Hollywood Exclusive by Marilyn Beck & Stacy Jenel Smith

"Saturday Night Fever" director John Badham tells us he plans to make a movie about the late Princess Diana, but don't expect him to be calling Lindsay Lohan about the part. The hard-partying starlet told reporters a few months ago that she was desperate to play Diana, stating, "It would be amazing. She gave back a lot and was an amazing woman."

Asked what he thought about Lohan in the role, Badham responds with a laugh, "Oh, great. Just what we need — a crazy American. Whoever you cast in that, boy, people are going to be all over you, saying, 'She doesn't look like her! She doesn't talk like her!' Lindsay Lohan, oh, my gosh," he says before adding, "Well, never say never. It just seems like a funny idea."

For now, Badham has been busying filming episodes of "Crossing Jordan" and "Heroes," the latter of which airs tonight (5/7). "'Heroes,' my goodness, it's all kinds of comic book action. It's very stressful. It's too much television trying to get done in too little time, but it's miraculous that the shows look as good as they do," he notes. Having directed an episode earlier in the year, Badham says it was interesting seeing how much things have changed for the cast. "With Masi [Oka], this is the first big role he's ever had. He was a brilliant computer programmer before, and now he's going on 'The Tonight Show' and 'Letterman,' and will be in the 'Get Smart' movie. When I worked with him, we didn't wrap until like 3 a.m., and he had to be on 'Get Smart' the next morning. I said, 'Masi, success is a b#$%@, ain't it?'"

LIVING DOLLS: They're bracing themselves at the American Girls store at L.A.'s The Grove today (5/7) for an open casting call on "Kit Kittredge: An American Girl Mystery." Open calls are also being held at the AG stores in Chicago tomorrow (5/8), and New York next week. It's the first big-screen adaptation of one of the immensely popular American Girls books, and Abigail Breslin is already set to star as 9-year-old Kit, who is growing up during America's Great Depression.

"I'm hoping for between 500-1,000 in each city," says producer Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas, but she acknowledges the American Girls website has been getting upwards of 60,000 hits a day on the audition page.

'Course, there will be those who think it's all just a big publicity stunt.

"If we wanted to do a publicity stunt, we could do something a lot easier and cheaper," answers Goldsmith-Thomas — a.k.a.

Julia Roberts' producing partner/friend/agent. "We have several roles to fill — Kitt's best friend Ruthie, the girls next door … Our intention is to use people we'll see at these calls. We need to fill these roles. The movie starts in three weeks. We have a beautiful script by Ann Peacock, who did 'The Chronicles of Narnia.' We can't announce the rest of the cast yet, but there are some wonderful people who'll be involved."

Will Julia do an on-camera turn?

"No, no, no. She's having a baby," says Goldsmith-Thomas.

She also tells us, "I'll be around" for at least some of the casting calls, and that the process will be chronicled via blog and video on Americangirls.com.

THE GOOD LIFE: Ed McMahon is still going strong at the age of 84, and he attributes a lot of it to his radio show, "Lifestyles Live." "It keeps me very sharp and maintains my edge. I tape segments of that almost every day," he tells us. "I built a little radio room right outside of my office. I took a closet and converted it. I'm interviewing all kinds of people. It's celebrities and what their lifestyles are like, but also authors who are writing about good living and exercise." In fact, McMahon says he's far from being done with the entertainment business. "I'm not going to retire. I'm just going to keep going. No one told me I had to stop."

LABOR OF LOVE: "24" regular, James Morrison, who has been portraying Bill Buchanan on the hit show, teaches yoga when not filming. It's not a job for which he expects much in the way of remuneration. "I'm not sure that there is any teacher worth their salt who does it for the money," says Morrison with a laugh. "I think we do it to be servants, to give back a little bit of what we've been given by those who taught us, but mostly I do it to deepen my understanding of yoga and teaching."

(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 2007 MARILYN BECK AND STACY JENEL SMITH

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