Using MC names from an array in another movieclip?

Not sharp, here.

I got the following

array

btns_tellBox = [“friends_name”,“friends_email”,“your_name”];


function initData()
//based on lang
{
for (i=0;i<3;i++) {
btn = _root.btns_tellBox*;
//tried btn = _root[btns_tellBox*];
mc_tell.btn.onSetFocus = function() {
....
....

but btn isn’t working.

If I just replace btn with the corresponding MC (names) it works

What is the deal?