NEW YORK -- The bigger they are, the harder they ... cry?

At six-foot-five and 270 pounds, with biceps as thick as many a mortal man's thigh, Michael Clarke Duncan is not what you'd call a wimpy-looking guy.

But for his role in the sci-fi thriller The Island, opening in theatres Friday, Duncan was able to muster tears just by putting himself in the head of his character - a clone who ends up strapped to an operating table with his chest cut open, about to be harvested for his internal organs.

A GUY WOULD WANT HIS MOMMY

At a time like that, Duncan said, a guy would probably just want his mommy. "Ten minutes later, (director) Michael Bay said, 'Let's get him some tears.' And I said, 'I'm ready, I'm there already. Let's go, let's do it.' That's how the emotion came out."

Duncan is no stranger to shedding tears on screen, having drawn critical notices for playing frequently weepy death-row inmate John Coffey in Frank Darabont's The Green Mile.

It's all part of that acting thing, sure, but Duncan does have a genuinely sensitive side.

He does yoga and pilates, for instance, to keep his bulging muscles supple and flexible. Even if it does raise eyebrows among his friends.

"When you're a big guy and you're a power lifter, and all your buddies are big - we can bench over 300 pounds - a guy says he does pilates, and we laugh him right out of the room."

And while he's had onscreen superpowers of sorts - Coffey's miracle-working in The Green Mile, and the villainous Kingpin's super-strength in Daredevil - the one ability he'd like most is to be able to read women's minds.

"To know when I'm talking to a female, does she think, 'Boy he's hot,' or, 'Oh I wish he'd leave me alone.'

"Sometimes my girl just looks at me, and I say, 'What are you thinking?' and she says, 'Nothing.' And I'm like, 'You're lying. You're looking at me like, 'I could have done better than this.' "

A DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES FAN

But maybe the biggest sign of Duncan being firmly in touch with his feminine side is the fact he loves ABC's Desperate Housewives. So much so that he wants to guest star on the hit TV show.

"When Alfre Woodard came on there with a son, I called my manager right away and I said, 'Hey, they got an African-American on Desperate Housewives,' " said Duncan.

" 'She's gonna need a husband, a lover, a brother, something in the past. Get me a meeting with those people right away. I can do this!' So if you guys see me on there, don't be surprised."