Amber Valletta

Seeing her drive up to the Crescent hotel in Beverly Hills in a car with a baby seat visible in the back, it's clear Amber Valletta's life has changed since her supermodel days.

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No wonder. First she chilled audiences in 2000's What Lies Beneath; then Valletta, 29, fell in love with pro volleyball player Chip McCaw and became a mother (son Auden just turned 3). She now appears alongside Drew Barrymore and Ben Stiller in October's Duplex and will costar next year in Raising Helen with Kate Hudson.

Q: How difficult was the leap from modeling to acting?

A: Women that were considered attractive always have done some kind of modeling, from Marilyn Monroe to Rita Hayworth. Modeling didn't become such a cultural phenomenon until the '80s. Now you see actresses in advertisements; even Jennifer Lopez is modeling for Louis Vuitton, which would normally have been done by a model. So you can be a Jane of all trades. I don't get hung up on it.

Q: Did modeling make acting any easier?

A: If anything, it can be harder because models are taught to be very aware of the camera. In acting, you don't want to be as aware-- you have the awareness, but then you let it go.

Q: Why so much time between What Lies Beneath and Duplex?

A: I needed to study and raise my son. He's getting ready to start school, and I'm ready to start work again.

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Melissa Quinlan