Hollywood Exclusive by Marilyn Beck & Stacy Jenel Smith

Jeanne Tripplehorn says she didn't hesitate when Jennifer Aniston phoned and asked her to be part of her "Five" movie, which depicts five different stories of women dealing with breast cancer. "There are two breast cancer survivors on my mother's side of the family, so this was a no-brainer. I was in. It's different from what Lifetime normally does, and the network is really excited about it — a new way of telling stories, with five short films together."

Premiering Monday (Oct. 10) on Lifetime, the film also boasts five directors — Aniston, Alicia Keys, Demi Moore, Patty Jenkins and Penelope Spheeris. Tripplehorn's oncologist character provides the through-line, and she got to get a taste of all the women's directing styles.

Demi Moore was "very detail-oriented, very specific about what she wanted. Her concentration was just so amazing," Tripplehorn says. With Aniston, "The whole mood on the set was this easy kind of feeling. Her spirit infused the whole set.

"Alicia Keys — I am in awe of Alicia. This is her first time directing," Tripplehorn notes of the pop superstar. "She had her son on the set — a baby under a year old — and she was literally directing with a baby on her hip. She did it with so much grace. She floated through her film."

Keys' segment has Rosario Dawson's character dealing with not only cancer but also her well-meaning sister (Tracee Ellis Ross) and their aggravating mom (Jenifer Lewis). It also features Jeffrey Tambor. There's humor in it, for sure, but the freshest and biggest laughs come in the section Aniston directed, with Patricia Clarkson as a patient who gives herself a funeral, tells people in her life what she really thinks of them and blows through her savings. Tripplehorn's main story has the doctor becoming a patient.

"I think for every director, the main goal was, 'Let's tell a great story.' We were all — I don't want to say 'brought our best game' — but we were all aware that what we were doing was bigger than any of us, and we were humbled by that," adds Tripplehorn. She stresses that the filmmakers are hoping "Five" does more than just inspire; they hope it serves as a tool in fundraising and pushing research entities to come together to find a breast cancer cure. "It certainly touches all our lives," says Tripplehorn, who took a friend for a second opinion on a mastectomy just a few days ago.

The "Five" ensemble also includes Lyndsy Fonseca, Ginnifer Goodwin, Kathy Najimy, Bob Newhart, Annie Potts, Xander Berkeley, Alan Ruck and Tony Shalhoub. The film came along at a perfect time for Tripplehorn — in her first year without "Big Love" production since 2006.

As for what she'd like to do next, the actress, who rose to fame in features including "Basic Instinct" and "The Firm," has a one-word answer: "Comedy." Tripplehorn says she would love to be on a sitcom. "I want to laugh, just like all of America, for all sorts of reasons."

A WALK TO REMEMBER: Roslyn Kind is among the celebs who'll be turning out Sunday (Oct. 9) in Los Angeles' Century City for the Alzheimer's Association's 19th annual Walk to End Alzheimer's event. The singer, also known as Barbra Streisand's sister, cared for their mother after she began showing signs of Alzheimer's following open heart surgery at age 82 — symptoms that continued until her death at 93.

"They told me changes might happen down the road — she'd been hours under anesthesia with the heart-lung machine going — but I thought, 'Changes? She's sharp as a tack.' Little by little it started happening, the taking things out of the refrigerator and putting them in the cupboard, forgetting the stove was on, wanting to run away."

Kind points out that she was fortunate enough to have 24-hour help at her home. "I have friends now who are dealing with it, and it's not easy. I tell them the book 'The 36-Hour Day' is really helpful in terms of letting you know what to expect and how to deal with it."

Kind found that music remained a channel for communication and companionship with her mother, who had a "beautiful soprano voice. She remembered the melodies even when she'd forgotten the words. And when she forgot the melodies, she'd make new ones." After her mother was incapacitated in a fall, Kind would sing for her at the hospital, she says.

Kind has experienced that magical musical connection elsewhere, like at the Wexner Heritage Village facility in Columbus, Ohio, where she visited last month and joined the rabbi there in sharing music with Alzheimer's patients. "I sang and played tambourine and hugged them. These people, they need to be touched and hugged. It's so easy to give a hug, so easy to give a smile," she says.

Kind (roslynkind.com) is bringing her lustrous vocals to L.A.'s Catalina Jazz Club Oct. 21 and 22.

ANOTHER CAROL HEARD FROM: Jennifer Love Hewitt's family is being cast for her "A White Trash Christmas," in which the former "Ghost Whisperer" star — who once played the epitome of elegance with her Audrey Hepburn biopic — goes in a completely different direction. She's a trashy, Scroogy sort in a world of "Cheez Whiz and whiskey," as casting notices put it. She's unemployed, self-centered and about to lose her kids unless she can make changes. Trashy ghosts of past, present and future will be involved, in addition to her 13-year-old son, 16-year-old daughter and little Tim, 10.

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

DISTRIBUTED BY CREATORS.COM