Hollywood Exclusive by Marilyn Beck & Stacy Jenel Smith

Joan Cusack admits that it was tough shuttling back and forth between her Chicago home and Bulgaria location for her brother, John's, "War, Inc." big-screen political satire that opens in limited release May 23 — but she was glad to do it.

"At this point I appreciate how hard it is to get something made that you love, that you really feel has content that's worth talking about, that's stimulating cultural conversations. It's a great luxury," says Joan, who plays an executive of the corporation running the world's first fully outsourced war — complete with tanks bearing sponsor logos. "To me, whenever John is working on something that he feels passionate about and I have an opportunity to work with my family and be able to support him, of course I'm going to do it."

She notes, "The easy part was that I have a great husband, and John was obviously flexible about when I could go and come back, so it worked with my family."

Her other upcoming film this summer couldn't be much more different — the July 2 release "Kit Kittredge: An American Girl's Story," inspired by the popular line of dolls, and its young heroine wannabe reporter of the Great Depression era. That film stars the superb Abigail Breslin, with whom Joan is currently working in the big screen adaptation of Jodi Picoult's "My Sister's Keeper."

"I'd worked with her before in 'Raising Helen,'" reminds Joan, "and she's a great kid with a great family."

She also notes, "I have two boys, so this girls' world wasn't a world I knew very much about. I was impressed with the content of the story and the way they dealt with the subject matter. It's very psychologically empowering. It made me want an American Boys store."

Next up for Cusack, "Toy Story 3." "They're just in the beginning stages," reports the actress known to Pixar lovers as the voice of cowgirl Jesse. "That's easy. I can do it from my home."

ON THE PERSONAL SIDE: Cheetah Girl Sabrina Bryan admits that time with her beau, "Dancing With the Stars" pro Mark Ballas, has been pretty hard to come by lately between their respective professional activities. "We're just both really busy," says Bryan, who competed in the upcoming Disney Channel Games last week. "My partner has his card taken right now with Kristi Yamaguchi, which I'm so happy for. We did go on tour together, which was awesome — to meet so many of the 'Dancing With the Stars' fans face to face and hear their applause."

Bryan finished the much-anticipated summer Disney Channel movie "Cheetah Girls 3: One World" in India with group mates Adrienne Bailon and Kiely Williams last month.

"I got back on a Saturday, and Adrienne and I went to that Monday's 'Dancing With the Stars' show. I couldn't wait to get back and see him dance with Kristi, so I support Team Yamaguchi. They'll definitely make the finals, I think."

As for Bryan and Ballas? "We'll see. We're seeing how we're going."

THE BIG SCREEN SCENE: As fans eagerly await J.J. Abrams' "Star Trek" movie, which just wrapped production, Faran Tahir, who plays the Federation Captain, says he's confident it will bring forth a new legion of Trekkies — and not the kind that still sleep in their parents' basement. "J.J. is one of those people who has the ability to re-introduce water to you in a new way. He's such a creative man," claims Tahir. "I love what he's done with it because he hasn't said farewell to the tradition or the story of 'Star Trek,' but he has such a fresh approach to it that I think he will re-introduce it to this generation in a way they can relate. It will create this bridge between the people who grew up with it and this younger generation who didn't know about it."

Tahir is certainly no stranger to fantasy flicks as he is also starring in "Iron Man" as Robert Downey Jr.'s nemesis, Raza. The actor believes people will really take to Downey Jr.'s approach to playing a superhero. "The thing about Robert is that no matter what he attempts, he brings so many layers to the character. Yes, this is an action movie, and you could just do the action part of it and it would be fine, but he brings a certain amount of levity, which not many actors can do," he notes. The movie certainly holds a special place for Tahir, whose son got a part in it as well. "For other movies I might have said no, but for a 9-year-old to be in superhero movie, what is cooler than that? I couldn't deny him that, and he did an amazing job."

IN HIS SITES: Gerald McRaney's off to Namibia to hunt game for his "World of Beretta" Outdoor Life Network series. It's the kind of unscripted show multi-series veteran McRaney can get into. As for other non-scripted fare, "I agree with my brother's notion about reality television. He said, 'Survivor,' my a—! The craft services table is 20 feet away.'" McRaney's wife, Delta Burke, is staying home. He says that while she understands hunting intellectually, "She's not going to go there herself." He'll be bringing Horton Foote's "Dividing the Estate" onto Broadway this fall. On the scripted TV front, "I've seen a couple of things this year that look promising, but any more, something is going to have to be really interesting to get me involved in it. I'm getting a little long in the tooth to putting up with something less just to have another payday."

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

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