Hollywood Exclusive by Marilyn Beck & Stacy Jenel Smith

James Tupper tells us he's been ecstatic since recently proposing to the mother of his child, Anne Heche, but if it's up to her, they may never walk down the aisle.

"Anne always jokes that we're eternally engaged. I think some year, we will get married, yeah. She'd say never if you asked her," adds a smiling Tupper, who proposed to his former "Men in Trees" co-star in Paris.

"Her son Homer was there so we both got down on our knee. He had a little plastic ring — don't tell him — and I had a real diamond. We actually switched. I had his plastic ring when it happened. We asked her if she would marry us," he recalls. "Homer was psyched. Since the day I met him, we've had a really open, loving relationship. For him to have that cemented like that made everything better."

While there's no guarantee that they'll ever actually get married, Tupper says he's OK with that. "We have a child together so that's almost bigger than a marriage. Plus, I like the model of Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn. They've kept their relationship alive and in love so that's my goal."

For now, Tupper is having to spend time away from his family while shooting the NBC medical drama "Mercy" in New York. "I fly home every single weekend to see them, and on weeks off, she comes here. We've been lucky because she shoots her series on the months that I don't. I've been the one working as of late and she's been off, but she's about to work on a movie so it's going to be the first time we've had the challenge of one of us not being with him. In the tender years, though, he's been with his mom."

Luckily, Tupper's having a great time working. "We're elated that we just got picked up for more episodes. It's a real vote of confidence and we're getting better guest stars on the show. I recently just filmed with Jerry Stiller. If you open your eyes one day and you find yourself working with Jerry Stiller, that's a good day."

CAUGHT UP: Jessica Stroup of "90210" reports things got emotional — really emotional — when the company was filming the final scenes with her series mother, Jackie (Ann Gillespie), who's been battling cancer on the drama — particularly during Tuesday's (11/17) farewell. Gillespie, says Stroup, "played it beautifully. It was so honest and real, you'd get caught up in it, forget you're acting and just watch. I was crying in the whole scene. I couldn't stop crying."

The first character from the original "Beverly Hills, 90210" to die, Jackie has had a painfully dysfunctional, alcoholism-damaged relationship with both her series daughters, Kelly (Jennie Garth) and Silver (Stroup).

Once shooting wrapped on the death scene, the South Carolina-born 23-year-old actress admits, "I had to call my mom, in spite of the time difference. Like, 'You're OK? I love you.' My mom's my best friend. I talk to her every day. Doing this story made time seem so short all of the sudden. It put me in that place of realization that this happens every day."

The beautiful Stroup notes that as an actress, "I was glad they gave me the stronger emotional stuff to do. This touches so many people out there — I've had people in my life fighting cancer — it's not just a TV show. We wanted to be as honest as possible. I actually met a girl whose mom had survived breast cancer just after finding out about this story line. I asked her what it was like and she said, 'Honestly? You turn into the parent.' She talked about being the strong one, about being scared, not knowing what's going to happen. It helped me a lot, talking to her."

Stroup is pleased that the show's producers have built Silver's involvement in a Susan G. Komen breast cancer Race for the Cure fundraising marathon into her story line — and that she's been able to participate in a Warriors in Pink PSA and print campaign in support of patients.

ON A PARENTAL NOTE: The entertainment industry is full of rejection, and while some actors don't encourage their kids to follow in their footsteps, Anthony Edwards is not one of them. He says he'd be happy with whatever career choice they made. "I don't know if they'd be professionals, but they're certainly hambones," responds Edwards as to whether any of his four kids have shown signs of wanting to act. "I'm very much of the school you don't steer your kids other than by giving them examples of what you think is of value in life. To try to think that I'm going to steer them in or out of a career is awfully presumptuous," he notes. "You just want your kids to feel happy and productive."

PUSHING: Corbin Bleu admits he's not a guy who can enjoy relaxing for long. "If I kick back too much, I feel like there's no purpose in life for me. That's why I keep as busy as I can," says the 20-year-old "High School Musical" performer, whose "Free Style" motocross movie was recently released with Corbin as star and producer. He and his dad, actor David Reivers, have several projects in development: "drama, horror ... You have to expand yourself out as much as you can. You can't be stifled in any genre or any one thing."

With reports by Emily-Fortune Feimster

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