Cuba Gooding Jr. lit up the sports comedy Jerry Maguire.

He lit up the 1997 Oscars with his acceptance speech for best supporting actor.

Gooding's exuberance is no act.

It's just the way he attacks his life and his work.

You can hear his infectious laugh the moment you enter Hangar 2 at the old Currie Barracks, where Gooding is filming the slapstick comedy Rat Race, which will shoot in the area until later this month.

This madcap road comedy is being directed by Jerry Zucker, the man who reinvented screwball comedy with such wild farces as Airplane! and Naked Gun.

In Rat Race, Gooding plays one of six Las Vegas gamblers who win a gold coin that enables them to join a road race for $2 million.

When the participants head out, everything that could possibly go wrong does, and more.

Gooding's co-stars include Whoopi Goldberg, Rowan Atkinson, John Cleese, Kathy Najimy, Seth Green and Amy Smart.

Gooding's character gets stranded on a remote highway in Mexico and must try to hitch a ride.

In short order, he finds himself wrestling with the occupants of a house being towed down the highway, tangling with a water fountain and being chased by a horde of Lucille Ball impersonators.

Did I mention he's in his boxer shorts?

"I'd heard Rat Race was a pretty broad comedy, so when Jerry asked if I'd be in it, I asked to read the script first. I was afraid it might get too silly," he recalls.

"I laughed so hard just reading Rat Race that it became a case of complete submission. I was up for every silly thing Jerry could throw at me."

That was three months ago and Gooding is still laughing.

Yesterday, he was filming the interior scenes of the moving house.

The set inside the hangar is built on gimbals so it can rock to simulate movement on the highway.

Gooding's character is so tired, he decides to take a nap in a bed, not realizing there is already someone under the covers.

He's out of his clothes before the voluptuous woman emerges. Her screams bring her towering husband barging into the room, sending Gooding flying onto the fold-out bed, which springs up into the wall.

Gooding and his long-time stunt double Tierre Turner work together to make the stunt as physical as possible. When Gooding sees the finished product, he howls.

"Jerry is a genius. He knows what's funny and he knows to put it on the screen."

Last week, Gooding spent four days on Hwy. 22X near Spruce Meadows chasing the moving house and then being chased by the 40 Lucille Ball impersonators.

"I almost pulled a hamstring trying to spring into the moving house."

Gooding's real trophy is the bruise on his elbow.

"I love funky music so I went to the Cherry Lounge the other day.

"There were some breakdancers and that brought back great memories."

At age 16, Gooding got his first professional job as a breakdancer for Lionel Richie's performance at the 1984 Olympics in L.A.

"I couldn't resist. I went out on the floor (at the Cherry Club) and start doing windmills. I scraped my elbow."

Needless to say, the patrons were impressed by the young man's skills, but they were really impressed when they realized who the stranger was. Gooding stayed and partied with his new friends.

It's this unabashed lust for life and total lack of pretension that makes him a rarity in a profession so obsessed with image.


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