"Fairly Legal" star Sarah Shahi admits that juggling her series demands and her real-life role as the mother of a 2-and-a-half-year-old son takes a toll. "Family comes first. You think, well, this is how you feed your kid. But the guilt hasn't gone away," says the beauty. She looks forward to "just being Mom" during her seasonal hiatus.

Shahi is also in the upcoming "Bullet to the Head" feature with Sylvester Stallone, Christian Slater and "Game of Thrones" hottie Jason Momoa. And she's helping the latter with his "The Road to Paloma" film, which he co-wrote and directed. Yes, she gets asked where she finds the time. "Sleeping feels like a hobby," she says.

With it all, her charisma is certainly intact as Kate Reed, the lawyer turned mediator she plays in USA's successful "Fairly Legal." Season 2 launched earlier this month and immediately took a dark turn, as what looked like a renewal of romance between Kate and her DA ex-husband (Michael Trucco) got torpedoed by his admission that he'd cheated on her. That betrayal will have lasting repercussions throughout the season, she tells us. The addition of Ryan Johnson as a new potential love interest is one of those.

Does she feel an emotional pull for Kate to wind up with either man in her new on-screen triangle? "If I could dictate, I'd have Kate pick both," she replies saucily. But then, that would be a different show.

But seriously, she points out, "Any time you have two good characters come together, you have to split them apart, or there's no conflict, no drama. It gets boring. But that's the thing about Kate: She can fix anyone else's problem but her own."

Shahi, who is, no doubt, the only series star who is both a descendant of Persian royalty and a former Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader, adds, "The goal for this year was to create a darker, more flawed Kate. We're going back in her past to show why she has this rebellious streak." Kate's attraction to men who wind up hurting her will also be explored. "She is really being forced to mature — but it's two steps forward, one step back."

THE BIG SCREEN SCENE: "The Drummer" biopic of Beach Boy Dennis Wilson is moving closer to its planned mid-June production start. And with Aaron Eckhart in the title role, casting forces are now focusing on who will play the rest of the group. Brian Wilson will be portrayed as he was when the creative genius of the family was at his most overweight and withdrawn, suffering emotional upheavals. Cousin Mike Love will be seen as the transcendental meditation-loving, business-minded member of the group whose clashes with the wayward, fast-living Dennis reached the point of a physical fight on stage. And Carl Wilson will be seen as the affable family member who could smooth things over with audiences by cracking a joke or two.

To see Brian Wilson today, in shape and talking normally as he prepares for a summer of fun, fun, fun with The Beach Boys 50th Anniversary tour (along with fellow original band mates Love and Al Jardine), it's hard to believe he's the same person. It's hard to believe he's the last surviving Wilson brother. Nobody would have predicted that back in the early '80s, when "The Drummer" is set.

FROM THE INSIDE LOOKING OUT: With Showtime's "House of Lies" and the forthcoming indie flick "John Dies at the End," Glynn Turman is back in the spotlight in fare that is anything but tame this year. "I've been around a long time. It's great getting this kind of attention as part of a show that's this fresh and this new," says Turman, who rose to fame in the 1975 classic "Cooley High."

Of course, notes the actor, whose long list of credits includes such diverse fare as "The Wire" and "A Different World," "I've never actually gone anywhere. It's the lean dog that runs a long race."

In the comedy horror flick "John Dies at the End," "I play a detective. My boy Paul Giamatti co-stars, along with a young new cast," Turman says, referring to Chase Williamson and Rob Mayes. The film grabbed much attention at Sundance, as well as at the recent SXSW festival, but has no distribution set yet. From writer-director Don Coscarelli ("Bubba Ho-Tep," "Phantasm"), it's certainly not for everyone, but genre fans are digging it. It's been summarized as a "gonzo gore fest" (Variety) and "wacky, B-movie fun" (Film School Rejects).

"House of Lies" is also not for everyone. The Don Cheadle dark comedy about Wall Street management consultants is smart, edgy and imaginative — and contains lots of sex and profanity. Turman is pleased with his role as Cheadle's dad, Jeremiah.

"I like the fact he's retired from a job that he's world-renowned for (a psychoanalyst) and that he enjoys this retirement. He has his own world, his own income, his own ends. He's not dependent on his well-to-do son, you know. He's his own man, with his own thoughts and ways. He's a throwback to the '60s, a semi-hippie kind of guy."

All of this helps explain why Jeremiah takes his young grandson's cross-dressing in stride. Turman is quick to give credit to juvenile actor Donis Leonard Jr. for playing the eyebrow-raising Roscoe with aplomb. "Donis is just a fantastic young man, a wonderful young actor. Even though we're on cable, the response has been, 'Whoa!' 'Who is this kid?' 'What is the deal with this kid?' That's a good thing. He's making so many people ask questions."

"House of Lies" concludes its first season run on April 1 and already has a second season pickup.

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 2012 MARILYN BECK AND STACY JENEL SMITH DISTRIBUTED BY CREATORS.COM