PROFESSION: Actress and high school senior. RESIDENCE: New York City.
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FORMER RÉSUMÉ TOPPERS: Was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award in 1997 for the indie drama Manny & Lo and portrayed the troubled Grace in Robert Redford's The Horse Whisperer.
BUT AUTOGRAPH HOUNDS REMEMBER: "Home Alone 3. That's kind of depressing. Not that I have any shame!"
PROOF TO COLLEGE ADMISSIONS COMMITTEES THAT SHE'S ON AN UPWARD TRAJECTORY: After costar-ring in last summer's sleeper hit Ghost World with Thora Birch and Steve Buscemi, Johansson starred in the art-house bildungsroman An American Rhapsody opposite Nastassja Kinski.
COMING ATTRACTION: The Coen brothers' 1940s-set noir The Man Who Wasn't There, in which she portrays Birdy, "a little ballbuster" who bangs out Beethoven for Billy Bob Thornton's crestfallen barber.
O BROTHERS, WEIRD ART THOU? "I thought the Coens were going to be really, really crazy, but they turned out to be quite normal, actually--other than that Ethan would do the Sunday New York Times crossword puzzle in, like, an hour."
DID THE SCRIPT MAKE HER WISH SHE WERE A FORTYSOMETHING GUY? "I wish I could play Billy Bob's part, right! But I was just lucky. What are the chances of the Coen brothers writing a role for a 16-year-old girl in their next film?"
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Jillian O'Connor