Shooting the gruesome "Saw 5" was almost the straw that broke the camel's back, reports Julie Benz, who stars in the latest installment of the graphic horror films due out in the fall.

"I had quite an intense year," says the actress, who co-starred with Sylvester Stallone in last year's "Rambo" and now plays Michael C. Hall's girlfriend on Showtime's "Dexter." "I went from being in the jungle running from the Burmese in 'Rambo,' to loving a serial killer (Dexter), then right into (the upcoming) 'Punisher: War Zone,' then 'Saw 5.

The last film, which she wrapped in late May, "came home with me," says Benz. "These 'Saw' films are very psychologically terrifying, and it really affected me on a very deep level. I'd go back to the hotel and have nightmares about the movie, not actor nightmares — like 'Will I be able to perform?' — but about stuff going on in the film. I didn't think it was going to affect me like that. I mean, I was there on a set. I knew it was make believe, knew it wasn't true, and still I was getting really scared. They had a bucket on standby because I was really getting nauseous over things I had to do. I've never had that reaction to a movie before. I was always able to turn it off. But there were moments I actually forgot I was shooting a movie and really did think something awful was going to happen."

It was the kind of verisimilitude an actor lives for, apparently. "It was kind of exciting and fun," says Benz, in retrospect. "I would do it again in a heartbeat. It probably wouldn't affect me as much the second time around."

THE INSIDE TRACK: That vacation Cisco Adler said he was taking from his band, Whitestarr, turns out to be the permanent kind. The L.A. socialite/musician/son of music producer Lou Adler reveals he has moved on for good.

"I closed that chapter of my life. I hold it dear in my heart, and I wouldn't change it for the world, but it was seven years of my life," notes Adler, who became just as famous for dating the likes of Mischa Barton, Kimberly Stewart and Paris Hilton. "People knew me as only a dude in a classic rock throwback band when I was making so much other varied music. I was like, 'Let me just close that book and open up this book over here and show people what's up.' I'm not saying we won't all play together again somewhere, but I'm just done making strictly classic rock."

The new chapter in Adler's life is the MTV reality show "Buzzin," premiering July 23, which follows Adler and his pal/collaborator Shwayze as they release an album together.

This certainly won't be Adler's first dip into the reality pool as he and Whitestarr did the VH1 reality show "The Rock Life." "It's a completely different show. The other one was about a band's last chance. This is about a band's first chance," says Adler about producing tracks for Shwayze, the self-described "only black kid in Malibu." "This will hopefully show the work ethic and how much we put into this album." In the end, though, he says they just want to have fun making the music they love. "It takes a lot of pressure off. I've been in both situations, and I know which one works."

BARELY HANGIN' TEN: "The Riches" regular Todd Stashwick proudly reports he paid his dues in the water shooting Matthew McConaughey's upcoming big-screen comedy "Surfer Dude." "I'd taken up the sport about three or four years ago, and I'm used to surfing the bunny hills in Santa Monica and Venice Beach," says Stashwick. "But the guys in this movie could surf with a capital S. And we were surfing in Malibu, where it's just a different break. The waves are a little meatier. I was clocked on the head a few times, and I got my hand all cut up because it's all coral in Malibu. But that's what surfers call 'paying tax.' There are other guys who paid worse tax than me, but the ocean has taken my blood!"

He says he's just proud audiences will see him surfing at all. "I was having trouble catching the wave, and I was just out there pruning up my hands, then finally by the end of the day, I grabbed a wave. I looked at the shore, and everybody's cheering for me. I'm like, 'You better have had film in the camera because I don't know if I got another one in me.'"

All things considered, Stashwick says he had a blast. "How rough is that to spend a month with a bunch of great guys in a comedy about surfing? It was produced by McConaughey's company, and he was lovely. I'd ride an hour into Malibu, hang out all day, get to improvise and play — and I got paid, and my family got to eat." He adds, "Surfer Dude," which also stars Woody Harrelson and Willie Nelson is not "a big stoner comedy. It's kind of like 'Jerry Maguire' on a surfboard type of comedy. It's more about a man going through an existential crisis."

A LITTLE IRONY: "Law & Order: SVU" is anything but a kid-friendly show — as any number of parents who've watched "The Biggest Loser" with their kids, then rushed to flip the channel away from sick sexual references that often start the immediately-following "SVU" can attest. But off-camera, tots dot the "SVU" landscape. According to executive producer Neal Baer, Mariska Hargitay's 2-year-old son August is a familiar presence on the set. Chris Meloni "has two kids, Dante and Sophia, who are 7 and 4, and they come out and visit. B.D. (Wong) has Jackson, who is 7 as well, and he brings him sometimes. I know they all go to each other's houses for birthday parties and stuff." Nice.

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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