SELMA BLAIR / ACTRESS

Selma Blair is nearly 10 years older than the teenagers she plays in “Cruel Intentions� (a modern-day high school resetting of the French classic “Les Liaisons Dangereuses,� the third film version of the French classic this decade) and as the lead of the WB Network series “Zoe, Duncan, Jack and Jane.� At 26, the Michigan native is an unjaded Hollywood newcomer.

QUOTABLE: “I’m starting to get interviews back from magazines. I’ve got to learn to keep my mouth shut. Not that I’ve said anything evil, but oh, my God! Things can really be taken out of context.�

CHARACTER VALUE: “Stephen Frears’ version [of “Dangerous Liaisons�] is wonderful, and Uma Thurman did such a wonderful job, but my version of Cecile is nothing like that. Mine is a fool. . . . Hope it works. If not, I won’t be working.�

IDOL CHATTER: “Sissy Spacek is my favorite actress. . . . And Joan Cusack is it on the funny front. I have a lot of learning to do before I could even wipe their shoes.�

BUDDY PLAN: “I get so nervous at studio meetings, but a few friends have been wonderful. Sarah [Michelle] Gellar--we’re both on WB and did [“Cruel Intentions�] together--she’s been doing this her whole life and is in a different place, but she’s been so helpful.�

COACH: “Reese Witherspoon [also in “Cruel Intentions�] has given me priceless advice on how to do auditions. I cry every time I get in the room, I want to do a good job. She’s an amazing young actress. She’s younger than I am, but besides Drew Barrymore, she was the first young actress I watched.�

WISH LIST: “There’s a script called ‘Requiem for a Dream’ by Darren Aranofsky, who did ‘Pi,’ such a haunting and beautiful script. It’s so good, and he’s going to put together a wonderful cast. I wish I could be part of it, but they’ll likely go with a more trusted name. I’d give my left arm to be in that.�

ONE THAT GOT AWAY: “Tim Blake Nelson is doing a teenage version of ‘Othello,’ and after ‘Cruel Intentions,’ I went to meet with him. He did a film called ‘Eye of God’ that went straight to video but shouldn’t have. I fell in love with that, but on this he went a different way with amazing teenage actresses.�

CAREER OPTIONS: “I’m trying to option a book by C.S. Lewis, ‘Till We Have Faces,’ an adaptation of the myth of Cupid and Psyche. I wanted to play this girl in it, and that’s why I came to Hollywood, thinking someone would make this and maybe I could play it. No one is, so I may have to.