STAR PRANKS; SNEAKY CELEBS

Johnny Depp created a stink on his horror flick From Hell - with an electronic device that made farting sounds. Crew members were in on the gag and every time Johnny made a parping noise, they'd all look at each other accusingly. Co-star Heather Graham was aghast and became more and more grossed out as Depp kept up the gag all day before letting her in on it.

Mel Gibson

will have his 'fun'. While filming Conspiracy Theory, he took hold of Julia Roberts' hand and put something on her palm. She looked down and he'd coated a cockroach in gunk and stuck it to her hand. She ran off screaming. On another occasion, Mel had to do a scene with Helen Hunt in What Women Want which involved a lot of kissing. 'I asked make-up to shave him because my face was getting chewed up by his stubble,' she says. 'So he showed up on the set with 25 tiny bits of toilet paper stuck to his face with fake blood on them.' Yeah, hysterical, Mel.

Britney fell victim to a practical joke when a radio DJ in Canada phoned her pretending to be Celine Dion. Britney was completely fooled and politely asked how Celine's baby was doing. 'Rene Charles is exactly like his father - he has no hair,' replied 'Celine'. The DJ then invited Britney to Montreal to perform a duet with Tiger Woods called Let's Make a Hole In One. 'Oh, I'd be thrilled. When do you want to do it?' she said. Britney was then told it was all a joke. 'At first she was a bit aggressive, but then she laughed,' said the DJ.

Not much bugs Jerry Seinfeld, but he has got a reputation for being very picky about his breakfast cereal. He's been known to open a box, have one serving then throw the rest away. One day on the set of his TV show, Seinfeld, he opened a pack and began to help himself. But he soon leapt out of his chair and dropped the box in horror when he saw what had come pouring out - dozens of creepy crawlies. Then Jerry noticed his co-stars, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Jason Alexander and Michael Richards, who had been anticipating the moment, doubled up with laughter. The creepy crawlies were plastic.

George Clooney is a notorious Hollywood prankster. While living with actor pal Richard Kind, from TV's Spin City, Clooney came home with a painting under his arm, saying he'd been taking art lessons. He gave it to Kind and even signed it for him. Kind was so impressed he hung it on the wall, and proudly showed it off. After six months, George confessed he'd found the painting in a skip. Also while living with Kind, Clooney began emptying the cat's litter tray. Kind didn't realise he was doing it and told Clooney his cat was constipated. The next day, George took an, um, poo in the tray. When he saw the huge pile in the litter tray, Kind's eyes popped out of his head, thinking his constipated cat had finally 'gone'.

When Matt LeBlanc boasted he was such a dab hand at softball he could catch a ball dropped from a five-storey building barehanded, Friends co-stars David Schwimmer and Matthew Perry took him up on the challenge.

But instead of a ball, they threw down a rotting grapefruit. To be fair, the unsuspecting Matt caught the fruit - but as he did so it exploded and left him dripping in juice and grapefruit bits.

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