Amber Valletta: Amberdextrous

After a decade on top of the fashion world, Amber Valletta wants to go where other models have gone before--to the silver screen. Obviously she intends to make it to the top of that world, too--she debuts opposite Harrison Ford in the haunted thriller What Lies Beneath.

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Amber Valletta was 15 years old when her mother enrolled her in a modeling school in her home state of Oklahoma. There, she was sported by a scout from a European modeling agency, who whisked her off to Paris and set her on the path to runway shows, magazine photo shoots and big-money ad campaigns for clients like Versace, Gucci, Chanel, Calvin Klein and Elizabeth Arden. After a successful decade in the modeling business, Valletta realized it was time to make the leap into acting. In no time, director Robert Zemeckis chose her to play the suicidal undergrad back from the grave to haunt Harrison Ford in the ghostly thriller What Lies Beneath. Of course, her astonishing beauty didn't hurt--word is she got cast because of her uncanny resemblance to Michelle Pfeiffer, Ford's wife in the movie. She also has roles in three more upcoming movies: she'll play Nicolas Cage's girlfriend in Family Man, an abused woman in the indie Drop Back Ten and a shoe designer in an experimental film about the fashion world called Perfume. At 26, Valletta's already a supermodel, a mother-to-be (she and her boyfriend, Olympic volleyball hope-fill Christian McCaw, are expecting a child) and an actress who's managed to make her screen debut in the company of some of Hollywood's best.

MICHAEL KAPLAN: You recently announced your pregnancy--have you already started to make preparations?

AMBER VALLETTA: Well, they've told me it's a boy, so yeah, I've been buying clothes and things. We won't plan the baby's room for awhile chough.

Q: Would you prefer to raise your son in a smaller city than L.A., like your home-town of Tulsa?

A: Christian and I both love Tulsa for the small ness of it. It has a lot to offer. But we're both kind of gypsies, used to living all over the place. I can see us maybe coming back to Tulsa in che future. I think it's up to che parents whether or not the child grows up in a good environment. Wherever were happiest is where I want to be.

Q: With your modeling career going strong, what made you decide to get into acting?

A: It's kind of a weird story. I was at a Versace party and ran into a modeling agent who shares an office with an acting coach. The agent told me that I should be an actress. I didn't think much of it. Then I went to an ashram a week later and did this meditation and hiking thing. While I was there, Steven Spielberg's office called my agent and wanted to know if I act. I was like, "This is a sign from God." I called the acting coach and started taking her class. When I did a memory exercise, she started crying, and told me that I have to use my instrument, that if I don't do something creative I will hurt myself or someone else. She cold me I would go crazy. I said, "You're right. You're fucking right."

Q: And now we'll get to see you maintain your sanity in What Lies Beneath. Have you seen the movie yet?

A: I saw the trailer at the movies and I just about had a heart attack. I was screaming, "That's my movie! That's my movie!'

Q: Was it intimidating to work with Harrison Ford in your first big movie?

A: Yeah. But it was also fun. Harrison was really cool. He's a jokester with a dry sense of humor, so when he asked me if I was ready to learn something, I said, "Yeah. You sure you can teach me?" He was like, "Whoa." But he liked it.

Q: You have another big film coming up later this year, Family Man. How'd you like working with Nicolas Cage?

A: It was fun. Except the first day I had a sinus infection and was on antihistamine medication and couldn't breathe, and I had to give Nic a kiss.

Q: Have you done an on-screen love scene yet?

A: No. But I had a funny kissing scene with James LeGros in Drop Back Ten. The only way to do it is to loosen up and laugh and have a really good time.

Q: Are there any male actors with whom you think you'd have chemistry?

A: All of them. I like men. But you never really know until you get on the set.

Q: A few years ago you and your friend Shalom Harlow cohosted MTV's "House of Style" for a season. Did chat prepare you for any of this?

A: I don't think so. It wasn't what I wanted to be doing.

Q: People have said you were difficult to work with on that show.

A: Difficult? Resistant, yeah. I didn't feel comfortable. I was sick of modeling. I hated my image. I hated myself I was in a lot of pain. Modeling fed into it because I couldn't figure out who I was along the way.

Q: But a successful modeling career can sure help you get a foot in the door.

A: Yeah. It gives you access to certain things. But does it give you access to people taking you seriously? Does it give you access to getting in really good films? No.

Q: Does that mean you've been getting offers for roles in really crappy movies?

A: No. I was offered so-so films. Even before I started acting I got sent a couple scripts and turned them down pretty quickly. If I was going to get into acting, I wanted to do it on my terms. I'd just like to leave one career behind and try the other.

Q: Of the models who've made the transition to acting, to whom do you look up?

A: Andie MacDowell and Rene Russo are really good. Cameron Diaz and Charlize Theron are great, too. I think it's really funny, this model/actress thing. What if I was a waitress? Would it matter to anybody?

Q: You're going to give supermodels a bad name if you keep talking like that.

A: "Supermodel" is such a corny word. Anyone can be a supermodel now. My big fat ugly toe is a supermodel. It's become a joke. I wish that word would fall off the face of the earth and never come back.

Q: One last question: if your son decides one day he wants to be a model or actor, what will your reaction be?

A: I want my child to do whatever makes him happiest and what he loves. If it's being a janitor, I wouldn't discourage him.

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Michael Kaplan interviewed Heath Ledger for the May issue of Movieline.