Stranger Than Fiction

By Saryn Chorney

Did you know that, before Mariah Carey married boy toy Nick Cannon, the pop star played around with a 420-pound, rare pink dolphin named Pet in a Sentosa Island lagoon in Singapore? Strange, shocking (mostly because Mimi has yet to name an album "Pink Dolphin") and 100 percent true! But can you detect which one of the following strange celeb trivia items we made up ourselves?

"X-Men Origins: Wolverine" hero Hugh Jackman used to have a poster of Aussie superstar Olivia Newton-John under his desk in elementary school — and he kissed it every day.

Hmm, so how come he agreed to star in Broadway's "The Boy from Oz," but not "Xanadu"? Put another celeb on the barbie…

Nicole Kidman is afraid of butterflies. Apparently she finds them to be eerie and weird — although she doesn't seem to mind dressing up like one.

Robert Downey Jr. once went, um, No. 2, in Kelly LeBrock's trailer on the set of the '80s teen classic "Weird Science," but he didn't confess to the prank until years later.

We really hope this one is true because poop jokes are funny in any decade!

Hollywood royalty Drew Barrymore was delivered by Dr. Paul Fleiss, father of the infamous Hollywood madam, Heidi Fleiss.

Wait a minute! Didn't Drew also portray Heidi in a made-for-TV movie? Oh. Never mind. That was "The Amy Fisher Story."

Leonardo DiCaprio once appeared as a contestant on the late '80s kid game show called "Fun House." One of the stunts he had to perform was catching fish out of a small pool with only his teeth.

Ah, this must be the root of his attraction to swimsuit models.

Scarlett Johansson applied to New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, but she was rejected.

Alanis Morissette and/or Jessica Biel must be on the admissions staff there, because that's the only possible explanation for this higher-education affront.

As a child, Ben Affleck walked an imaginary dog, which his family and neighbors referred to as "the Phantom Dog." He claims to sometimes still walk the imaginary dog along with his five other dogs.

Sounds like Jen Garner better keep a short leash on her husband.

Does Rosario Dawson really speak Klingon? And if so, how did Zoe Saldana snag the role of Uhura? She was good and all, but the snub must've felt like a Trekkie travesty to Dawson.

Neil Patrick Harris was bitten twice by the unicorn he rode in "Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay." Good thing Doogie is handy with a tetanus shot!

Prior to starring in "Lost," Evangeline Lilly once lived in a grass hut in the Philippines.

Man, typecasting in Hollywood is serious business.

Jim Carrey used to write letters to Tupac Shakur while the rapper was in prison to help make him laugh.

We wonder if Tupac wrote poetry back to him — and does Jenny McCarthy know about this?

Daniel Radcliffe can rotate his arm 360 degrees.

Perhaps little Harry Potter has a long career ahead of him after all … as a pro-bowler.

Christina Aguilera's performance contract requests Flintstones chewable vitamins backstage.

*Sigh.* If only Britney had done the same. We blame those Twinkies, packs of beef jerkey and M&M's for all the pop princess problems in the world.

A popular indie band in The Netherlands, Seanpenn, is named after Sean Penn. Makes sense, as the Dutch support both marijuana (Jeff Spicoli, "Fast Times at Ridgemont High") and gay rights (Harvey Milk, "Milk").

Michelle Pfeiffer can tie maraschino cherry stems in knots with her tongue. Finally! After three decades, we finally understand what the fuss is all about.

Lenny Kravitz's mom, Roxie Roker, starred as Helen Willis on the hit '70s sitcom "The Jeffersons." To this day, Lenny prefers to live in a deluxe apartment in the sky.

Before she married Matthew Broderick, Sarah Jessica Parker used to date long-forgotten '90s singer-songwriter Joshua Kadison. After they broke up Kadison wrote the song "Jessie" about her. Apparently she was his "Mr. Big."

Tom Hanks has an asteroid named after him: "12818 tomhanks" named after him. He would've preferred "12818 forrestgump," but beggars can't be choosers in outer space.

OK, we lied: Neil Patrick Harris was NOT bitten by his unicorn while filming "Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay." In fact, he claims there was "lots of calming, nurturing touches … It was very 'Horse Whispery'" on set.

No word on whether Pet the pink dolphin bit Mariah, but we do hope her new album, "Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel," is an homage to the oceanic freak of nature.