Checking 'em Out!

A twinkle in the eye? A comforting arm around the shoulder? Buns of steel? A pile of money? What exactly gives men an edge when it comes to women? To find out, PEOPLE LOS Angeles correspondent Tom Cunneff and senior editor Elizabeth Sporkin invited six Hollywood sirens to sit down and discuss the men in their lives—and the men of their dreams. Morgan Fairchild, 47, the former Flamingo Road star who plays Matthew Perry’s mother on Friends, has been living with film executive Mark Seiler for 10 years. “I find intelligence a very big turn-on,” she says. For never-married Maria Canals, 31, who plays Carmen on The Tony Danza Show, “sincerity makes a man sexy.” Lesley-Anne Down, 43, of NBC’s Sunset Beach, mother of a teenager, expects a baby in February with her third husband, cinematographer Don E. Fauntleroy. “I think parenting makes the guy,” she says. Alexia Robinson, 29, of UPN’s Good News, admits that her looks “have scared guys in the past,” but last year she married actor Herman Hudson. “Honesty and a sense of humor” are the traits that impress Carmen Electra, 25, who stars on Baywatch and Singled Out and dates B-Real of the rap group Cypress Hill. Elise Neal, 31 and single, appeared in the films Rosewood and Money Talks and next plays Neve Campbell’s roommate in Scream 2. Like many women, she’s not attracted by any particular quality in a man. “For me,” says Neal, “it’s the whole package.”

PEOPLE: What makes a man sexy?

Elise Neal: Something about his eyes, his smile, the way he is looking at you.

Carmen Electra: I like someone who makes me laugh, someone who can entertain me.

Alexia Robinson: I agree.

Maria Canals: Hygiene, hygiene. Nice, clean aura. Nice teeth.

Lesley-Anne Down: No tongue rings.

Maria Canals: One day without a shower, but not a few.

Elise Neal: Yeah, but you don’t want a man that is too neurotic either. Because if a guy is like a hygiene freak, wait a minute, what is the problem?

Maria Canals: I don’t like men who spend more time in front of the mirror than I do.

Carmen Electra: He walks out wearing my lashes and shoes, that is a problem.

Maria Canals: I think that facial hair is cool.

Carmen Electra: I like bald. Completely bald.

Maria Canals: That’s a good thing to talk about—baldness. If the guy’s an awesome guy, then I really don’t care. But it’s not like, “Gee, I like tall, dark and bald.” You don’t describe it like that.

PEOPLE: SO where do you draw the line?

Lesley-Anne Down: Speedos. Those very tight little swimming trunks that you see a lot of people on the Continent wearing—and on Baywatch.

Carmen Electra: When a man wears tight jeans to show off his butt, that turns me off more than anything. I can’t stand it. I don’t like muscles either. And cowboy boots. Men do not wear cowboy boots around me, okay?

Morgan Fairchild; I’m sorry; I’m from Texas and I like certain guys in cowboy boots.

Maria Canals: The No. 1 thing is authenticity. If he really is a guy from Texas and he loves Garth Brooks, great.

Morgan Fairchild: Women don’t like guys that look like they are trying too hard to be sexy. You want the sexiness to come from the person.

Carmen Electra: Let me tell you a story. I just did this sitcom, Just Shoot Me, with David Spade. For some reason I had this little crush on David Spade, and he is not the most attractive guy in the world. But he is so funny, I just felt like I wanted to pick him up and grab him. He’s probably shorter than I am, but he is so cute and I now have this little crush on him.

Morgan Fairchild: I’m sure he will be thrilled to read about it.

Elise Neal: Here’s another example. I was doing the movie Rosewood, and I was working with Ving Rhames. When I first met him, I was thinking he is probably really angry or maybe he is really militant, he is such a big man. But he is the funniest, sweetest man, very sensitive and warm.

Carmen Electra: I like a man who is real independent, who will let you have your freedom, someone who is not going to try to suffocate you, tell you how to dress, what you should say, what you should do, someone who is going to accept you for who you are. That is more attractive than anything.

