rooo 6l rt d -c;fB n E'et= 6 .|< L = !)zTeen idol talks about near-fatal crash By MIGHAEI GIITZ [lrake Bell - the talented I I star of Nickelodeon's hit E series'Drake &fosh" - is back at work after a vear- end car crash that fraclured his neck, knocked out six teeih, and left fans wondering if he'd ever be able to perform agaln.</p><p> The other driver was ar fault, hitting Bell when he was stopped at a light.</p><p> But that hasn't made him feel anv better about what happened. "In the beginning, I was like, this is no big deal," says the 19- year-old actor. "My mouth is wired shut, but I can live with this.</p><p> And then, dude, like three or four weeks into it, I was like,'This is ridiculous.</p><p> I still have five weeks to go.</p><p> Oh, my God.</p><p> How am I goine to do this?' "The day they unwired me was the hardest.</p><p> I couldn,t open my mouth at all.</p><p> I opened it like half an inch. andI saw stars; I was dizzv.</p><p> You're clenching your jaw for two and a half months straight." A teen idol pinup, Bell candidly admits he was worried about his looks.</p><p> More important to the young singer-actor - who wrote his show's theme song and just released his promising debut CD, "Telegraph" - was what might happen to his voice. "I was so scared," savs Bell. "I didn't know what I was going to look like.</p><p> I didn't know if I was going to be able to sing again or talk normally.</p><p> I have fake teeth and it affects my speech.</p><p> I have to learn how to say my s's and my t's over again.</p><p> It's tough." He took comfort in not being able to shave - suddenly Bell was sporting what he-proudly calied a'frrtt- on Paul McCartney" beard that must have shocked some of his preteen fans. "I'm singing again," says Bell, whose only visible result of the crash is a tiny scar across his chin that fans seem to love."My jaw pops and cracks and stuff.</p><p> The doctor says that'llgo away; you've just got to give it time:" The good news is that he The series won Best Show, and Bell won Best Actor at Nickelodeon's hieh-profiie Kids Choice Awaidihst month ("I did NOT expect that," says Bell) and Bell is soon going to direct an episode.</p><p> He appreciates all the. opportunities he has, but he doesn't hlpe up any sort ot revelations that his brush with death might have provided. "I didn't turn into Cat Stevens or anything," he jokes.
