Natasha's 'best shot in the world'

I play Megan, a competition cheerleader from a small town.

She eats tofu and listens to Melissa Etheridge and things like that. Her parents are worried these are signs that she's a lesbian and want to pack her off to rehab.

One day, she comes home and there's Mike (played by RuPaul) who's come to take her away. But then she meets Graham (Clea DuVall) and falls in love and becomes gay. It's just a love story - that's why I hope young girls see Cheerleader. It's not really about cheerleading.

When we got in training for the film (with Joel Mychael and Cathy Moriarty), there were cheerleaders coaching us and one girl was like, "I'm Suzy! I'm from Saaan Diego! I just came from cheerleading practice - best cheerleading practice in the world!" So during shooting I'd stand there with this giant smile on my face - my cheeks were, like, bleeding - and after every shot, I'd just say, "Best shot in the world!" and jump around.

After I finished this film, I felt the need to do something that was the polar opposite - which ended up being Confessions Of A Trickbaby, where I played a tough girl with dementia. But one of the biggest attractions on Cheerleader was working with Clea. She is one of my closest friends - we have the same agents.

We're writing a script now, which seems really hard and obvious, given that we're both young actresses. I think the ultimate goal is the Cassavetes stream of take the money and run, retire, and then make your own movies - just the things you want to do.