Lesley-Anne Down: We all want the same guy.

PEOPLE: DO you like dating actors?

Lesley-Anne Down: No.

Morgan Fairchild: No.

Elise Neal: No.

Carmen Electra: No, never.

Alexia Robinson: My husband is an actor, but I didn’t find out until later.

Morgan Fairchild: What did you guys talk about?

Alexia Robinson: We talked about God. I had never met a guy with those convictions. He wouldn’t sleep with me. I was like, “Are you gay?” But he’s all man. He just loves God first. That’s sexy to me.

Elise Neal: I don’t want to talk about what I do for a living. I want somebody to say, “Do you want to watch the football game?”

Carmen Electra: Make me laugh, teach me something. Take me somewhere I’ve never been.

PEOPLE: Does power make a guy sexy?

Lesley-Anne Down: Yes. It isn’t just running a company, it’s about being confident. That in itself is power.

Carmen Electra: Working hard is sexy.

PEOPLE: What about men with a competitive edge—like athletes?

Elise Neal: I’ve never been into jocks.

Alexia Robinson: Many times athletes seem to have a lot of women. That’s never been attractive to me.

Morgan Fairchild: No woman wants to feel like she’s just a notch on a belt.

Alexia Robinson: That’s not attractive, no! We want to be the only one!

Maria Canals: I like Harrison Ford because he is not only a very talented actor but he has been married to the same lady for many years.

Alexia Robinson: I respect that.

Morgan Fairchild: Women admire guys who make a commitment and keep it.

PEOPLE: What other stars do you like?

Alexia Robinson: Oh, George Clooney, well, my gosh.

Maria Canals: Denzel.

Elise Neal: Let me just say that I met Tom Cruise when he was just engaged to Nicole Kidman. I was doing Arsenio Hall one night, and she was a guest and he was just there to support her. I thought that he must be a wonderful guy in general. And I have got to say that ever since that day I have been more of a Tom Cruise fan, and he has been much more sexy to me.

Carmen Electra: I don’t really know anything about his personal life, but as far as looks go, Brad Pitt is gorgeous.

Maria Canals (teasing): I don’t know, his pants are pretty tight.

Alexia Robinson (teasing): Does he have a butt?

Lesley-Anne Down: When I met my husband 12 years ago on the set of North and South, I heard his laugh and it was the biggest laugh I ever heard. I wasn’t physically attracted to him. We were together at least four or five months before even an inkling of sexuality happened to our relationship. And of course, he is the guy that I have been with the longest in my life.

Carmen Electra: The true test is asking a man to pick you up from the airport. Any man that will do that is a true friend.

Maria Canals: If he meets you at the gate, then he gets extra points.

PEOPLE: Any tests besides the airport test? Is there a kissing test?

Alexia Robinson: Kissing is very important.

Maria Canals: Kissing is communication.

Lesley-Anne Down: I have never liked being gagged.

PEOPLE: Which actors are the best kissers?

Alexia Robinson: The one that I have to name—no one probably knows of him yet—is Myles O’Brien. I worked with him in The Last Detour. Oh, my gosh. He is an incredible kisser. I thought, um, boy, is his wife lucky.

Carmen Electra: I have only had one onscreen kiss, and that was with David Chokachi on Baywatch, and I have to say that he is an amazing kisser. It was so good that I wanted to slip him the tongue, and you know you are not supposed to use your tongue when you kiss on TV.

Lesley-Anne Down: You are not.

Elise Neal: I haven’t done a lot of love scenes, but I just did a movie called Restaurant and the lead guy is Adrien Brody, who everybody will probably know next summer because he is in a movie called The Thin Red Line. He was an incredible kisser.

PEOPLE: Morgan?

Morgan Fairchild: Unlike these ladies, I have been in many love scenes and I can’t think of who would be the best.

Lesley-Anne Down: Come on, make it up.

Elise Neal: Pick one of the Top 10.

