MUSCLE BOUND

Imagine, If you can, a time when Ally McBeal's Calista Flockhart was too beefy to play a waifish drug addict. "I thought she was too good-looking. And what junkie has muscles?" says director Paul Pedltto, who was reluctant to cast Flockhart in the title role of his 1996 feature debut, Jane Doe. But now the Indie drama is set to debut June 15, positioned by A-pix Entertainment to cash In on the Golden Globe winner's past. Though Flockhart already had The Birdcage on her resume, it took the urgings of Peditto's leading man--his brother, Christopher--to get the young actress the role. The 18-day shoot in New York and Atlantic City earned Flockhart $3,600 and a score of stitches to her head after she was hit by a flying radio. A year later, she was cast In Ally. Recent plans to shoot extra scenes for a potential theatrical release went south, Paul says, when Flockhart, who was not available for comment, got busy with William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. Meanwhile, Paul deals craps on a casino riverboat in Illinois. "I paid Calista $200 for a 12-hour workday," he says proudly. "Now she makes more in a week than I do all year." -Beth Pinsker