Hollywood Exclusive by Marilyn Beck & Stacy Jenel Smith

Get ready for Ella Bleu Travolta. Yes, that's the 7-year-old daughter of John Travolta and Kelly Preston, and she's working on her very first feature film assignment right now, in Mom and Dad's "Old Dogs" comedy with Robin Williams.

"She's just loving it. We're so proud. Johnny and I are the parents standing next to the monitor on set saying, 'Oh! That's our baby!'" says Preston, who jetted in from Connecticut location to L.A. this week to do promotional chores for Twentieth Century Fox's Aug. 31-opening "Death Sentence," in which she plays a mother whose son has been murdered and whose husband (Kevin Bacon) turns revenge-minded killer.

She says she and John didn't have to think hard about letting Ella turn professional movie actress, because she's been lobbying for her chance for years. "It was just a matter of when. Ever since she was 2 years old, that's what she's wanted to do. This script was just perfect."

In the Disney movie, Ella is "playing my daughter. In the story, Johnny and Robin are best friends and business partners. Robin and I haven't seen each other since our one night together seven years ago. We have twins, and I drop them off with him, saying, 'You take care of them for two weeks.' It's hilarious. It's the same producers who did 'Wedding Crashers.'"

"It's a perfect summer for us," she adds, noting that 15-year-old son Jett "is doing everything but the movie. He's enjoying all the fun summer stuff."

Kelly admits she did have to think hard before joining the "Death Sentence" cast. In fact, "I struggled with it. It took me several weeks to decide to do it, but ultimately I felt it really forces you to ask very deep moral questions. It deals with a character who has lost his moral compass. I didn't feel it glorified him." Also, she says, she wanted the chance to work with the ever-intriguing, multi-layer-performance-giving Kevin Bacon.

MUD SLINGING: Things could get real down and dirty the day after the Emmys between Holland Taylor and Conchata Ferrell — both Emmy-nominated for Best Supporting Actress on "Two and a Half Men." That's according to Ferrell, who explains, "Holland and I were both nominated once before, and we hooked up between us that if one of us wins and the other doesn't, the next day at work we will mud wrestle for the award. That's still on!" She adds with a laugh, "I outweigh her, but she moves faster than I.

She is a scrapper." Other than that, Ferrell says, "the only pressure I feel is, what the hell am I going to do about the dress? There's no designer beating down my door to dress me. But the concept of winning hardly enters my mind. First of all, how do you win when Holland comes on the ballot? She's very special, and there are a lot of wonderful people nominated. What you have to tell yourself is the nomination is the award." Though, she adds with a laugh, "I've heard actors say they keep their Emmy in the bathroom and use it as a doorstop, so you could say the nomination is the award — but it won't keep your bathroom door open."

Ferrell says the "Two and a Half Men" troupe isn't feeling any added pressure to perform as the CBS hit starts its fifth season with multiple Emmy noms for Best Comedy, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor and two Best Supporting Actress nods. "The first day of shooting they went around the room, introduced us (the Emmy nominees), we all congratulated each other and went to work. That's what we do, and the first show is fall down funny."

WHAT PRICE REALISM: Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Garner, Chris Cooper, Jason Bateman and the rest of the company on director Peter Berg's Sept. 28-release "The Kingdom" paid dearly for the verisimilitude on the movie about U.S. government agents trying to track down a bomber in the Middle East. Shooting in the United Arab Emirates had many battling heat and heading to the hospital, and resulted in the deaths of three crew members. "I was driving once a week to the hospital to visit a crew or cast member who had shut down from heat exhaustion," says Berg, recounting the difficult shoot in Entertainment Weekly's soon-due Fall Preview edition. Twice that trip was to see Garner, who was breastfeeding her new baby between setups and who suffered two bouts of heat stroke. Jason Bateman didn't handle it much better. "I threw up," he tells EW. "I turned into a real sissy."

MULTI-MEDIA MAN: "Dexter" costar David Zayas has a big September on big and small screen. The Showtime series' second season premiere is coming up Sept. 30. And, he points out, "I have a part in the movie 'The Savages' with Philip Seymour Hoffman and Laura Linney. I also have a film coming out called 'Michael Clayton' with George Clooney" — the latter of whom quickly earned Zayas' respect. "My son came on the set, and George really took the time to pay attention and speak with him. It really left a good impression on my son as well as me."

(With reports by Stephanie DuBois and Emily Feimster)

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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