Lesley-Anne Down: Well, I am kind of like Morgan, I have done one or two love scenes in my life, but I don’t have to think about it. The best kisser was Harrison Ford, beyond question. He is a great kisser. It was a film called Hanover Street. We started shooting at eight in the morning and we were in bed for two days.

Morgan Fairchild: I can’t think of anyone, but I will say Harrison Ford, even though I have never actually played a scene with him and just hope I get lucky.

PEOPLE: What celebrities did you have crushes on growing up?

Carmen Electra: John Travolta.

Maria Canals: The Fonz.

Elise Neal: Leroy from Fame was so hot.

Alexia Robinson: Michael Jackson, okay?

Carmen Electra: Are we going to confess? Ricky Schroder in Silver Spoons.

Maria Canals: He was cute. I can see that.

Lesley-Anne Down: I’m a different generation, I’m afraid. Jimmy Stewart, Gary Cooper, you know I liked all those.

Morgan Fairchild: Gregory Peck.

Carmen Electra: John Stamos.

PEOPLE: Did you ever meet any of these men? Did they live up to your expectations?

Morgan Fairchild: Gregory Peck is everything I would ever dream he would be in my short acquaintance with him, just a gentleman, you know.

Maria Canals: I worked on Cop and a Half, and Henry Winkler directed it. He is the nicest man. He is nothing like the Fonz, but he was very sweet.

PEOPLE: What can you tell about a man by the way he treats others?

Maria Canals: I had a roommate who would judge a man on how he treated her dog. She would say, “Maria, he is here. Tell me how he is with Roxy.” If he petted the dog, I would go, “Thumbs up, Shana.” There was one guy, oh, he was like, “Get that mangy mutt off me.” And I said, “Oh, poor dude, you are out.”

Alexia Robinson: It’s very important how he treats his mom. I think it is an indication of how he will treat his wife.

Morgan Fairchild: But there is close and then there is too close.

Alexia Robinson: Some go overboard.

Morgan Fairchild: Healthy respect and love for Mom. You don’t want any kinky weirdo stuff.

PEOPLE: Did any of your fathers influence your opinion of a sexy man?

Alexia Robinson: I like hardworking men, and my father was very hardworking.

Lesley-Anne Down: My father has got a large gap in his teeth and he has got a bit of a spot on the end of his nose, and my first boyfriend who I lived with for 10 years had a large gap in his teeth and a little spot on the end of his nose.

PEOPLE: Do you have an age that you like in a man?

Alexia Robinson: I don’t have an age. It is completely irrelevant.

Carmen Electra: I agree.

Lesley-Anne Down: Over 40. They tend to have better bank accounts. Money doesn’t make you happy and it doesn’t make the relationship any better, but it makes the misery more bearable.

Morgan Fairchild: A lot of guys who have a lot of money feel that they can buy the relationship. They think

money solves all the problems and you will stick around because of the money. I’ve broken up with rich guys for poor guys.

Carmen Electra: I have too.

Alexia Robinson: But you want them to have a job.

Lesley-Anne Down: Or at least try to find one.

Morgan Fairchild: You don’t want some gigolo or something.

PEOPLE: HOW important is the kind of car they drive?

Maria Canals: I don’t even notice.

Lesley-Anne Down: I see those cars—there’s an Italian one called a Testosterone or something.

Alexia Robinson: Testosterone, yeah!

Morgan Fairchild: It’s called a Testarosa. When you see that kind of car, you think the guy’s really insecure that he’s gotta have that kind of car.

Carmen Electra: I don’t know if I’d want him to come pick me up in an old station wagon either. I’m not saying that he has to have a Porsche, but I mean, we’re all human.

PEOPLE: If you are more successful than the guy, is that a problem?

Morgan Fairchild: Not for me. I have dated guys that it was a problem for.

Lesley-Anne Down: Men don’t like it much.

PEOPLE: Are men afraid to ask you out?

Elise Neal: I think so.

Morgan Fairchild: We have all heard that kind of thing, even back to high school. Later I got word that this guy had a crush on me, and he had never said hello to me.

