"I've spent a lifetime in politics," Bulworth kingpin Warren Beatty recently told Mr. Showbiz. "I've dealt with assassinations--by character or bullet or marginalization or tabloid. It's happened to a lot of people I cared a lot about, so the idea of getting involved in a self-assassination struck me as, well... kind of funny."

It was Beatty's amusement with the idea of self-inflicted assassination that resulted in last year's political satire Bulworth, the story of a jaded presidential candidate who gets so disgusted by his own political inconsistencies that, in a moment of mental instability, he places an assassination hit on himself. Sound morbid? It might have been had anyone besides Beatty been behind the film's wheels (the producing, directing, writing and starring wheels, that is). Instead of morbid, Beatty creates an entertaining look at the dishonesty of presidential campaigning when his character, likably absurd politician Jay Bulworth, takes advantage of his impending assassination to finally let loose ultra-truthfulness on a very honesty-hungry population.

"I think the idea that a politician has to have a nervous breakdown in order to tell the truth is a rich and funny one," says co-star Oliver Platt, who plays Bulworth's frustrated political operative Murphy. "With me, being candid or open doesn't require a nervous breakdown," Beatty says, comparing himself with his invented persona, Bulworth. "But sometimes it requires a little more caffeine than I usually ingest."

Though Platt himself finds Bulworth's devotion to the truth comical, his character is initially less than pleased by his boss' new-found straight-forwardness. It turns out, however, exactly what the soon-to-be-assassinated politician is willing to do for his career now that it's coming to a close is exactly what makes him a massive crowd-pleaser, especially when Beatty's Bulworth takes to criticizing today's politics in a painfully-dorky rap rant. "I didn't get too much stage direction," Beatty admits about his rapping rampage in Bulworth. "I wanted to be as bad as I was."

Because the film mixes messages of "high-brow" politics with on-the-level rap lyrics, the film's soundtrack reflects that merge as well--including works of composer Ennio Morricone alongside tunes by such rap legends as Dr. Dre, LL Cool J, Ice Cube and Cypress Hill.

"I listen to rap. I've gotten into [it]," Beatty admits. "I love some of it."

"I think [Bulworth's] gonna raise a lot of eyebrows," says The Fugees' Pras, whose band contributes their original brand of hip-hop to the film's soundtrack. "It's a good film because it's attacking issues that a lot of people are trying to shy away from."

Perhaps it was Bulworth's devotion to those issues, then, that made it such a hit with critics and awards panels alike--earning the film a Golden Globe nomination for Best Comedy and Beatty a nod for Best Actor. And that wasn't where Bulworth's nominations ended. Co-stars Halle Berry (who plays a young political activist who--along with his new-found popularity--makes Bulworth scramble to cancel his self-inflicted hit) and Don Cheadle (of Out Of Sight and Boogie Nights fame) also earned NAACP nods for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actor respectively.

"The chance to work with Warren was irresistible," admits Berry, who made her acclaimed feature film debut as a crack addict in Spike Lee's Jungle Fever. "I mean, he is a legendary actor and filmmaker. I've always respected his work and knew I'd learn a lot working with him."

Having been in and out of the Hollywood spotlight for almost 40 years, since his debut in 1961's Splendor In The Grass, Beatty has established quite a respectable career for which Berry can't be faulted for admiring. He's been a mainstay on Oscar night--earning 10 nominations for Bonnie And Clyde, four for Shampoo, nine for his directorial debut Heaven Can Wait, 12 for Reds (for which he was awarded Best Director), seven for Dick Tracy and 10 for Bugsy. Not only that, but, by earning a nomination for director, writer, actor and producer for both Heaven Can Wait and Reds, Beatty joined Orson Welles as one of only two people in showbiz history to be honored with all four nods for one project. And his current successes with Bulworth aren't too shabby either.

"Every idea, everything I write down, I write it down on a legal pad. I have three huge bureau drawers stacked with yellow pads. Everything I think of I throw into that drawer. It's an interesting index to insanity," Beatty reveals of the o