Hollywood Exclusive by Marilyn Beck & Stacy Jenel Smith

At long — long — last, "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" is set to go into production in April, with Ben Stiller directing and starring. The James Thurber tale about a milquetoast with an extremely active fantasy life has inspired big-screen desires in Jim Carrey, Mike Myers, Sacha Baron Cohen, Owen Wilson, Kevin Anderson, Ron Howard and Steven Spielberg over the last decade or so as it's been in and out of development hell. But Stiller's the one who'll be uttering Mitty's trademark ta-pocketa-pocketa-pocketa. He's in active preproduction on the feature, which will shoot in New York for 20th Century Fox.

Stiller's "Mitty" will be different from both the original short story and the Danny Kaye movie of 1947. This time, we'll find Mitty with a sister who wants to get into a local production of "Grease" and a mother in an assisted-living facility. He'll be seen working at Life Magazine, where he catalogues photographs of other people's feats and travels — until a crucial negative turns up missing, launching him on a real-life adventure.

HELLO AGAIN: Remember Geri Jewell? She was the first performer with cerebral palsy to land a role on a primetime series, way back on "The Facts of Life." Now the actress and stand-up comic, who also did a memorable turn as Jewell on "Deadwood," is getting back into series action again — on J.J. Abrams' newly-launched "Alcatraz." She's playing the sister of the warden played by Jason Butler Harner, a 1960s character.

"When they made me up, I looked in the mirror and I saw my mother," she cracks. But seriously, "I think that my character allows Jason's character to have empathy. Because he works with brutal killers day in and day out, he's become hardened in some ways. And I'm like the door to his heart. It's a wonderful relationship. She's very sarcastic, very intelligent, and that's all I can reveal at this point. It's such a cool show. It's so way out there."

Jewell has reaped deep emotional rewards from the memoir she released last year, "I'm Walking as Straight as I Can: Transcending Disability In Hollywood and Beyond." "The book has been phenomenal in the sense that it has created so much — how should I say it? I came out as a gay woman, which was kind of scary for me," she recalls.

"I've had tons of emails from people with disabilities who are gay, who are thanking me for being their voice. I'm so thankful for being able to be exactly who I am. I think that's what the book allowed me to do."

She's also getting more involved in anti-bullying activities. Jewell herself was bullied in her youth, "but I look at the kids today and the bullying because of the internet and it's just so much worse. Truthfully, being ridiculed and made fun of in my time, it had a lot to do with giving me the drive to become a comedian. I channeled it into a different energy and made it into a positive force. That's what I intend to communicate to kids today — the importance of how to do that. It's a key to survival and keeping the faith. If you can spend a certain amount of time each day taking something that's negative, that's hurting you, and channeling the energy into something positive, you'd be surprised by the effectiveness of it."

THE BIG-SCREEN SCENE: We already knew that Luis Mandoki's "Mary, Mother of Christ" would be one to watch, what with Camilla Belle playing the title role, Al Pacino as Herod, and Peter O'Toole as Symeon. But, goodness sakes, the description of the film that's gone out with casting notices is enough to make visions of roundhouse-kicking Bible hero ninjas dance in one's head. It's "a ticking clock action drama," they proclaim, "a breakthrough Biblical epic ... The curtain is finally lifted on the intrepid journey of a courageous young woman" determined to keep her baby safe despite evil Herod's ordering of the killing of male infants. (Can't you just imagine Pacino pulling a sword from under his robes: "Say hello to my little friend!")

High camp could be such fun, but that's obviously not what they're going for. The screenplay is by Benedict Fizgerald, whose credits include "The Passion of the Christ," so stop laughing.

A LITTLE REALITY: Sony Pictures TV has a project for NBC that sounds like a hoot: a mockumentary workplace comedy that takes place in elementary school. Playground politics and social lives will get the reality-show treatment. They're casting now for the yet-untitled show, and pushing hard, by the way, for diversity.

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 2012 MARILYN BECK AND STACY JENEL SMITH

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