Hollywood Exclusive by Marilyn Beck & Stacy Jenel Smith

Selena Gomez Won't Go Down the Lohan Road, Says David DeLuise/Keanu Reeves Movie of Feudal Japan Getting Under Way at Last

Selena Gomez won't be going down that road to wreckage and ruin traveled by Lindsay Lohan and other young female pop star/actresses — not according to her "Wizards of Waverly Place" father, David DeLuise, anyway.

Last month, he notes, "I was driving downtown and there were 10 helicopters surrounding the area because Lindsay Lohan was going into jail again. Well, I'm not blaming her parents because I don't know. But I do know that Selena has Mandy and Brian, who are very concerned about her well-being — not only her career, but her well-being," he stresses. "They're great parents."

DeLuise, who has 17- and 12-year-old daughters of his own, has come to know Gomez's mom and stepdad fairly well through the run of the show. "We hang out, go over to their house or they come to my house. We watch movies, go to barbeques. Obviously, that's slowed down because Selena has become so busy. On weekends, she goes on mini tours. Yes, they do mature very quickly," he adds with a smile. "Selena was this little adorable girl and now she's like a grown-up woman wearing high heels. It's so weird and so great. I just heard her on the radio. They played Justin Bieber, and then Selena — on some list of teen singing sensations. I'm very happy for her. She's very talented."

DeLuise acknowledges that with Gomez and her series brothers — David Henrie and Jake T. Austin — maturing so fast, the cast shouldn't be idle long after the completion of the series' final season. They'll need to go into production on the next "Wizards of Waverly Place" movie pretty fast.

"I have not seen a script for the film, but it's going to be one of two things. It will be a wrap-up on the show" — including the long-awaited answer as to which of the three "Waverly Place" siblings will become a full-fledged wizard — "or a movie about what happens to the family when only one kid is doing the magic."

He adds, "They chose to do it as another TV movie. I do not mind saying I feel that was a mistake. I feel a feature film would have done great. But for some reason, they chose to make it a Disney Channel movie, and I'm very happy to participate. As I sometimes tell the kids, 'This is what we have to do, and trust they have their reasons."

ON THE PERSONAL SIDE: FX's terrific new "Terriers" drama, with Donal Logue and Michael Raymond-James as shabby, unlicensed, yet somehow appealing detectives, marks a breakthrough for actress Kimberly Quinn, who plays Logue's still-caring ex-wife, Gretchen.

"My dad had passed away, and I had just gotten home from his funeral when the call came in to audition," she recounts. "I was kind of in that space where you feel, 'I'm not really here,' where you're kind of floating in that space of 'What is life about?' — where you don't care what people think of you. I thought, 'I'll go just to get my mind off of things.' Then they called me back and asked me to read with Donal. We had great chemistry. Then I did a test; then four days later, I got the job. I can't help thinking that my dad had something to do with it."

The pretty blond actress and mother of a 14-year-old son and 5-year-old daughter says she did register right away that "Terriers" had a unique tone. "I recognized the characters as something different and special. You know, in television, sometimes you don't get to reach into the character's soul. These guys are very touchable. It's palpable, the emotion on all levels, for all the characters. It started off kind of lighter in the first couple of episodes, but where it ends up is really different. I think the audience will be pulled in as I was."

The first season of "Terriers' is already in the can, and Quinn is eagerly awaiting word on the show's future. When — if — they go back into production, she says, "Hopefully, I'll know how to operate in a more efficient manner. I felt scrambled this season ... The biggest challenge I had was getting out of the house. I'd get swept up in my children's lives, and then suddenly, I'd be scooting down to San Diego, where we shoot. I didn't live down there. The drive is manageable if you choose your times and don't go during peak traffic hours. I learned my lesson on that. One day, it took me from three in the afternoon till eight at night to get home."

THE BIG-SCREEN SCENE: Keanu Reeves' ambitious big-screen saga of feudal Japan, "47 Ronin," was announced way back in December 2008. Now, casting of subsidiary characters is getting intense, with roles ranging from Reeves' fellow 46 warriors to Mika, the beautiful princess. Based on a real-life story about a band of 1700s Samurai swordsmen who sought to avenge the death of their master, the movie will shoot in — where else? — Hungary.

Also deep into preproduction is "Right Angle," the indie film to star Aaron Paul of "Breaking Bad." As fans of that tough, tight series are well aware, Paul is a real talent — and "Right Angle" sounds like it will give him another opportunity to show it. He'll play a successful, womanizing salesman whose life is turned upside down when he gets into an accident that leaves him partially paralyzed and confined to a wheelchair.

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 2010 MARILYN BECK AND STACY JENEL SMITH

DISTRIBUTED BY CREATORS.COM