Hollywood Exclusive by Marilyn Beck & Stacy Jenel Smith

Kellie Martin Stepping Up Career Momentum After Mommyhood Break/Sex Symbol Thing Means More to His Wife Than to Him, Says Gilles Marini

It looks like Kellie Martin's stepping up her career momentum again in 2011, now that her little girl, Maggie, is 4 years old. The former "ER," "Christy," "Mystery Woman" and "Life Goes On" star has a Hallmark Channel movie coming up Feb. 5 — a romantic comedy, "Smooch" with Kiernan Shipka of "Mad Men" and Simon Kassianides ("Quantum of Solace") as a prince who may once have been a frog.

Now, she says, "I would love to work on a series here in town, where I didn't have to work on every scene. I guess if I had a wish list, that would be my wish list."

Also: "I would love to direct again. I've said that I wanted to wait until Maggie was older because when you direct, you give mind, body, soul over to the project, and I wasn't really ready to do that when she was so young because she needed me so much. Now I'm getting more and more open to the idea of directing again. I can't wait to direct something I'm not in. Everything I've directed to this point, I've been the star of, and that's more than exhausting," adds the Yale-educated 35-year-old, who is married to attorney Keith Christian. "After I did that, I'm like, Clint Eastwood? I don't know how he does it."

She does know that she likes the fact that as a director, "You get to use your brain and your judgment. And I love photography, too, so I love that part of directing. It's something I know I will do. I've said I'm not going to be the type of actress who does the face-lift and the Botox and all this to keep myself looking younger than I actually am. When I get to the age where somebody's demanding that I actually do that stuff, then I'm going to be like, 'You know what? I'm going to direct.' And that will be totally fine and fulfilling for me."

MAGICALLY SEXY: "Brothers & Sisters" actor Gilles Marini guests on tonight's (1/10) episode of "Castle" as a magician who just might have made an enemy disappear — giving those who get a thrill out of beholding the sexy French actor something new to look forward to.

To talk to Marini about his image is to get the sense that he considers it all just part of the job. In fact, he claims that his wife, Carole, "embraces that sex symbol thing" about him much more than he does. To Marini, "I'm a regular guy like everyone else."

OK, but other regular guys never bared all on the big screen in the first "Sex and the City" movie and don't have photos showing off their hot physiques all over the Internet.

Still, Marini comes off a loving family man in conversation. One of the things that the 34-year-old actor enjoys about "Brothers & Sisters" is the fact that the show has a kid-friendly set, and he has a young son and daughter.

"One day, we had 11 children on the set. Rachel Griffiths made a big place for them to color and bring toys — so wonderful."

HER WAY: Frequent fliers on Twitter certainly know that Lisa Rinna is among the more active celebrity tweeters — but the reality show star-boutique owner-wife and mother insists that keeping up with her social network doesn't take up much of her time.

"When I'm waiting in a car pool or early for a meeting — in those spare minutes we all have — I love to tweet to update fans and friends," she tells us.

Rinna's tweets have brought her lots of attention (free publicity!), too — like her announcements that she's doing an NBC show to air Jan. 30, and she's about to start playing the mom of James (James Maslow) on Nickelodeon's "Big Time Rush." And of course, there was last week's entry, when she posted a picture of herself with no makeup in response to a rude fan who said she looked awful without cosmetics. In fact, Rinna, out in the snow with her two daughters during a ski trip, looked fetching indeed.

GOING THE EXTRA MILES: Before they step up to collect their Oscars or sign their multi-million-dollar deals, stars have to land the roles that get them there — quite often going to lengths that average humans would find unthinkable.

Kate Winslet was bent on nabbing the leading lady part in "Titanic," for example, but director James Cameron resisted, afraid she had the wrong image. When her agents failed to get the point across to Cameron that Winslet was Rose, she reportedly left a rose in his car with a friendly note. Then she got his cell phone number and pitched herself.

Tobey Maguire secured the lead role in the hit movie "Spider-Man" by going topless. The star had failed to woo producers in his first audition, as they were unconvinced that his slight frame would pass for an action hero's. However, when called back for a more physical tryout, Maguire unveiled his ripped six-pack to clinch the deal.

The great Meryl Streep can play aggressive as well as she plays everything else. Hard as it is to believe today, Alan Pakula actually turned Streep down for "Sophie's Choice." She phoned the director and, as she puts it, "begged and pleaded for an interview." Pakula consented out of politeness, expecting nothing, but Streep dazzled him in the interview and got the part — for which she later won an Oscar.

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.

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