A look inside Hollywood and the movies. : MIDDLE-AGE CRAZY : Actresses Aren’t Burning ‘Bridges,’ They’re Burning Up Phone Lines

Forget John Grisham and Michael Crichton (for the moment). The author whose book is generating heated interest in Hollywood these days is Robert James Waller.

Waller’s “The Bridges of Madison County” has quietly ascended to the top of the Los Angeles Times and New York Times fiction bestseller lists. Warner Bros. has a film adaptation in production for producer Kathleen Kennedy (who, with husband Frank Marshall, has produced many a Steven Spielberg movie) and Amblin Entertainment.

The story has only two main roles--one for a 40-ish woman and the handsome 50-ish stranger who becomes her lover and lifelong obsession. Every mature actress in town--and her agent--is clamoring over “The Bridges of Madison County” because it is being touted as a great vehicle for middle-aged actresses whom audiences still find sexy (Susan Sarandon, Jessica Lange or Barbara Hershey come to mind).

The actress would play an Iowa farm wife named Francesca Johnson, an Italian war bride, who has an unforgettable four-day affair with a rootless National Geographic photographer on assignment to shoot Madison County’s covered bridges. The woman’s husband is away with their two children at the State Fair.

Kennedy said she bought the rights to the novel two years ago, never imagining it would become such a celebrated property.

“(The book’s success) has caught everybody by surprise . . . little did we know it would be a nationwide bestseller,” she said. The competition to be considered for the role of Francesca has heated up.

“A lot of actresses have taken a personal interest in this story,” Kennedy said, declining to name who exactly she has heard from to date. “How many parts come along for women who fall into the 40-something category? (This one) automatically is going to have tremendous appeal.”

For now, though she said she’s most interested in finding the right director. The first draft from screenwriter Ron Bass (“Rain Man”) is already making the rounds and, if all moves quickly, cameras could roll in Iowa as soon as this fall.