Hollywood Exclusive by Marilyn Beck & Stacy Jenel Smith

Newly engaged Emmy nominee Charlie Sheen admits he has a hankering to get back to doing drama.

"It would be a nice shift for people to be reminded that's where I came from," says Sheen, who rose to fame in such fare as Oliver Stone's 1986 "Platoon." "And also to see something different from what they see for free every week on television."

Sheen, who recently announced his wedding plans with real estate investor Brooke Mueller, is quick to add that a lot would have to line up just right for him to take on a serious role any time in the foreseeable future. "This show doesn't just show up on the air, so by the break, after eight or nine months, we're exhausted. Getting excited about going back to work immediately, and then coming back to the show fatigued — it would have to be something pretty spectacular. It would not be a silly romantic comedy. It would not be anything that would resemble stuff I'd done before. It would definitely be something very intense, dramatic. That's sort of what the plan is — if that project reveals itself. If it doesn't, that's OK. I have a job that I'm thrilled with," he stresses, referring, of course to "Two and a Half Men," which received seven Emmy nominations, including a nod for Charlie's series brother, Jon Cryer.

THE BIG SCREEN SCENE: The Coen Brothers' upcoming film, "No Country for Old Men" starring Tommy Lee Jones, "is stark. There's no music in the entire movie, and it's very violent," warns Garret Dillahunt, who also appears in the film. However, he adds, "it wasn't glorified at all."

The film is based on the bestselling Cormac McCarthy novel about a hunter inadvertently drawn into a drug deal gone sour. "It's about the cruelty of life, and it's unflinching and honest, but it's not unhopeful. Though, there's a different kind of hope offered in 'No Country.' It's kind of like a 'This is what it is, can you handle that?' kind of question." Dillahunt, who is currently co-starring in HBO's surfing drama, "John from Cincinnati," says he and Jones "play the local law enforcement" in "No Country" and "Javier Bardem plays Anton Chigurh, one of the baddest men in modern literature, which he brings to life really well. He brings a kind of evil to our little 1980 town that we've never seen and are completely unable to deal with. We find this is no place for our old kind of honor and loyalty. There are so many parallels to today."

Josh Brolin also stars in the film "as the main opponent to Chigurh," says Dillahunt.

"The way Josh plays him, he does stuff that's smart. What I hate in movies is when you see people do things that are just so stupid you know you wouldn't do that if it were you — you'd run there, you'd hang up, you'd turn on the light first. … In this movie, everyone is capable. I think you might find it believable that way."

CELEBRATE, CELEBRATE, CELEBRATE: Michelle Rodriguez certainly seems to have made the most out of her 29th birthday earlier this month. The former "Lost" actress with the tempestuous life held one bash for herself at Mansion in Miami, another at Pink Elephant in Southampton, and a third last week at New York's The Plumm with "Law & Order's" Chris Noth and owner Noel Ashman. While taking a moment away from friends in the club's private office, the birthday girl admitted that she is glad to be playing a criminal — not a cop — in her December release "Battle in Seattle," a feature starring Charlize Theron and Woody Harrelson. That's not surprising, given her past brushes with the law. Directed by Stuart Townsend, "Battle in Seattle" recounts the 1999 street demonstration-turned-riot against the World Trade Organization.

THE VIDEOLAND VIEW: Since she is playing a former IRA terrorist and survival tactics expert, Gabrielle Anwar says she's looking forward to seeing some real action in coming episodes of the USA Network drama "Burn Notice."

"Being able to wallop somebody over the head with a broken beer bottle is good for a laugh if nothing else," says the British beauty, who plays Jeffrey Donovan's former love interest/reluctant confidante on the show. "I'm hoping they'll give me a little more (action). It's a great way to keep your energy up. The TV series is a new phenomenon for me, so I'm always flabbergasted at the hours our crew put in. I don't know why the actors are always treated with kid gloves when they're the folk doing the really down and dirty job."

More action or not, Anwar says she's not complaining. "I'm just ecstatic to not have to be begging a director or producer to portray this woman as a woman rather than as a male fantasy of a woman." A distinction she's made sure her teenage daughter recognizes. "She does have her moments, but she does seem pretty conscious of how far we've come from where we were as a matriarchal society, which has been completely erased from history. It's kind of painful to realize where we were, where we went to and where we still need to get back to, and it's easier to be unaware. But she has a thirst for knowledge, so I'm milking it as far as I can."

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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