Are America Ferrera and longtime boyfriend Ryan Piers Williams engaged to be married, as recent reports would have it?

"I make a point of not talking about my personal life," declares the "Ugly Betty" star. "But Ryan and I are still together. No, we're not engaged. We've never been engaged — though there have been at least 100 reports this past year that I was engaged to Ryan."

As her fame has soared, so, too, has the misinformation being spread about all aspects of her life.

"You have to ignore some of the things that are said about you," she says, "Laugh at others — and just shake your head over the fact that there are people who can't find anything better to do with their time then literally create quotes out of thin air. Some of the things are awful. One magazine, for instance, quoted me as saying that when I was younger, I used to cry at my reflection. I never said such a thing!"

America, who'll be before the "Ugly Betty" cameras until May 9, then prepare for a movie shoot — and she has the big-screen "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2" upcoming — doesn't feel that the invasion of her private life is the price she should have to pay for fame.

"I don't think I should have to sacrifice self-respect," she declares. "People should have respect for others and not chase personalities in their cars or show up in front of their homes. That said, I do enjoy it when fans come up to me and say they love my series and like my work. But there's a time and place for everything. Having strangers approach you when you're out having an intimate dinner or, for instance, when you're on the cell phone, well, that can get pretty obnoxious."

MEANWHILE: America alerts fans of "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" to prepare for major changes in the sequel to the 2005 hit. The "Ugly Betty" star, who reprises her "Traveling Pants" role in the Aug. 8 release, says the new flick "is very different in feel from the original." It takes place three years later, and finds the four girls "grown up and trying to deal with friendship after their lives have taken them in different directions, with experiences the others haven't shared."

FROM THE INSIDE LOOKING OUT: Scott Baio tells us his VH1 reality show will probably be coming back for a third season.

According to him, "Professional-wise I get a lot of good heat from the show because it's sort of a different-looking reality show. At network meetings I spend the first 15 minutes talking about the show because they want to know how we do it. They're like, 'We don't know what this show is. Is it real or not?' I'm like, 'It's whatever you want it to be.' I can't tell you what's real and not real because everything is produced — everything. But it is my life and my baby and my wife and my house, but within that we play. We know where the story is. I know sort of where I want to take my life, and I try to get it there."

While Baio is happy to have buzz surrounding "Scot Baio is … " the actor admits it hasn't necessarily helped in getting the big roles. Nevertheless, he's just happy to work. His latest project is the Spike TV movie "Finish Line," where he says he enjoyed playing the bad guy. The action flick about a stock car driver whose need for money leads him to unknowingly work for an arms dealer premieres tonight (4/21) in HD. "Very few people have the luxury of saying, 'I want to do this.' You do what comes along, and you make the best of it. There is only one Clint Eastwood or one Tom Cruise. They're the type of guys who can pick and choose exactly what they want. Guys like us, we just sort of take what we can get, and hopefully it's good stuff. This was a fun little movie. I wish I could get deeper about it, but I'm not that guy."

THE BIG SCREEN SCENE: Tom Lennon confirms that he and his cohorts hope to bring "Reno 911" back to the big screen. "We have a script for a movie called 'Reno S.O.S.,' which is basically like 'Lord of the Flies' and 'Lost,' where we crash on an island. I don't know that they'll necessarily green light the movie just yet, but they might."

HAVE SCRIPT, WILL TRAVEL: Having done a string of six films over the past couple years including "Mad Money" and "Superhero Movie," Christopher McDonald now expects to take a little time off to be with his family. However, he knows the show business rule: "If you want to work, book a very expensive vacation. If you do — and I'm going to take my kids to France — that's the time when that gem of a role you can't pass up comes your way."

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 2008 MARILYN BECK AND STACY JENEL SMITH

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