Hollywood Exclusive by Marilyn Beck & Stacy Jenel Smith

Ready or not, Stuart Gordon's controversial "Stuck" film finally arrives on screens in limited release Friday (5/30) after a year of playing festivals from Cannes to Toronto to Philadelphia. Sounds as if it's taken about that long for star Mena Suvari to get over making the black comedy, based on the awful, bizarre, real-life case of a woman who hit a homeless man with her car, drove home and left him to slowly die stuck in her windshield.

Suvari tells us that essaying the role was an "emotional roller coaster … I have to literally lose my mind by the end of the movie. My inspiration was Kathy Bates from 'Misery.'"

She describes the production, with Stephen Rea as the victim and Russell Hornsby as her boyfriend, as "intense filmmaking, a short schedule and a small budget with sometimes one or two takes. By the end of the day I was really exhausted and ready to get back to reality a little bit … just be a nice person." While playing the woman afflicted with what one critic describes as "sociopathic selfishness," Mena says with a laugh, "I tried to do something good every night." Suvari says it was a "huge shock" to her to discover "Stuck" was based on a true story. "When I first read the script I didn't know that and my jaw hit the floor. I couldn't believe someone would be involved in something like that. I'd worked with Stuart Gordon before on 'Edmond' and was excited this was his next project," she adds of the cult favorite filmmaker of "Re-Animator" and "From Beyond" fame. "I told my agent 'I have to do this.' I really pushed for it." She adds, "I've always been fascinated with criminal psychology and what makes people do the things they do. I was even studying psychology and criminal forensics so it was exciting for me to finally come across a script where I could use that."

THE LAUGH INN: Comedienne Rita Rudner declares her new PBS special, "Rita Rudner: Live from Las Vegas" is not — repeat — not geared toward that highly sought after youth demographic. "We're being comedically ignored after age 39," quips Rudner. "And if there was ever a time we needed to laugh, it was after 39.

Rudner — who's booked to perform at Las Vegas' Harrah's through 2010 — taped her 2000th Vegas show for the PBS special debuting May 31 and airing throughout June (check local listings). "I talk about my usual … life, marriage, relationships, women and men … the same topics I cover in my book," says the comic, whose latest tome, "I Still Have It … I Just Can't Remember Where I Put It (Confessions of a Fiftysomething)" hits bookstores this month. "I pick on women a lot more than I pick on men. Even though we're perfect, we do silly things. I don't know why we're buying pillows we can't lay our heads on, buying shoes we can't walk in, buying ashtrays when no one can smoke. And why has women's underwear become so uncomfortable? We went from wearing pillow cases to sling shots."

GOOD SPORTS: Hosea Chanchez, who stars on the CW's sports comedy/drama "The Game," which was recently renewed for a third season, tells us he's been surprised at the amount of professional athletes who watch the show. "We've actually been told by professional athletes — and a lot of people in that industry who are trying their hardest to get on our show — that we're one of the few who got in right," claims Chanchez about the content of the show, which follows the fictional lives of several professional football players and their wives. "It's a complete honor to do something and do it correctly." While Chanchez is admittedly not a football fan, he says there is one athlete he would like to see be a guest star on the show. "I would love to see Michael Jordan come on the show." Now, wait a second! "I know he's not a football player," adds Chanchez with a laugh, "but he is the man."

BRANCHING OUT: Looks like the irrepressible 15-year-old "The Suite Life of Zack & Cody" twin stars Cole and Dylan Sprouse are poised to make the leap to the big screen. Dylan says, "We have a couple of films coming up. One that might be a feature release. It's called 'The Kings of Appletown' and it's a Bobby Moresco production," he says of the Oscar-winning writer-director-producer. "And we're in the works for another movie, the 'Untitled Sprouse Brothers Project.'" 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 DISTRIBUTED BY CREATORS SYNDICATE, INC.