You don’t need her new alter ego Jane Timoney of “Prime Suspect” to detect the coolness of actress Maria Bello.

Ask the 45-year-old who takes over the Helen Mirren role this fall what she’s doing to prepare for her new high-def TV life and she laughs.

“I don’t do anything to look good,” Bello insists. “I hate exercise. I smoke a gazillion cigarettes a day. I drink wine and coffee.

“I like aging,” she says. “I like a few wrinkles.”

Here’s the ultimate wrinkle: Besides her new TV series, Bello has never been busier. She also stars in the summer film “Beautiful Boy” and plays Taylor Lautner’s mom in the upcoming “Abduction.”

“Beautiful Boy” is a love story with a twist. She plays half of a married couple (with Michael Sheen) on the rocks when they face the ultimate heartbreak: Their only son commits a mass shooting at his university and then takes his own life.

What follows is a nightmare unfolding including a funeral, media onslaught, and questions, accusations and pity from friends and relatives.

The tragedy tests a relationship that’s already hanging by a thread, and the couple must come to grips that they truly only have each other.

Bello says the piece was an actor’s dream, because she was able to play guilt, rage, blame, self-discovery and finally hope.

“I have such compassion for those parents. I can’t even imagine what they go through,” she says. “They’re dealing with the loss of their children to either death or jail and must deal with the media blaming them. It’s truly being sent to hell.”

The film also forced her to deal with her own motherhood issues.

“I always say the day I had my son was the best and worst day of my life,” she says. “I knew that I would love this little person more than I ever loved anyone in my life. At the same time, I knew right there that I couldn’t keep him from learning all of life’s lessons.

“Even now when I raise my voice, I question myself as a parent.”

Then again, it doesn’t hurt when your mom stars as a tough lady on TV in the new “Prime Suspect.”

Bello says she didn’t worry about filling the British Mirren’s celebrated shoes when it came to this iconic role.

“I think we’re different-sized shoes,” Bello says. “The new series is set in New York City. It’s very American. The tone has a real sense of humor. I don’t think there will be comparisons.

“As for Helen, oh God, I love her. She was so iconic in the English version,” she says. “What I loved and still love about this character is she’s a fully fleshed-out woman who is struggling with sexism while balancing work and a home life. She has vulnerability, strength and power.

“The script for the new series is so well written,” she adds. “All of it is really on the page. Then it became about me creating my own version.”

Bello is happy to star on the small screen.

“They’re calling TV the new independent film,” she says. “Oftentimes in indie films, you find the best woman characters — unlike big blockbusters.

“Frankly, I think the film industry should be embarrassed,” she adds. “I went to a huge movie last week. The girls in it were very pretty and very sexy, but they were basically these shells. That bores me. I search for women characters that are powerful and knowing.”

Bello says she strives to be that woman in real life.

“I love that my role in ‘Prime Suspect’ is a woman who is strong. She has to navigate a man’s world and fight for respect,” she says. “I know the feeling. It’s like a man doing business the other day who called me honey. I couldn’t even believe it.”

Later this year, she stars in John Singleton’s “Abduction” opposite “Twilight” hunk Lautner.

“My 17-year-old niece was with me when I found out I was doing the role. I said, ‘I’m playing the mother of some ‘Twilight’ kid. His name is Taylor.

“She screamed, ‘Oh my God’ and burst out crying.”

Bello laughs, “Every day it was 300 screaming fans outside the set. I never want that kind of fame.”

SOURCE: Sun Times