Hollywood Exclusive by Marilyn Beck & Stacy Jenel Smith

Jane Alexander returns to TV Saturday (Aug. 27) in the Hallmark Channel original movie "William & Catherine: A Royal Romance." With the appearance, Alexander adds the role of Queen Elizabeth II to a brilliant roster of real-life characters, ranging from Eleanor Roosevelt to Calamity Jane, Hedda Hopper and Georgia O'Keeffe. The esteemed actress says she wasn't intimidated by the idea that Her Majesty might see her work in the film.

"No, not really, because she is a public figure, so I'm sure she is used to these kinds of things. God knows Helen Mirren did a brilliant job in 'The Queen' — that started it off. Who knows if she and Phillip would ever look at movies about the royal family. Maybe they would out of curiosity, but my hunch is, maybe not. They know the real Kate. They know the real William."

For Alexander, "A Royal Romance" marked a reunion with filmmaker Linda Yellen, with whom Alexander made the Peabody Award-winning 1980 concentration-camp drama "Playing for Time." (Alexander's supporting-actress Emmy was one of a collection earned by the production, including Outstanding Made-for-Television Movie.) She was delighted when Yellen contacted her about the Hallmark Channel film, which tells the William-and-Kate love story in a unique and fanciful sort of way; the late Princess Diana is a key character. As for the Queen, she is seen as a properly grandmotherly figure who has a strong competitive streak and likes an occasional game of Wii Tennis. Such lively details came right out of Yellen's research, notes Alexander.

"I know so well what the Queen's face looks like. I've been a fan of hers for so many years. There is a slight resemblance. I don't look the same, but what can one do? We had a very good makeup artist, and the hair comes close."

"Playing the Queen," Alexander adds impishly, "I found myself very comfortable when people genuflected. I liked it. I said, 'Oh yeah, this is good.'"

Production is headquartered in Bucharest, Romania, where filming was done in Cotroceni Palace, home of President Traian Basescu. During the shoot, Prince Charles — the real one — came to call.

"The irony," laughs Alexander. "He was right across the courtyard from us and didn't even come over to say 'Hello' to his good old mum."

Victor Garber portrays the prince in the movie, with Jean Smart as Camilla, and Dan Amboyer and newcomer Alice St. Clair as William and Kate.

These days, Alexander, who formerly headed the National Endowment for the Arts, splits her time between New York and a home in Nova Scotia, Canada.

She's a conservationist who does surveying work, keeping track of bird species for Canadian Fish and Wildlife. She also works with Panthera Corporation, a charity organization devoted to saving the world's big cats.

We have to believe Her Majesty would be most pleased with the casting choice.

LIKE MOTHER: Emmy-nominated "Desperate Housewives" actress Brenda Strong admits, "I resisted it like hell — are you kidding?" when her son, Zakery Henri, told her he wanted to become an actor.

"He told me he wanted to get an agent," she says, "and I said, 'Yeah, right!' I finally started to cave after being prodded for about three years. I said, 'If you really want to be an actor, you have to study. You have to learn your craft. I am not going to help you get an agent unless you do.'"

Zakery did study, did learn, did get an agent — and did his first role in a feature film this summer, the upcoming "Teacher of the Year." Brenda confesses she's enjoying talking acting with Zakery. "Not as 'mom talking to son,' but as someone who's been there. I can tell him, 'You're going to be fine.'"

The 16-year-old is Brenda's Emmy date.

SUCCEEDING ANYWAY: Judy Irola's "Niger '66: A Peace Corps Diary" comes to the Documentary Channel this fall — another step in a remarkable filmmaking journey for the USC Cinematography Professor.

Irola, who spent two years in Niger with the Peace Corps in her youth, returned to that land in 2008 with five of her fellow former volunteers. Chronicling the trip, the changes they found and the memories they shared required being able to work on a budget less than a shoestring.

"Former students of mine went to Niger to shoot for free," she notes. The university, she says, also offered "tremendous support. I was able to do color correction, the mix there at USC. I don't know how anyone who doesn't have those sorts of perks, so to speak, is able to get a [documentary film] made. My theory is: If you want to make something very negative — about war, female mutilation, famine — you can get funding for some of that stuff." But not for a "socially relevant look at a group who tried to do something" — and, in many ways, succeeded.

Irola also interviewed 25 Peace Corps workers of the time for the film, which has already been added to university libraries across the country and shown at numerous festivals.

HOW BIZARRE: More off-the-wall casting has been taking place for Ben Affleck's sci-fi political-satire hostage thriller, "Argo." We mentioned the other day that casting forces in the George Clooney-produced film had been enlisting colorful sorts — from a little person to a Persian model to sci-fi extras including a "space lord villain." Now, add to that '30s- and '40s-style gangsters and a Rona Barrett type, circa 1979.

No word on whether Ben will be looking for the former TV gossip hen to do one of her "wicked whispers."