Sheryl Crow: Racy lady

If anyone was ever an unlikely candidate for a stunt driver, it's petite (she's 5ft 2ins) pop star Sheryl Crow. But having decided that loads of dangerous - but cool - driving stunts are what she wanted in the video for her latest single, Steve McQueen, the 40-year-old Missouri- born singer's had to learn about the finer points of burning rubber in order to make the whole thing look realistic. Her aim is to recreate some of the most memorable scenes from Steve McQueen's movies, and M Celebs has been granted exclusive access to the set in a quiet suburb of Los Angeles.

It's two o'clock in the afternoon, and the stillness is suddenly broken by a '67 Ford Mustang, which roars deafeningly through a tree- lined street. Speeding down a hill, it hits a ramp and sails impressively through the air. Surely that wasn't multi-million album- selling superstar Sheryl Crow at the wheel? The car thuds to the ground and skids to a halt. Emerging from it in a blonde wig, and with a pot belly straining under a woman's tight, black top, is what looks like a middle-aged man with a moustache. Can the years of rocking and rolling have exacted this terrible physical toll on the sexy singer?

Well, actually, no. The woman herself - looking slim and gorgeous - appears from behind a crew truck, and makes her way over to us clad in a similar black top to the man on her right. 'It's a testament to a true stuntman if he'll put on woman's clothing,' Sheryl says with a laugh, smiling at Rick Seaman, her alter ego. If you've seen a car chase in any Hollywood film, chances are it was probably Rick taking the pain at the wheel in everything from Charlie's Angels to Lethal Weapon 4 and Austin Powers.

Today, Rick and stunt double Jennifer Caputo are recreating the famous car chase from Bullitt, where McQueen's police lieutenant races after the bad guys at 150mph. Over the next few days, Sheryl will jump motorcycles and race Ford GT's round racetracks - just like in The Great Escape and Le Mans (a lesser-known film about France's annual 24-hour car race). And this time, she's going to do many of the stunts herself.

Sheryl's inspiration for the song harks back to a more simple time before the cult of celebrity, she explains - something she is more aware of than most since her closest friends number, amongst others, Gwyneth Paltrow and Madonna. 'Steve McQueen represents more than just being a famous movie star,' says Sheryl. 'He represents a loss of innocence. Now we are so fixated on celebrity and we know every single detail of our heroes' lives. People of his generation were much more mysterious.'

Yet his character chimes with her own wayward, ripped-denim style rock, evoked in hits such as All I Wanna Do and Everyday Is A Winding Road. 'He represents the great American spirit, the iconoclastic hero, out on the open road, rebellious - he's the American Dream,' the tiny star explains. 'One of the things we were really conscious of was paying homage to the original movie without making it spoofy.'

Sheryl admits to being a bit nervous about what she is about to do. The Mustang has been rigged with dual controls. Rick and Sheryl will tear down a hill and pull a 180 turn at the end, at which point the camera will zoom in on Sheryl, making it appear as though she's been doing all the driving. As Rick fires the car up, Sheryl's showing a few signs of nerves, but once strapped in, they're off. The Mustang thunders down the hill and at the end pulls a squealing handbrake turn. There's a close-up of Sheryl as she spins the steering wheel back and forth. Then the camera cuts.

Out of the car Sheryl is quaking with adrenaline. 'All the breath ran out of my body,' she gasps. 'I thought I was going to have a heart attack. I felt safe with Rick although there was one point when I looked over at him and his face was totally white and I thought maybe I shouldn't be so trusting,' and with that she bursts out laughing.

The following day she teams up with her stunt instructor, Jennifer Caputo, for the motorcycle scenes.

'Anything they want me to do - fires, falls - I'll do it,' says Jennifer.

She stands in for Sheryl on jumps like the famous motorcycle- sailing- over-a-barbed-wire-fence in WWII film The Great Escape.

The end product - a glossy, tightly-cut affair - seems to 'pay homage' as Sheryl wanted. Steve McQueen's wife (his third, former model Barbara Minty) and grandchildren turn up on set to get Sheryl's autograph. As the filming draws to a close, Sheryl rolls her neck around to loosen the stiff muscles. 'It was great to stretch myself, but I have so much respect for stunt people these days,' she says. But for Rick Seaman, who has risked his life on more occasions than he cares to remember, it's a relief it's all over. 'Just to be able to take that damn wig off,' he shrugs, as he walks away from the scene.

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