Hollywood Exclusive by Marilyn Beck & Stacy Jenel Smith

"On Sept. 27, at 10 a.m., I'm going to lead a sit-in on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial," announces activist actress/singer Sheryl Lee Ralph. "As a tax-paying American, I am demanding help and attention for HIV and AIDS."

Speaking to this column from the Democratic National Convention, where she has been leading and participating in panels on HIV/AIDS and Faith and Politics, Ralph says she believes it's essential that the United States' HIV/AIDS policy "is revived, renewed and reintroduced. Any time you have the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) saying the rate of infection for a disease is 40 percent higher than estimated, it's bad, and it's only getting worse," she says, speaking of the CDC study issued this month. "We must pay attention."

Ralph, who is married to Pennsylvania State Sen. Vincent Hughes, has suited her action to her words on behalf of the AIDS cause for years — and years. She's performed her AIDS-themed one-woman show, "Sometimes I Cry," in big cities and small towns across the country. She's preparing for her 18th Annual Divas Simply Singing AIDS fundraiser, to be held Oct. 11 at the Wilshire Theater in Beverly Hills. She says, "I can't believe it's the 18th. If anyone had told me that I'd be fighting the good fight this long, I would have told them, 'No, there'll be a cure.'"

This year's Divas Simply Singing show will feature not only Ralph, of course, but Patti LaBelle, Patti Austin, Angie Stone — and "Raven is back with us. The last time she performed on the show she was 6 years old. I've loved her since she was 3, and she looked up at me and said, 'Miss Ralph, I'm going to be just like you.'"

Ralph found herself speaking to hundreds of young people at her DNC panels. "They're all college students; some are delegates. They didn't want to sit on the sidelines of politics. It's great — very, very important. Any time you're talking about a movement, you have to have young people who believe it can be done."

OH, BOLL: Controversial German director Uwe Boll says one of the reasons he's become such a target with critics is because he is one of the few people adapting video games into screenplays. While he has no plans to stop, he tells us he won't be making as many as he has in the past.

"I think the video game geeks are very loud. They are very active on the Internet. I have made the mistake of doing so many video game-based movies, I turned into enemy No.

In fact, Boll was so fed up that he challenged his critics to a boxing match, which can be seen in the bonus features of his movie "Postal," currently available on DVD. "I was so loaded against a lot of critics after the reviews for the movie 'BloodRayne' came in that I wanted to strike back. I told them to come in the ring and let's have a real fight. I, of course, won all four fights," he adds. "I think a few people actually had more respect for me afterward. Others used it to say, 'He's such an idiot.' It seems with these guys, whatever I do, I do it wrong."

In the end, Boll says he couldn't have been happier with how his comedy "Postal" turned out. "I was very skeptical in the beginning because none of the agencies wanted to give me actors. They said the movie was too politically incorrect. We did a casting in Los Angeles, and a lot of actors came against their agent's will. We started shooting, and every day was a blast. They helped make it a more outrageous movie, too. I was blown away that Dave Foley agreed to go full frontal naked. The movie wouldn't have been the same without him." Boll's next movie is the horror film "Seed," which hits DVD Sept. 9. Bet those "geeky" fans will love that!

CELEB SEEN: We spotted Dustin Hoffman, who recently wrapped his latest movie, "Last Chance Harvey," alongside Emma Thompson and Kathy Baker, making a beeline into the Starbucks in L.A.'s ritzy Brentwood neighborhood this past weekend. Hoffman, dressed as if he had just been to services, left his SUV sitting in a loading zone while he darted into the coffee chain to get his daily fix. He must have been hoping to go unnoticed, but better luck next time!

BUDDY SHOW: "Wipeout's" John Henson admits he acted the fan when first introduced to his co-host on the slippery-sloppy ABC hit. "I'm a huge fan of John Anderson. He works the 11 p.m. to 1 a.m. shift (on ESPN's "SportsCenter"), and they rerun that in the morning. I feel like I've been spending my mornings with John Anderson; I have him on in the background while I'm eating breakfast, going through email, starting the day. I was more star struck than he was, certainly — 'Oh, my God! It's the guy from "SportsCenter"!'" says the former "Talk Soup" host. "I don't think he knew who I was." Whether or not he did, the two Johns have become pals since working on "Wipeout." In fact, says Henson, when they're on camera together, directors have sometimes "acted as if we were rambunctious students the teachers feel the need to break up: 'Calm down, now.' We have a good time."

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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