The Hollywood Exclusive - Column by Marilyn Beck & Stacy Jenel Smith

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The Hollywood Exclusive: Corbin Bleu Ready To Graduate From Disney Teen Stardom/Ed Asner Says 'Another Series Would Be Welcome'

Marilyn Beck and Stacy Jenel Smith

Teen sensation Corbin Bleu reveals exclusively to Beck/Smith Hollywood that his Disney days may be coming to a close now that "High School Musical 3: Senior Year" has been completed.

Asked if this might be his farewell to Disney-type teen projects, Bleu responds, "In a way, yeah. My thing is to always keep true to who you are as a person and to stretch yourself as much as you can. Everybody grows, and I just think your art needs to grow with you as well so I'm definitely working on getting into some more serious stuff," he tells us. "I'm really just trying to find a new project right now so I can get a little bit more into character work."

The young star even admits he'd be willing to cut off those trademark curls of his. "I think if the right role comes along. I'm diehard when it comes to my art, so if it comes to having to shave my hair for a role, then it will grow back."

However, Bleu says he is very excited about the third installment of their popular TV movie franchise hitting the big screen on Oct. 24. He notes that everything is much bigger than what we've seen from them so far. "You can expect some differences in it from the first two. All of the musical numbers have their own style. We have cha cha, we have break dancing, we even have an old school Broadway style Bob Fosse tribute. There's going to be a lot of diversity in the numbers," he explains. "It's graduation, too. Especially for the fans of ‘High School Musical' it's going to be a really emotional time just because you're going to see us finally leaving East High."

Noooooo!

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FROM THE INSIDE LOOKING OUT: Although Ed Asner's keeping busy bouncing from movie to movie, the seven-time Emmy winner admits, "I'd love to do another series. Oh, yes. I tried a number of them -- all good attempts. 'Bronx Zoo' lasted two years. Brandon Tartikoff later apologized for taking it off," recalls the actor, speaking of the late former head of NBC. Of course, Asner's work on the classic "Mary Tyler Moore Show" and "Lou Grant" -- in addition to landmark dramas including "Roots" -- places him in the pantheon of TV icons for posterity.

Right now, Asner has the big screen "Gigantic" with John Goodman, Zooey Deschanel, Jane Alexander and Paul Dano on the festival circuit. He and Alexander play the parents of Dano's character -- an unusual sort who wants badly to be a father and becomes obsessed with the idea of adopting a baby from China. "There is something of the luftmensch to him; he has unearthly qualities … The love affair between him and Zooey is very, very good, very nice. It's a lovely picture. I can't wait to see where it lands," says Asner.

Ed also stars in the Hallmark Channel's Oct. 25 "Generation Gap" movie, in which he plays the ex-military man grandfather of wayward teen Alex Black ("Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide"), "a gorgeous kid," he says. And he's doing voice work on Pixar's highly anticipated "Up." He notes of the Pixar group, "They exact. But it is well worth it. They're such beautiful people to work with."

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CHEATERS PROSPERS: Multi-platinum rock sensation Trapt is getting a boost publicity-wise starting tonight (9/22) -- sort of. In a way. Seems a recent Trapt concert in Dallas turned out to be the scene of a "Cheaters" confrontation, with the syndicated show team sweeping in with their white vans and surveillance tapes to confront a cheating boyfriend/girlfriend. Lead singer Chris Brown sees lights from the camera crew in his audience and announces, "Uh-oh. There are paparazzi here," and then the crowd turns to see two girls about to engage in a knockdown catfight. Ironically -- and we're told it's just a coincidence, really -- Trapt's latest single off their "Only Through the Pain" CD is about a cheating girlfriend, called "Who's Going Home With You Tonight?" It's the ninth season opener of the spectacularly tacky show.

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SPEAKING OF SPECTACLE: Swarms of paparazzi surrounded "The Hills" star Lauren Conrad the other night at the Sony Product Preview at Mansion in New York. Conrad introduced a fashion show for My Graphic Splash Products, complete with scantily clad models sporting splattered body paint to match the laptops they carried up and down the runway. Also spotted at the event were "Real Housewives of New York City's" Jill Zarin and athlete Kevin Crawford.

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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 2008 Creators Syndicate Inc.

This news arrived on: 09/22/2008

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