Hollywood Exclusive by Marilyn Beck & Stacy Jenel Smith

Filmmaker Paul Schrader feels the fate of his stunning "Adam Resurrected" film, starring Jeff Goldblum, "will all depend on whether Jeff picks up any nominations — whether reviewers create that kind of buzz."

Notes the esteemed director-screenwriter, "Baby, it is cold out there right now, a very unfriendly and unforgiving market out there, for serious films."

The fact is, critics have already weighed in on Schrader's adaptation of Yoram Kaniuk's novel about a brilliant, charming, strange, insane former cabaret star in an Israeli mental hospital after World War II — a man nearly destroyed by the bizarre treatment he endured in a Nazi concentration camp. It's been called the performance of Goldblum's career.

Goldblum himself calls the whole experience of making "Adam Resurrected" "life-changing. Thank goodness I had a year to prepare for it." He visited concentration camps, went to Israel for the first time as part of his groundwork. After the film was shot, "it was a long time before I put it away. It was part of me ... in my blood and my mind. I knew I had to do it. It wasn't until I saw it with an audience that I finally went, 'OK, I'm done now.'"

As far as the outlook for the feature, opening in New York Friday (12/12) with other openings to follow, Jeff says, "Who knows what will ever happen to a thing like this? I'm proud of what we did, proud to be associated with Paul and with Willem Dafoe," who plays the camp commandant. "Yoram Kaniuk kept a unique, complicated, funny sensibility that's contradictory and surprising — like his books, like this character. I'm happy to be able to alert people to his work."

As for Schrader, "I was not aware when I made the film that the bullseye was as small as it was. By which I mean you had to hit the bullseye, or it didn't work," he says. So what made him think that after 20 years and several other filmmakers' failed attempts that he could hit the mark? He admits, "Directors have a lot of hubris, and I just assumed I could make it work."

THE VIDEOLAND VIEW: The "24" team is known for being extremely secretive about its plot details, and the Jan. 11 season opener is no exception. Newcomer Sprague Grayden, who will be playing the president's daughter Olivia Taylor, she says she's glad to have had some experience with keeping big TV secrets, otherwise she might be in trouble.

"I had to be very tight-lipped when I did 'Six Feet Under.' I knew the major characters were going to pass away in the final season before it aired, and it was so hard not to tell, but I didn't tell," she proudly recalls.

"It's actually kind of fun because you get a little sparkle in your eye when you talk to someone, and all you can say is, 'Wait and see!'"

With "24's" big two-night, four-hour event, she tells us "fans won't be disappointed."

Being a part of the Kiefer Sutherland serial thriller comes at a good time for Grayden, whose character was recently killed off of "Sons of Anarchy." "I loved doing that show. They got picked up for a second season, and I wish them the best. It's an excellent show," she says. "I've made it quite clear that I would be very happy to come back and haunt them."

For the time being, she's enjoying being in the flesh on "24." "I've been lucky enough to play quite a range, from the bad girl to the exceptionally good girl. People are intrigued as to which way that is going to go. They're really interested to see where I'm going to fit in this puzzle," she notes. '"24" is a genre of shows I haven't been able to do yet. To be a part of an action series is exciting and very dramatic."

FROM THE INSIDE LOOKING OUT: With the threat of a Screen Actors Guild strike looming large over Hollywood, "Numb3ers"star Alimi Ballard says he believes it's in everyone's best interest to keep working. "I, for one, like most people with this current economy, don't know anybody who doesn't want to work right now. Our country is begging for bailouts from the federal government. We want to stop work over what? I can't think of a worse time to get into an ego battle over a couple of points," says Ballard. "A deal needs to be made. People have bills to pay and kids going to school. It's not a joke. They need to sit down and say, 'You give me something. I'll give you something.' Then we can all go on with our work. Intelligence should prevail over emotion, that's for sure."

Ballard tells us he's continuing to enjoy his work as FBI agent David Sinclair on the CBS show currently in its fifth season. "We're going to keep on doing our jobs. You get very lucky when you find an audience and they are loyal," notes the former "Sabrina, the Teenage Witch" star. "We're going to continue making a good product so hopefully they'll continue to stick around."

ANOTHER HAT: Jason Gedrick reports that in between his acting stints on productions including "Desperate Housewives" and Hallmark's "The Christmas Choir" movie, he's "been spending a lot of time writing over the past couple of years." He notes that he has shown his work to "friends who are brutally critical, which I appreciate. I don't have a lot of time to be humored. It's been pretty interesting, fun and fulfilling."

With reports by 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 2008 MARILYN BECK AND STACY JENEL SMITH

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