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From staff and wire reports

Being James Dean

LOS ANGELES, California -- It's not easy being James Dean.

In order for James Franco to do it for his role in the TNT film "James Dean" he had to cut himself off from his friends and family while he practiced.

"I think I would feel pretty foolish hanging around acting like James Dean with my friends. So I couldn't do that. I had to be away from them," Franco, 23, tells The Associated Press. "I wanted to get comfortable with that, and the only way I could do that is just constantly do it."

Franco knew he was under a lot of pressure to get the performance exactly right. After dying in a car crash at age 24, Dean still has rabid fans, 46 years later.

"I just wanted to be ... truthful, and to have no distractions," he said. "I didn't want to have any fun. I just wanted to get rid of any remembrance of James Franco."

"James Dean" airs Sunday on TNT.

Hip-hop has new network

NEW YORK -- Talk about organizing your efforts -- hip-hop now has something called Hip-Hop Summit Action Network.

Put together by hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons, the organization will be based in New York with initiatives that include the mentoring of musical artists and politically empowering the hip-hop community.

"The hip-hop community has been incredibly receptive to our attempt to organize and mobilize their efforts toward making young people's concerns a priority in Washington and in U.S. government, in general," the 43-year-old producer said in a statement, according to The Associated Press.

Ideas for the network stemmed from the most recent Hip-Hop Summit in June.

Spielberg to helm 'Catch'?

HOLLYWOOD, California -- It's full steam ahead for Steven Spielberg.

The director of the recently release "A.I.: Artificial Intelligence" and "Minority Report," which just finished shooting, is said to be considering the DreamWorks drama "Catch Me If You Can," according to Variety.

The project has included a number of starts and stops -- including the winning and losing of Leonardo DiCaprio -- but Spielberg is said to have an interest in it.

First, according to Variety, he'll direct either "Big Fish" or "Memoirs of a Geisha."

Give 'Patterson's' son a break

HOLLYWOOD, California -- Who says you can't earn a break in Hollywood?

James Guidice certainly doesn't utter those words, not after winning a role in the new ABC sitcom "Bob Patterson," starring former "Seinfeld" star Jason Alexander.

Guidice, 17, is a Brooklyn native, who has no previous acting experience. He won the gig after auditioning at an open casting call July 10 in New York, according to Variety.

"The mandate of our show is to find what makes us laugh," said Alexander, who will play a recently divorced motivational speaker. "We had tough shoes to fill for this role, and finding someone to fit the character of Jeffrey was a challenge, if not a miracle. But when miracles happen, you don't question them."

The show will air Tuesdays at 9 p.m.