MATTHEW VAUGHN - DE NIRO 'GENUINELY SCARED' STARDUST ACTORS

Director MATTHEW VAUGHN had no need to instruct CHARLIE COX and CLAIRE DANES to "act scared" of ROBERT DE NIRO's intimidating character in new movie STARDUST - because they were genuinely terrified of the star. Vaughn urged the stars to conjure an atmosphere of terror in a scene where De Niro takes the pair hostage, and this inspired the veteran actor to click straight into Mafia mode. Cox says, "Bob's a pirate and he has us tied up. He's doing his Mafioso intimidating stuff, and Matthew's going to us: 'This is scary, this is really scary.' "But by this time we're scared of Bob for real, so there's no need to act."