TOM SELLECK struggled with one element of playing war hero DWIGHT D EISENHOWER in new TV movie IKE: COUNTDOWN TO D-DAY - chain smoking.

The FRIENDS star took up smoking for the role - to authentically play Ike - and insists he'll never puff again, because he hated every minute.

He says, "Ike smoked four packs a day. He was under enormous pressure. His son said he'd forget, have one lit in an ashtray and he'd light up another.

"I started smoking Camels about two weeks before the movie. I would still get dizzy in some scenes. The last cigarette I smoked was at the end of the last scene we shot."

28/05/2004 09:16