Hollywood Exclusive by Marilyn Beck & Stacy Jenel Smith

Maria Canals Barrera: From Emotional 'Wizards' Goodbye to Tom Hanks Film/Does Kim Kardashian Have a Case Against Bret Lockett?

With "Wizards of Waverly Place" having wrapped its final episode for airing July 24, series mom Maria Canals Barrera admits she's getting a lot of questions about what she's doing next. Fortunately for her, she has "Larry Crowne" opening July 1, with none other than Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts.

"I'm looking forward to the premiere June 27," notes the actress, who plays one of Hanks' fellow community college students — in teacher Roberts' classroom — in the feature Hanks co-scripted (with Nia Vardalos) and directed as well.

"Tom is fun and relaxed on the set and yet very focused and professional," Barrera notes. "It was a lot of fun to see him in action as a director, finishing a scene and then saying, 'And, cut' — then rushing to the monitor to see the playback."

The film has Hanks' character moving from coping with life after job loss — to a new life.

"I think it was very wise of them — Tom and Nia - to write the script in these times when, unfortunately, a lot of people have to reinvent themselves. Or fortunately," Barrera adds, "because sometimes when people have to reinvent themselves, they are able to move toward their original passion and become a more fulfilled person in the end."

Barrera is facing big life changes herself. With her longtime series now concluded, she's had to say goodbye to her "Waverly Place" family — Selena Gomez, David Henrie, Jake T. Austin and David DeLuise.

Of the forthcoming hour-long series finale, she says, "I believe the fans will get what they've been craving. The beauty of it is: It has adventure, total heart-tugging drama and suspense, humor, wackiness, randomness and a ton of special effects. It was fun doing it. We were all emotional. At the very last scene, we were crying and toasting and making speeches."

The wrap party had a prom theme, and the cast and production team received show "yearbooks" in keeping with the graduation of the young "Wizards" actors.

Of her onscreen offspring, she notes, "They really are great people in that they each have a good head on their shoulders. They're very professional, focused on their work; they enjoy it, and they realized the show was a blessing and appreciated it."

Meanwhile, Barrera says she texted back and forth with Gomez recently when the 18-year-old It Girl took ill and was hospitalized after a "Tonight Show" appearance.

"She sent me a note that she was feeling much better," reports the actress, who adds that she didn't ask the nature of her former TV daughter's ailment. Having played mom to both Gomez and Demi Lovato (in "Camp Rock" and its sequel), she's aware of the fact both young stars are constant tabloid targets, with Lovato having recently made her bipolar condition public, and Gomez paparazzi bait as she dates teen heartthrob Justin Bieber.

"I don't now how they can handle it.

It must be incredibly difficult at their age," she says.

But Barrera — who has two young daughters of her own - would much rather rhapsodize about her small-screen daughters.

"What are the chances of two little girls who are best friends, both extremely talented, winding up becoming so wildly successful? Demi is like — she glows. She has that megawatt smile and so much passion and energy. I love, love, love her voice. She's an incredible singer. And Selena, she is so naturally an actress. She was fully present, emotionally there, at 12 years of age, and she's just gotten better and better — amazing, especially when we were doing dramatic scenes.

"I really love them both to pieces," she adds. We guessed.

SEXTING THE NEW AFFAIR?: Kim Kardashian's declaration this week that she plans to sue NFL player Bret Lockett and In Touch magazine for defamation — categorically denying that she ever had a dalliance with Lockett behind the back of fiance Kris Humphries of the New Jersey Nets, or anywhere — is certainly the subject of water-cooler talk in legal circles.

Leading entertainment litigator and defamation expert Mitchell Langberg has been watching Lockett's interviews on TV and calls it "an interesting case. You don't have too many times when the person who has made the false allegations about you starts saying they're false. He's not exactly doing that, but he's caving, saying that the fact he said they had a relationship doesn't mean they were together ... It's one of the crazier things I've ever seen.

"There seems to be more 'there' there," adds the attorney, known for his work in a number of high-profile cases involving celebs. "If he

has phone records to prove some sort of sexting or sex-talk relationship, that's going to come out if she really sues him for falsely suggesting or saying they had an affair."

That would do Kardashian harm as well, he points out.

Langberg surmises that she might have a good case against Lockett.

"One thing that will help her here is that all the press reports assumed (Lockett) was talking about an in-person, actual affair, as opposed to a Congressman Weiner kind of relationship," he notes.

Successfully suing the magazine would be much harder "because you would have to prove they published information knowing it was not true or having reason to believe the source was of questionable reliability. But they got it firsthand from Lockett himself."

Following in the steps of many famous folk before her, Kardashian will have to determine whether taking legal action is worth it.

"A lot of times with celebrities, one of the hardest decisions is whether they want to bring more attention to something that would be superseded by the new picture of Rep. Weiner or whatever in the next news cycle."

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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