Hollywood Exclusive by Marilyn Beck & Stacy Jenel Smith

Alfre Woodard has high hopes for her new Fox "Maggie Hill" pilot, playing mentor to Christina Cole as a beyond brilliant cardio thoracic surgeon who happens to be schizophrenic. But that doesn't mean the four-time Emmy-winning actress is over the death of her last series, Christian Slater's heavily promoted "My Own Worst Enemy."

"It was short-sightedness and bone-headedness" that accounted for the drama's demise, she blasts. Referring to "Worst Enemy" competing with the presidential campaign action, she adds, "Someone made a really bad decision to roll it out when they did. One week, Sarah Palin had done something that was all over the news. One week we were on the night before the final debate … Then they made a decision to pull it," with only nine episodes shot of its original 13-episode commitment. "That was a cowardly way out, I think," says the actress. And as for NBC's schedule, Alfre sniffs, "It's like state TV, really boring."

MEANWHILE: On a completely different front, Alfre is gratified by response so far to "American Violet," the Samuel Goldwyn film she has opening tomorrow (4/17). Based on the true story of a young, innocent single mother in rural Texas who was wrongly caught up in an ultra-aggressive drug sweep — then told she had to accept plea bargaining guilty or face risking more than a decade in prison and the possibility of her children being placed in the foster care system. Alfre plays the mother of that woman, named Dee in the film and played by critically hailed newcomer and Juilliard grad Nicole Beharie.

"I met the real-life Dee this week at the premiere. She was so wonderful, lovely and emotional, I took her into my arms just as I did in the movie. I'm just so proud of her as a human being, standing by her sense of what is right," says Alfre. She hopes the film brings national attention to the plight of such unjustly accused poor, whom she describes as doubly victimized by overzealous law enforcement seeking high arrest numbers and funding. "Once you take a guilty plea and are convicted as a felon, you can't have a life in America.

You can't vote, you can't get food stamps or other assistance if you need it. You're in a netherworld."

THE BIG SCREEN SCENE: We're used to actors who play bad guys finding ways to understand and identify with them. Still, Johnny Depp's depiction of bank robber John Dillinger, whom he plays in the forthcoming "Public Enemies," is an attention-getter. "Some people might disagree, but I think he was a real-life Robin Hood," Depp tells Entertainment Weekly, in the magazine's Summer Movie Preview issue, due out tomorrow (4/17). "He knew that the clock was ticking, and boy, if right now wasn't the time to have a good time, then I don't know when is!"

Depp's fellow "Public Enemies" star, Christian Bale, talks of the movie's recreation of the infamous 1934 FBI raid at the Little Bohemia Lodge in northern Wisconsin: "I fired so many bullets in those woods in the middle of the night, I was literally tasting metal for a week afterward."

And Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna wax poetic in the magazine about … each other. They're starring together as soccer-playing brothers in this summer's "Rudo y Cursi." The two "Y Tu Mama Tambien" actors were thrilled to reunite, and found that playing siblings came easily. "Diego is like my brother," says Bernal. Except, Luna notes: "Brothers don't get to choose each other, and we did."

Aww.

IT PAYS TO BE A CELEBRITY: It's going to be interesting to see what effect this has on the celebrity reporting scene: Casting is underway for a host or hostess for an Internet channel that will feature stars answering reader questions about themselves and otherwise communicating with fans — with the celebrities being paid for their involvement. According to casting sources, Antonio Banderas and Melanie Griffith, and Michael Madsen are among the names already on board.

Casting forces on Animal Planet's "It's Me or the Dog" have been looking for celebrity dog owners willing to share their tales of woe with their out-of-control canines — who will be transformed into well-behaved doggie family members by famous trainer Victoria Stillwell.

With reports by 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 2009 MARILYN BECK AND STACY JENEL SMITH DISTRIBUTED BY CREATORS SYNDICATE, INC.