Burning Q's: Why Will and The Hills Roll So Deep

Why do the photogs follow around the reality stars from The Hills but not reality stars from other shows, like The Real World? What's so great about The Hills?
—Julia, Berea, Ohio

The Hills gets higher ratings for MTV than The Real World. It's MTV's highest-rated reality show. In fact, among ankle-biters ages 12-34, the season-three premiere was the highest-rated cable telecast of the year to date. And oh: That stripper from this season's Real World doesn't have a personal publicist. L.C. does.

Now that we settled that, seems you people have tons more Burning Q's to quench, so here we go!

What exactly determines how much an actor makes? Is it really, "the bigger the celebrity, the more money you make"?
—Ashley, Orlando, Fla.

Not exactly. The reason why Will Smith charges top dollar—roughly $25 million per picture—is because he also makes a bazillionaire out of anyone who comes within 15 feet of him.

Smith's last project, I Am Legend, cost about $150 million to make, but it has earned nearly four times that, at $584 million worldwide. Can you do that? Didn't think so.

How do the Top 10 American Idols get paid by the network (other than the tour)?
—Belinda, Raleigh, N.C.

There an echo in here?

Does Miley Cyrus have a boyfriend or not?
—Maxx, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Not according to an interview this past weekend in Australia's Sunday Telegraph: "I'm not looking for a boyfriend," she told the paper. "The only way I want a boyfriend is when the time's right."

But our sources—as well as her official nuclear-powered PR machine—say she's actually got several b-fs, including the sweet baby Jesus, Uncle Sam and Old Glory.

Got a question about how Hollywood works? ASK ME!