Alexia Robinson: I had a friend for several years, and it wasn’t until after I got married that I found out how much he liked me.

PEOPLE: IS it possible to be just friends with a guy?

Elise Neal: I have tons of male friends.

Alexia Robinson: Absolutely possible.

Morgan Fairchild: We are perfectly capable of having a male friend, but guys, if they find out that you are really, really not going to sleep with them, then they drop you as a friend too.

PEOPLE: What is the most romantic thing a man has ever done for you?

Elise Neal: I have a jewelry box that was given to me by this guy I dated, and he actually had Beethoven’s “Fur Elise” put into the box. Every time I go into my little box, I hear this. That was unbelievable.

Morgan Fairchild: Of all the grand gestures that fellows have done over the years to try to impress me, whether it is flowers or sending a jet…

Alexia Robinson: A jet?

Lesley-Anne Down: We will take that.

Morgan Fairchild: …in spite of all the grand gestures, the most romantic things are some of the simple things. With my boyfriend it is just when he will offer to do something, just help out on a day-to-day basis.

Maria Canals: My boyfriend helped me organize my room. He helped me put the bookshelf up and then he arranged the books in order of size. That was sweeter than flowers.

Alexia Robinson: My husband wrote this beautiful letter for me professing his love before we got married. It just blew my mind.

Lesley-Anne Down: I would have to say the most romantic thing is being asked to marry somebody. I don’t think that I have ever had anything more romantic done to me than that.

Maria Canals: When he proposed?

Lesley-Anne Down: Yes.

Maria Canals: How did he do it?

Lesley-Anne Down: This husband?

Maria Canals: How many have you had?

Lesley-Anne Down: Three. With this husband, I was the one who proposed. My other two husbands [Enrique Gabrielle and director William Friedkin] proposed to me. They didn’t work out, but it was romantic.

Carmen Electra: My boyfriend asked me for a picture, so I gave it to him, not knowing what it was for. And he came home that night with my picture tattooed on his arm! But I would have to say that the most romantic thing is to have someone write a song about you. [The Artist, who discovered Carmen in L.A., wrote “Carmen on Top” in 1990.]

Maria Canals: My first love was a musician, and he wrote a song for me. It was beautiful.

Elise Neal: What is the thing about musicians that is so sexy?

Morgan Fairchild: There’s something terribly intriguing about someone who can create music.

PEOPLE: What musicians do you find sexy?

Alexia Robinson: Maxwell.

Carmen Electra: Lenny Kravitz.

Morgan Fairchild: Mick Jagger. I am a huge Stones fan.

Lesley-Anne Down: There is only one guy that I regret never having met and never having an affair with in my whole life and that is Bob Dylan, and my husband knows, sorry.

PEOPLE: What about his son Jakob Dylan, who is considered very hot these days?

Lesley-Anne Down: Jakob is nice, but he is not his dad. His father wasn’t attractive, but he was certainly the voice of the generation.

PEOPLE: Who is the sexiest man alive?

Alexia Robinson: Herman Hudson.

Maria Canals: Who is he?

Alexia Robinson: That’s my man. Okay, other than him, Al Pacino.

Maria Canals: Well, Harrison Ford in Air Force One was pretty sexy. Mel Gibson in Braveheart was very sexy.

Elise Neal: I think Morgan Freeman is sexy. Then I started thinking, well maybe I should say someone younger. So then Benicio Del Toro comes to mind.

Carmen Electra: There are so many. David Spade.

Lesley-Anne Down: David Spade, this is your lucky day!

Morgan Fairchild: I love Ralph Fiennes. And Liam Neeson I think is wonderful.

Maria Canals: I think Andy Garcia is very sexy. And Jimmy Smits—and it’s not just because I’m Latin.

Lesley-Anne Down: Mick Jagger.

PEOPLE: Can a man be born sexy?

Lesley-Anne Down: They are born. You’re talking about people that grow up to be the Brad Pitts, the Tom Cruises of the world. I mean, those guys were born that way. They didn’t learn it. They didn’t go to sexy school. They were born that way.