Hollywood Exclusive by Marilyn Beck & Stacy Jenel Smith

Extra Heavy on the Multi-Tasking for Mom-To-Be Silverstone/Roma Downey, Pierce Brosnan Get Their Irish On

Alicia Silverstone, whose popular "The Kind Diet" book is just now coming out in paperback, reports, "I'm in the process of time management." Indeed.

"There are so many projects going on. But the biggest one, of course, is that I'm about to have a baby. How I can continue to work on so many things at the same time — while, hopefully, being this graceful, advanced mother — remains to be seen," she admits with a laugh.

The actress and green-living advocate tells us, "I have two other books I want to write, three films coming out, and my website is one of my greatest obsessions." She also has a collection of cruelty-free, ecologically friendly makeup bags and brushes heading to market.

Silverstone is sticking close to home while promoting the "Kind Diet" tome that touts the vegan lifestyle. "I've stopped traveling, but I'm doing what I can," she says.

She's been gratified by the outpouring of thanks that have come her way since the book was first released. Stories have come in from converts including one mother who explained how "The Kind Diet" saved her allergy-prone baby from a string of frightening symptoms — and from potentially living on medication for the rest of his life.

Other missives have come from "people who were helped with big things and with small things, from people who cured their migraines, cured mono, cured constipation, from people who had major weight loss," Silverstone says.

The actress is so committed to the environment, she insisted upon her book being printed only on 100 percent recycled paper with soy ink. Rodale Press complied. "That was a deal-breaker for me," she says.

The book took her eight years to complete. "It wasn't easy, but every day I wrote on it, I was so happy. I'd go for days on end without leaving the house. My husband would ask, 'Baby, do you want to take a shower?' And I'd say, 'No, not now!'" she admits with a laugh. "I felt happy, connected and in tune. What I was doing felt truly valid."

Not that she's slowed down in her acting career.

Fresh from her first Broadway bow last year, opposite Laura Linney in "Time Stands Still," she finished three film roles in a row. They are: the comedy romance "Homework," which is due in June; the forthcoming indie, "Butter," about a girl who discovers a talent for butter carving; and Amy Heckerling's "Vamps" comedy. The latter has her and Sigourney Weaver as vampires and was "a lot of fun. I think they're just finishing up with that," she adds.

IRISH EYES SMILING: One-time "Touched by an Angel" star Roma Downey is an American citizen now. She has an American husband — super reality-show producer Mark Burnett — and "my children are American-born. But my inner Celt is still very much alive," she wants us to know.

The Derry-born beauty will be showing off that fact tonight (3/17) in performance at UCLA's Royce Hall.

"We're doing a wonderful evening of Irish music and poetry called 'This is Ireland: A Gala St. Patrick's Day Concert and Celebration.' Pierce Brosnan is also on the program. I believe he is going to be reciting Yeats" — with a full orchestra. The event was put together by Irish composer and conductor Eimear Noone, and also includes film and dance.

Downey and Brosnan happen to be neighbors in Malibu. "He's my buddy out there," Downey says. So after their St. Patrick's Day performance, she guesses, "We'll probably go somewhere and have a glass of Guinness" and toast the old country.

SEE CREATURES: With Lucy Griffiths, Meredith Hagner and Titus Welliver already cast in their "Awakening" pilot, the CW is filling subsidiary roles in the show that's been described as a coming-of-age zombie thriller. Yes, that's right. Per casting sources, we can expect to see Griffiths as a "hard-working public defender who has a boyfriend and a secret she's been hiding for years: she's a zombie." We're counting three genres so far.

With an early April production stars slated, horror movie master Tobe Hooper is casting his next, "Djinn," which will shoot in the United Arab Emirates — on a quick three-week schedule. It has to do with a husband and wife who travel to the Middle East, and as they're returning, he discovers wifey is no longer who she used to be. According to Muslim legend, a djinn is a spirit capable of assuming human form and exercising supernatural influence over people. Eeek!

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 2011 MARILYN BECK AND STACY JENEL SMITH

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