>BY MARILYN BECK and STACY JENEL SMITH

Anne Heche may be going through a messy divorce with estranged husband Coley Laffoon, but her "Men in Trees" co-star-turned-boyfriend James Tupper tells us their main concern continues to be her son, Homer.

"It's been a journey. It's been a difficult thing," notes Tupper, who filed for divorce from his wife, Kate, last November. "Our feeling about it has been to just focus on Homer and make sure he was OK. She didn't take a job during her break, and we hung out a lot with him. I taught him how to play baseball. He's got this natural swing. He can hit the ball over the shortstop, and he's only 5 years old."

Tupper says that luckily things are going really well with him and Anne, especially now that they've moved in together. And besides loving domestic life, Tupper is thrilled that "Men in Trees" is back for season two. "They say 70 percent of shows that make it to a second season go on for another four or five years, and there's a feeling on set that we're a part of something special." He advises folks to tune in. "There might be a nautical adventure. I might get a wolf. A wedding is being planned. I won't tell you with who, though," he adds. When asked if life might imitate art, Tupper responds with a laugh, "Who knows?"

 

'DIRTY SEXY' ... AND EVASIVE: "Dirty Sexy Money" star Natalie Zea says it's time to put the rumors of her being engaged to former "Passions" co-star Travis Schuldt to rest. "My mom actually told me that. She was like, 'I guess the mom's always the last one to know,' " notes Zea of how quickly word spread earlier this year.

"It's strange because I don't talk about my romantic life ever, and I'm not engaged, so I'll put that to rest," she says frankly. "There's no way if I were engaged that that information would even be out there because I don't talk about that. It's not that I have any sort of crazy, sexy skeletons or secrets, I just feel like the more you put out there, the more crazy stuff that comes back that's not true."

When asked if the two of them, who were often photographed looking cozy at events together, were still dating, she responds, "Was that ever confirmed? I don't think it was, so I'll leave it at that."

Zea, however, has plenty to say about her new ABC show, in which she plays Donald Sutherland's middle child, Karen Darling. "I think the episodes that have aired have been great, but I feel like what's coming up now is so good. It just keeps getting better and better," she claims. "The actors, writers, and producers -- we're all trying to settle in. I feel like, in reading the scripts, it's so evident that we're finally kind of finding our way."

 

FROM 'DANCING' TO DIRECTING? "Dancing With the Stars" alumnus Ian Ziering says hoofing his way back into America's consciousness on the popular ABC show seems to have impacted his life "in a very positive way. Before 'Dancing With the Stars,' I'd directed a short called 'Man vs. Monday' that I sent out to all the festivals just to show I can direct and produce. It was also a template to launch a movie or a TV series."

Since "DWTS," the former "Beverly Hills, 90210" regular says, "I sold the concept to a very big Internet company. I'll be producing 10 3- to 5-minute shorts based on 'Man vs. Monday,' which is a karmic journey. Our hero, Dan Smith, is a hard-working stiff, father, husband, who's forced to turn to the dark side of karma to deal with the struggles of everyday life."

And, he says, "I've optioned a script called 'She's Got a Boyfriend.' It's kind of like a 'Swingers' meets 'Animal House' ... quick, dark, witty and lots of fun. I'll be producing and acting in that, and we hope to start principal photography in early '08."

 

BEN THE BUILDER: Ben Kingsley tells us he's targeting production in 2008 for his planned feature film about the building of the Taj Mahal. "My company is developing the screenplay. It's a story that is very passionate and quite bloody," he points out. Kingsley, who earned an Oscar, of course, for his portrayal of the title historical figure in "Gandhi," says he's been longing to get back to India, both spiritually and in terms of subject matter. He'll play Shah Jahan, who built the Taj Mahal, and as his beloved wife, whose death inspired the wondrous building, will be Bollywood beauty Aishwarya Rai, a former Miss World. "She has agreed to do it, depending on availability and location," he says. "It all has to fall together. Making a movie is always a collection of miracles anyway."

---

With reports by Stephanie DuBois and Emily Feimster.

---

Photos of Anne Heche and James Tupper by Evan Agostini, Natalie Zea by Mark Mainz and Ian Ziering by Frederick M. Brown, all from Getty Images.