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Hollywood Exclusive by Marilyn Beck & Stacy Jenel Smith

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Marilyn Beck & Stacy Jenel Smith

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Ashley Tisdale Learning Producer Ropes With 'Picture This'/People Just Loves That Sexy Bod Of McConaughey

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Rapidly rising 22-year-old starlet Ashley Tisdale says she's learning behind-the-scenes aspects of the business as fast as possible as she's about to start production on "Picture This," her first feature starring vehicle.

"It's my first time executive producing," she notes. "I've been able to be part of the creative process with the script, the character, the casting. I know that it's great to have that creative control, but I also look up to the people I work with. They know what they're doing," says the effervescent blond who's among the stars of the Disney Channel "High School Musical" phenomenon and its Aug. 17-premiering sequel, as well as the channel's series "The Suite Life of Zack & Cody."

"A year and a half ago, I read the script and loved it. It's just a project that's close to me and that I really like, because it's a father-daughter relationship. The mom has passed away. I haven't seen a father-daughter relationship movie like that. He's a very protective father, which my own dad is like," she informs with a laugh. "My dad is super protective over me. It's just about that growing period in the character's life. She's going to college soon, and for the dad it's really hard to let her go."

Ashley looks forward to going to college herself … someday. "I don't have time for it right now," she says. Besides her movie, TV movie and series, she has her recording career to think about. Her already-gold "Headstrong" album, released earlier this year, is getting a big relaunch in September, and she's in the early stages of prepping a follow-up.

PEOPLE WHO LOVE PEOPLE: They've certainly got a thing for Matthew McConaughey's bod at People, which has featured the actor showing off his abs in eight of the last 11 issues. They not only dubbed him the hottest bachelor in June with a bare-chested cover shot that was accompanied by the screaming headline 'SEXY & SINGLE!' they preceded it — and followed it up with — issues that included photos of his beautiful bod accompanied by such captions, as he bounded from the surf, as "No shoes, no shirt — no problem." OK. Got it. He might not go down as the greatest actor ever, but no doubt he has sex appeal.

HE REALLY LIKES IT: Esteemed actor Alfred Molina says he, for one, is "very impressed" with Kenneth Branagh's ambitious reworking of Shakespeare's "As You Like It" debuting on HBO Aug.
21. "Ken's the leading exponent of rendering Shakespeare onto film," says Molina of the actor/director responsible for reduxes of the Bard's plays such as "Much Ado About Nothing," "Hamlet" and "Love's Labour's Lost."

Molina — who's currently starring with Michael Keaton and Chris O'Donnell in TNT's "The Company" miniseries this Sunday (8/12) and next — plays Touchstone the clown in Branagh's version of "As You Like It," set in 19th-century Japan of all places. He says the intriguing locale "gave the play a context that I think is much more visually accessible. Placing it in its original period or somewhere in Europe, you can't be as magical somehow. There's this idea of this mythical forest involved in the play, and if you place it in a different culture and country, in a way it makes it easier for it to be more believable, more acceptable to the audience. I think it worked really well, and Kenneth is shamelessly romantic." Branagh has acted in most of his past projects, but is only at the helm of "As You Like It," which also stars Bryce Dallas Howard, Kevin Kline and Adrian Lester.

THE INSIDE TRACK: Cellist/composer Martin Tillman says he's looking forward to reteaming with Elton John. "We're discussing some possible recording projects for next year, but they are still very secret," says Tillman, who played with Sir Elton on the recently aired tribute to the late Princess Diana at England's Wembley Stadium. "I think Elton would like to explore a different style of music and maybe go to Africa and find different countries in which to record. It would be very cool."

Meanwhile, Tillman's concentrating on his latest CD, "Amadeus on the Nile." "I play both piano and cello, and it's instrumental pop music with vocals on it as well." The album includes three tunes featured in Michael Mann's 2001 feature biopic "Ali," starring Will Smith. "They ended up on the soundtrack that never got released, and we got the masters back, thankfully. It's a rare occurrence in this day and age, but a lot of labels are realizing it's not fair to hold the artists back (by keeping their master recordings)."

(With reports by Stephanie DuBois and Emily Feimster)

To find out more about Marilyn Beck and Stacy Jenel Smith and read their past columns, visit the Creators Syndicate web page at www.creators.com.

COPYRIGHT 2007 MARILYN BECK AND STACY JENEL SMITH

DISTRIBUTED BY CREATORS SYNDICATE, INC.




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Originally Published on Friday August 10, 2007

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