Hollywood Exclusive by Marilyn Beck & Stacy Jenel Smith

Watch what you say around the media. "Lost" hunk Josh Holloway says he's still getting fallout from his remarks a few months ago about marriage and having a roving eye.

It might not seem all that bad: "I still like to look around, but respectfully and with no intentions. 'Married, not buried,' I always say.'" However, "I caught a lot of flack for that," admits Holloway.

"The real core is my wife knows that I'm very much in love with her," he goes on. "She may get angry and say, 'You better learn — quick,' but she knows — and I'm trying."

Holloway maintains his remarks were just an attempt to be devilishly charming like his bad-boy Sawyer character on "Lost." "It was meant innocently. The character's kind of sassy and this and that, so I try to be myself — but kind of sassy. You don't want to hear all about 'Oh, I love my wife, and that's all I do is stare at her all day.' Well, yeah, OK, I do that, but no one wants to know exactly that. So that was a mistake, a learning process."

Meanwhile, Holloway's enjoying getting to explore the softer side of Sawyer on "Lost" now that he ended up with Kate (Evangeline Lilly). As he sees it, Sawyer is not a bad guy per se, "only a good guy who got hurt or wronged in his eyes enough to (create) a defense mechanism. He feels empowered by keeping people away from him and not letting anyone in, but that doesn't work on the island anymore … He's stuck facing his own demons, and his old tricks don't work now."

HEAVY HITTERS: With "Ugly Betty's" status as an award-winning hit show — not to mention sexy executive producer Salma Hayek's drawing power — you can expect to see some big-name guest stars making the scene on the ABC series in coming weeks. "I know that a lot of people keep expressing interest," reports Ana Ortiz, who plays Betty's sister Hilda on the show. "It's going to be the hot spot. We have Lucy Liu coming on. Salma keeps saying Penelope Cruz is going to come on. It's just a matter of finding the right part for the right person." Joining the cast most recently in a permanent position is Rebecca Romijn, who Ortiz says fit right in with the rest of the cast. "You look at her and she's this stunning beauty, but she's so funny and such a normal, down-to-earth person."

As "Betty" continues to do well in the ratings, Ortiz tells us she's confident about the show's future, especially with Salma running things behind the scenes and America Ferrera on screen. "It's funny watching America and Salma together because America is like a mini Salma.

They're both so involved and so hands-on and kind, but really forceful in knowing what they want. I see Salma on the phone like super intense, saying, 'No, no, no … This is how it's going to be.' Then she gets off the phone, turns around with a huge smile on her face, and starts joking around and playing with my dog. Both women really have a wonderful balance."

TRIPPING IN BIG SHOES: "How I Met Your Mother" regular Neil Patrick Harris says his character, Barney, on the CBS sitcom is becoming an homage to the late John Ritter — who was also a master at physical comedy.

"I've suddenly become Jack Tripper," says Harris, referring to Ritter's character on the '80s series, "Three's Company." "I begged them for pratfalls, and I'm getting them. We've got some really, strangely funny things coming up." Harris admits since the addition of the more physical comedy, "I took some headers … I bruised my legs up a lot recently because I couldn't move my legs in the episode we were doing, so I was doing wacky walk for a while." He adds, "I can hurt myself, but if I laugh at myself when I watch the DVD, then it's all right. It's all for the sake of comedy, and the bruises heal."

FROM THE INSIDE LOOKING OUT: Shelley Berman returns as eccentric Judge Robert Sanders — who is given to making announcements that contain words like "jibber-jabber" and "poopycock" (cq) — on tonight's (2/13) "Boston Legal." The esteemed actor/comedian is having a ball with the recurring role. "It's not hard when you have very good writing," he notes. "David Kelley is beyond belief. I'm riding on a crest of quirkiness." Berman also says he has the best seat in the (court) house to see "some of the best acting in the world. When Candice Bergen gets up and delivers one of those speeches with such intensity, it's an amazing experience."

Berman has something else in common with Bergen. "My wife and I bought Edgar Bergen's old house years ago. We knew which room had been Candace's bedroom when she was a little girl. We saw the track she used to ride around on a burro."

Nowadays, Berman's dividing his time between "Boston Legal," "Curb Your Enthusiasm," a poetry class he conducts at the Motion Picture and Television Country House, and serving as a special guest instructor at Hollywood's Improv Olympic West.

The veteran of Chicago's famed Compass Players loves working with young performers on long-form improv. "Of course there's always one guy who can't wait to tell the big joke. You have a dramatic, beautiful thing going, but someone jumps in with a big joke and it ends right there. The key to the taking is the giving." Food for thought.

(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 2007 MARILYN BECK AND STACY JENEL SMITH

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