Age: 16

Recently made her first big splash in: Mimi Leader's Deep Impact, co-starring Elijah Wood and Robert Duvall. Soon to be going highbrow in: Merchant Ivory's A Soldier's Daughter Never Cries, featuring Barbara Hershey, and Stanley Kubrick's much-anticipated Eyes Wide Shut, with Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman.

Your "discovery" was a Lana-Turner-at-Schwab's-like affair, wasn't it?

"I was in my school cafeteria, and a casting director for Interview with the Vampire happened to be there, and she asked me to audition for the movie. I had never acted a day in my life. I went to the audition and I was horrible."

As one of the few people who have actually seen Stanley Kubrick, much less worked with him, can you give us a little update?

"Well, when I first got the part, I heard all these stories. That's he's an amazing director, but he's weird, he's a little scary. But when I got there, he was the most charming man."

As Hollywood's latest ingenue-to-be, are you looking forward to losing you anonymity?

"You get so much from acting, you have to take the fame with it. My parents are O.K. with me acting, but they said if I get a big head I'm coming right out."