HOLLYWOOD -- When Jon Stewart gets cut out of a movie, he just laughs it off. "Rejection is part of the game. As a comic, I'm used to cutting jokes from my act that don't work for audiences, even if I still think they're great."

Stewart played Goldie Hawn's boyfriend in The First Wives Club, but admits: "The focus groups demanded I be cut from the movie. I played the young playwright who loved her despite her facelifts and attitude.

"My butt stayed in the previews. There's this great moment with Goldie kicking me out of the apartment. I guess they loved the look on her face."

The truth is out there. Focus groups were kinder to Stewart when it came to the romantic drama Playing By Heart, in which he played Gillian Anderson's boyfriend. "The test audiences wanted more of Gillian, so that meant shooting additional love scenes between the two of us. You didn't hear any complaints from me."