was completely improvised and features everyone from seasoned actors like Robert Downey Jr. and Ben Stiller to boxer Mike Tyson, Marla Maples - the former Mrs. Donald Trump - and supermodel Claudia Schiffer.

"Mike Tyson didn't quite grasp the whole concept of improvisation," recalled Scott.

"Robert Downey plays this gay director who's doing a documentary on Mike. In one sequence, Robert is supposed to bait Mike.

"When the cameras started rolling, Robert gave his all. He came up with such zingers that Mike tried to attack him. It's a good thing for Robert that Mike travels with an entourage of 20 people. They were needed to keep Mike from killing Robert."

Schiffer plays a promiscuous woman who is secretly bedding most of the male characters in the film.

"That would be a stretch for Claudia. She couldn't possibly manoeuvre anything that complicated," insists Scott. "She can hardly get through an open door without explicit directions"

Scott was on a roll and, thank heavens, didn't stop with just his observations on the Black and White set. He also recalled his experiences on the TV movie Before Women Had Wings, with Oprah Winfrey.

"Oprah can be really sweet but you know she has another face and, from what the crew said, you don't want to get on her bad side."

Lindberg, 22, filmed an X-Files episode about killer trees.

He recalled, "David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson have incredible chemistry when the cameras are rolling but the minute a scene is over they head off in opposite directions.

"They have absolutely no interaction with each other that isn't strictly professional."

Lindberg was impressed with Duchovny who, he says, "is such a funny man who really makes you feel at home on the set."

But Anderson, says Lindberg, proved to be exactly the opposite.

"The director asked me to do something that wasn't in the shooting script. When I did, Gillian got incensed, stormed away and asked the director why I wasn't following the script.

"When he told her it was his idea, she walked back and asked to do the scene again. She never apologized for her outburst."