Hollywood Exclusive by Marilyn Beck & Stacy Jenel Smith

"Men in Trees" regular John Amos reports he's working on an extremely ambitious experiment with rival gangs as part of the documentary he'll be producing and directing for the Amistad America Project.

"Amistad America is launching its vessel this month (June 21) to sail from Halifax, Nova Scotia to England in conjunction with Great Britain's 200-year commemoration of the abolition of slavery," says the veteran actor. "Once it reaches England, Captain Pinkney — the first African-American to solo circumnavigate the globe in a sailboat — will take command and sail the boat to slave ports on the West Coast of Africa, Barbados and various other ports.

"Can you imagine the impact it would have on, say, four young men from conflicting gangs, like two Bloods and two Crips, who have been involved in a negative lifestyle, to take them on the Amistad …To let them realize the history they're involved with and the historical opportunity that's been given to them? Let them get exposed to what their ancestors went through so they can have a better appreciation and realize the obligation they have to try and live a good life and fulfill their potential as human beings. Amistad America is totally receptive to it, and I've already spoken to a couple of other organizations. It's a terribly exciting project," says Amos, who's also currently working on recording his first country album.

"I'll be very busy till I resume my work on 'Men in Trees.' It's going to be a long, long project. At some point they've asked me to captain my ship, Halley's Comet, to be a chase ship with a camera. We're just trying to work out the logistics."

GIRLS JUST WANNA HAVE FUN: We hear that soon-to-be bride Eva Longoria is getting together with a bunch of her girls this weekend for a lingerie slumber party — and just watch, here comes the new trend of lingerie slumber parties as the latest fun twist on the ol' bridal shower. Her wedding — to that handsome NBA star Tony Parker — is next week.

GETTING UP TO DATE: With his lavish Hallmark Channel "Marco Polo" movie debuting tomorrow night (6/2), Ian Somerhalder is moving from the 13th century back into the current TV world — literally.

He and his writing partner, David Shusarian, are writing and directing "a 10-minute environmental documentary for Current TV, Al Gore's company," reports Ian.

He also has two films in the works that could keep him busy both behind and in front of the camera, one of which he wrote himself. "It's called 'The Jack of Dimes' and it's about the misperceptions of our sort of media — what happens to lives within that," says Ian, who certainly experienced life in the media fishbowl when he played Boone on "Lost." "The other one is 'The Ascent of O.K. Pigeons,' which is sort of like a male 'Amelie.'"

Somerhalder says he's still not over the eight weeks he spent playing the explorer who opened China to the West, and vice versa, around 700 years ago. "There's a certain mystery about him. He never said how he did what he did or how he felt about it. He just wrote about what he saw and did with no judgment."

THE STAR ALSO RISES: Hunky Matthew Bomer tells this column he wound up in ABC's new "Traveler" action drama only after a different series, in which he'd been set to star, "ended up folding" as a never-to-be-seen casualty of the UPN-WB merger into the CW network. The producers of "Traveler" did see him thanks to that effort, however, and cast him as a Yale Law School graduate who gets framed for a terrorist act and goes on the lam.

They shot the show last August through December — then waited for it to find its way to the airwaves.

"I'd be lying to you if I said it wasn't a frustrating process, but you have to trust that the higher-ups know what they're doing. Reporters have run rampant with the idea that the network is just dumping the show, but that's not the case," insists the former "Tru Calling" actor. "I called and spoke to the heads of ABC, and the network is spending tons of money on advertising and publicity for the show. There are no other serialized shows over the summer. It might have been easy for us to get lost in the fall."

Bomer adds, however, "This show is only one of many things that I've done that have been trying on the patience. As an actor, you have to realize what you are and are not in control of. Your movie could get shelved for years, your series could get held up. All you can do is show up and do the best you can."

(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 2006 MARILYN BECK AND STACY JENEL SMITH

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