How to Make a Hulk

Ang Lee is often told that no film director has ever done what he is doing now. He does not know whether this is true or not, and frankly, the ''Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon'' Oscar winner doesn't wish to find out. ''This way,'' insists the director of ''The Hulk,'' ''I can never know what can't be done.''

What Lee is doing is this: Having completed five months of principal photography with the film's live stars (Eric Bana as Hulk's alter ego, and Jennifer Connelly as love interest Betty Ross), Lee has opted to work side by side with the F/X artists (Industrial Light & Magic) so that he can direct the Hulk's computer-generated image as if it were a real actor. Typically, directors leave such high-tech geekery to the experts. Not Lee. ''I'm a 'hands-on' kind of person.''

Hulk's look is one of this year's biggest secrets. Yes, he is green, and, yes, he is big -- but he's more graceful than you might expect. ''I didn't want a big, lumbering dinosaur,'' says Lee. ''I wanted swiftness. I wanted Jackie Chan in Arnold Schwarzenegger's body.''

It will take five more months to bring Hulk to life. In the meantime, Lee says digital actors may be ruining him for flesh-and-blood types. ''To make Hulk believable, he has to have more detail than real actors. So now I watch real actors and they don't feel right to me! I'm very confused.'' (June 20)