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REEL DEALS Is Bruce Springsteen typecasting himself? He plans to appear in a romantic drama as a radio DJ who offers relationship advice to caller Julia Stiles. This follows his role in ''High Fidelity'' two years ago, where he appeared as himself in a fantasy sequence and gave romantic advice to John Cusack. The new movie, to be shot in the Boss's native New Jersey, is a yet-untitled story written and directed by Tom Sierchio (''Untamed Heart''), about a man and a woman who meet just as they are both about to kill themselves. As Bruce would probably advise, ''Baby, this town rips the bones from your back, it's a death trap, it's a suicide rap. You gotta get out while you're young.''

TUBE TALK Jane Kaczmarek may or may not have migraine headaches, but the execs at Fox certainly do. She claims that migraines have kept her off the ''Malcolm in the Middle'' set for two weeks, forcing Fox to cut back this year's production run from 24 to 22 shows and face large potential losses in ad revenues. But Fox wonders if she isn't just sicking out in order to agitate for a higher salary. She staged a similar sickout last fall, also claiming migraines, and the result was small raises for the whole cast. Kazcmarek's publicist has asserted that the star's migraines are real and debilitating, and that Fox's doctors have confirmed them, but USA Today reports that ''network insiders'' say her representatives have been asking for a raise.

Then and now, she seemed to be taking a page from her husband, Bradley Whitford, who, along with several of his ''West Wing'' castmates, staged a successful sickout last summer that led to the doubling of their salaries. Also last summer ''Judging Amy'''s Tyne Daly claimed an injury kept her off the set and wound up with a raise, while the supporting cast of ''Becker'' staged an unsuccessful sickout.

LEGAL BRIEF Impresario Lou Pearlman must think that teen pop stars are all a bunch of ingrates -- he makes them famous, and they sue him. Backstreet Boys, 'N Sync, and LFO all battled him to cut their ties with him after he helped mold them and put them on the charts. Now he's facing an investigation by the Florida Department of Labor, the result of a complaint by Merrily Goodell, mother of two members of his boy band Take 5. The complaint alleges that Pearlman forced the band to rehearse from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m., and that the parents bought the kids baby food for protein because Pearlman didn't give them enough money for groceries. Pearlman, who has never been accused of child labor violations before, calls the charges ''preposterous.''

HEALTH WATCH Johnny Cash turns 70 today, and he's marked the occasion by announcing that his health is improving, and he'd like to go back on the road. ''I've felt really good these last few months, better than I've felt in the last three years,'' he tells the Associated Press. Cash suffers from diabetic neuropathy and is highly suseptible to pneumonia, with which she has been hospitalized several times in the last few years. But he's felt well enough recently to work on ''American IV,'' his fourth album with hip-hop producer Rick Rubin. It'll include songs by Sting, Roberta Flack, Paul Simon, and John Lennon. In addition he sings a duet with Dave Matthews on the soundtrack of Mel Gibson's new movie, ''We Were Soldiers.'' Cash says he feels lucky to be around, especially since his longtime roommate and fellow country ''outlaw'' Waylon Jennings died last week of complications from diabetes. ''Yeah, it is hard to see them go. But for every one that dies, I just thank God that he let me live.''