Jackie Collins Sounds Off!

Haven't gotten your fill of fame whores just by watching reality TV? Well then, why not tote the latest Jackie Collins novel, Hollywood Wives, The New Generation, down to the beach this summer? As always, the bestselling author says her fiction is based on real dreamers who've fallen prey to their own celebrity-fueled fantasies.

"I write about people who have nothing and want everything," Collins says. "You take a beautiful young girl: She wins the local beauty contest. She thinks, 'Why can't I be a star? I see Ren&#233e Zellweger — I'm prettier than her. Why can't I go to Hollywood and meet Jim Carrey? Why can't I meet George Clooney?' They come here and what happens is, an attractive older woman will come up to them and say, 'Do you want to sleep with movie stars? Because I can arrange that.' And that's how some of them become hookers. They're being paid to sleep with this guy that they worshipped."

Even if Collins won't say which real-life names inspired the raunchy goings-on in Wives, she is very candid about the celebs currently making headlines:

Sharon Stone: "I think male executives in this town are extremely threatened by successful women. This is proven, recently, by Sharon Stone not being able to pull off Basic Instinct 2. It was so interesting to see these unknown actors turning down the [leading man] role, when they should have been hammering on her door. I know exactly what's going on. They're frightened of Sharon. They're frightened she's going to play this sexual predator, that she's going to be more gorgeous and more sexy and more erotic than any man can be."

Jessica Alba: "I just love [Dark Angel] and she's so fabulous. Her fiancé, Michael Weatherly, is totally gorgeous. So what if she's marrying young! Let her have her mistake, if that's going to be her mistake. I just think they look good together."

Robert Downey Jr.: "I feel very sad about Robert Downey Jr., because when I was very young — a teenager — I was married to a man who was addicted to drugs. And there was no way he could ever get off. I thought I could save him. If you have an addictive personality, it's somehow so difficult. The public loves [Downey] and they are going to keep talking about him because he's very talented and very handsome. If he wasn't those things, they would be saying, 'Ah, throw him in jail. Forget about him.' He is a shining star — but he's out of control."

Tom Cruise: "I think the way Tom has handled the divorce was very classy. He's made one comment — and it's a very interesting comment indeed — saying, 'She knows why we're getting a divorce.' That says everything."

Angelina Jolie: "I think it'd be great to spend two days as an invisible person with Angelina and Billy Bob [Thornton] — because they can't possibly be as bizarre as the quotes they come out with, like, 'I want to drink his blood and carry it around my neck.' I hope she doesn't burn out, because she's such a strong character. I hope she doesn't let Hollywood get to her."