Drew Barrymore doesn't sound much like the fun-loving free spirit who once flashed David Letterman when she talks about being a director -- as she is on her upcoming "Whip It" movie, in which she also stars.

What kind of director is Ms. B.? "I don't understand laid-back -- it freaks me out. I hate 'passive,' and I hate 'total control freak.' I am very diligent," she tells Entertainment Weekly, in the magazine's Fall Movie Preview issue that hits stands tomorrow.

Drew also admits she doesn't like losing "five minutes here and there during shooting by people sitting around drinking coffee and talking."

With her "Grey Gardens" Emmy nomination, the success of "He's Just Not That Into You" and now, "Whip It" on the way, EW wondered if this is her best year ever, professionally. "Maybe at the end of this year, I'll take a vacation and reflect," she says. "And then, I'll be like, 'Oh, f---! That was probably the best year of my life!' But, I'm one of those people who doesn't pop the cork until it's all really said and done."

"Whip It," which also boats Ellen Page, Marcia Gay Harden, Jimmy Fallon and Zoe Bell in its cast, has to do with a women's roller derby league in Austin, Texas.

A NUMB3ERS GAME: Rob Morrow is keeping a positive outlook about Patricia Arquette's "Medium" moving from NBC to CBS -- where it will be serving as the lead-in to Rob's "Num3ers" on Friday nights. "I like that show," he says. "And, people in the know think that it will be good for us.

"What I also like about it is that CBS is going to promote the whole night as a block. Up until now, they've promoted the 7-to-9 block and then 10 o'clock separately, and I didn't understand that. It seemed like a disunity that didn't benefit anyone."

With "Num3ers" heading into its sixth season, Morrow reports that his character, FBI man Don Eppes, "is going through some more kind of existential growing pains. He's getting older, slowing down a little, feeling, 'Is this it? Is this all life has to offer?' And, is the FBI going to satisfy that."

Morrow points out that Don "has been on a bit of a spiritual quest, and I think he continues that. They're going to make him go deeper into himself and he finds out more. He's starting to think that there's more to life than work -- so it seems like he's growing up."

That's hardly your average TV take on an FBI man, but then, "Num3ers" has never been an average show, which is why Morrow says he continues to stay enthusiastic about the drama that also stars David Krumholtz and Judd Hirsch.

"It's always such an odd thing because we don't really know what's going to happen. We have broad general talks, but I'm not there for the minutia. If you need to know something, you're told, but short of that it's like, it just kind of rolls along. I don't think the writers always know everything in advance, and I think that's the best way."

GOOD FROM BAD: Hip-hop artist, producer and songwriter Creeze has come back strong from the frightening automobile accident last year that for awhile had him nearly incapacitated.

He was in his home town of Louisville on Kentucky Derby weekend, set to go on a promotional tour later in May, when "I was going through an intersection and a guy came through and hit me. He was under the influence. It happened real fast," says Creeze. And suddenly, he was being taken to the hospital. He sustained neck and back injuries and "that crushed the plans for the whole summer." A long, arduous climb back via physical therapy followed.

"Looking at my life, period, I got another chance to be -- as a person, as an artist, to treat people differently, be more humble and appreciate life more," says the musician, who plays sax and trumpet.

Creeze's "All Good" single featuring the Nappy Roots has made a nice splash for him this summer, and he's now looking forward to the fall debut of his first CD, "Louisville Lip."

He admits, "It was rough trying to come in and focus and get music done, but I really had a lot of people behind me. My producers, we all got together and just kept doing music and it took my mind off the accident."

Now, he says, "I feel good. I feel confident about everything that's happening."

NEW GIRL IN TOWN: Last month, we noted how tween girls seem to have discovered Jolie Vanier via the "Shorts" trailers in movie houses and on the internet. Now, their interest in the 11-year-old star of the Aug. 21-opening Robert Rodriguez kids flick is getting the attention of movie critics.

Variety, for instance, proclaimed, "In an ensemble that involves much adult-kid interaction, the most memorable perf belongs to young Vanier. A dead ringer for Christina Ricci circa 'The Addams Family,' Vanier is so lovably hateful here, she gets an 'introducing' credits in the credits and even her own musical motif."

Those two nods, we understand, were definitely not "contractual," but were Rodriguez' salute to her debut in movies.

With reports by Emily-Fortune Feimster