Hollywood Exclusive by Marilyn Beck & Stacy Jenel Smith

David Blaine's schedule of late is downright scary. He's preparing for his next endurance spectacle — hanging upside-down from a wire 50 feet in the air in New York City's Central Park Wollman Rink for three days and nights starting Sept. 22. That entails "upside-down training, training in a gym, running — a lot of cardio. I have to drop serious weight to make this easier. I'm climbing about 1,000 feet a day, want to get that heart pumping well," he says.

At the same time, he's busy with editing of his Sept. 24 ABC "David Blaine: Dive of Death" two-hour special, which will include the completion — live — of his stunt. Hence the title.

Blaine tells us his "upside-down training" involves "building up endurance by building up resistance to it. The body adapts pretty fast. I've probably done a cumulative total of 60 hours [upside down] by now. It's amazing how the body responds."

The spark of the idea, he says, came from an act known as "dancers on the ceiling" over a century ago. "They would dance on the ceiling during the intermission of a show." According to him, it's possible to "actually eat upside-down, drink upside-down. What was even more interesting to me is how your whole perspective on the world changes when you're upside down. You kind of feel giddy in a weird way."

He'll be able to see and talk to passers-by below, he says. "Some people are funny, some crazy, a lot of people are supportive. All the distractions are very useful."

Everyday people are front and center in the rest of his special, which "gets back to my roots. It's a show filled with magic — more magic than I've put on any show in 10 years. I'm really proud of it," says Blaine, who'll be seen on a cross-country trek doing his illusions for East St. Louis gangbangers, residents of New Orleans' Ninth Ward and folks from West Virginia's Mingo County.

CONSTANCE COMMENT: Constance Zimmer has been girding herself for an extended work trip away from 8-month-old daughter Colette — for the movie "Demoted," with Michael Vartan, David Cross and Sean Astin, which has just started shooting in Detroit. "It's the first time I'm going to be away from her so long. Everyone says you've got to do it at some point, so this is it," says the "Entourage" actress.

She'll shoot for nine days, then return for a few days with Colette, and Colette's papa, her partner Russ Lamoureux, then return to Detroit for the next leg of her shoot, then come back, etc.

Why do it? "I don't get a lot of opportunities to do films in general, so film opportunities I look at more than television opportunities. I feel I have a pretty much cemented place in the TV world where I can be very picky," says Zimmer, who recently wrapped fifth season production on "Entourage," on which she's seen as studio exec Dana Green. "In the film world I'm still picky, but this one — a little indie comedy with these guys with a fun script, yes. It's pretty much the character I seem to do very well — the strong, independent boss type woman who turns out to have a big heart. It's great to have the opportunity to play strong women, but it would be fun to do something in a new light or go back to the time I played airheady girls."

FANGS FOR NOTICING: Taylor Lautner says he's shocked by the sudden surge in his recognition factor — thanks to being part of the much-anticipated big-screen adaptation of Stephenie Meyer's "Twilight" coming up for release Nov. 21. "I'm surprised when I go places and I'm already starting to run into 'Twilight' fans. It's really exciting to be a part of a film this big with such a large following behind it," says Lautner, who's also on Christian Slater's Oct. 13-debuting NBC series, "My Own Worst Enemy."

"I've seen the film and it's very cool. It's quite different from other vampire movies. It's basically a love story and one of them happens to be a vampire. It puts a little twist on things," adds the young star, whose first big break came when starring in the movie "The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl 3-D." "The fans are definitely going to be proud of it. It stays very true to the book. Obviously they had to cut like 400 pages out, but I feel like they did it perfectly," he claims. "The ladies are going to love it, and we also put in a little more action and horror for the guys."

MAN OF MULTIMEDIA: With a film credit sheet including "ATL" and "American Gangster," rapper T.I. tells us he's "not nervous at all" about starting his role in Screen Gems' currently-in-production "Bone Deep." (The crime thriller boasts a large cast — Paul Walker, Hayden Christensen, Matt Dillon, Idris Elba, Chris Brown, Michael Ealy, Steve Harris, Jay Hernandez, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Zoe Saldana and Johnathon Schaech.) T.I. would like to do more in the movie world than act, in fact. "I want to get into more producing for film and television. I already do it for music," he notes. As for what's next? "My clothing line launches in November, and on September 30 my album 'Paper Trail' hits stores." Quite busy, indeed!

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 2008 MARILYN BECK AND STACY JENEL SMITH

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