She's got the Stile to make it big

The story goes that at barely 11 years old, Julia Stiles wrote to La Mama theatre in New York begging to join. The director was so impressed by her chutzpah that he had a part written for her. 'I've always wanted to act. As a little girl I liked to pretend being other people,' she laughs. 'I used to dress up like Madonna in her Desperately Seeking Susan phase. I've seen the film five times.'

Fresh-faced and still only 19, Stiles has already notched up over half-a-dozen films. Her latest, Down To You, out this week, is a college romance with Freddie Prinze Jnr about the trials and tribulations of first love. Prior to this Stiles starred in last year's hit, Ten Things I Hate About You - based on Shakespeare's Taming Of The Shrew. Her performance as Kat Stratford, the college girl with attitude, swiftly led to more plum parts: Desdemona in an updated Othello and Ophelia opposite Ethan Hawke in a modern Hamlet, both due for release here later this year. 'Hamlet was very artistically satisfying. Analysing the play was the hardest thing I have ever done,' Stiles enthuses. 'I am very interested in storytelling. I love literature.'

So much so that she is going to university in September to read - you guessed it - English literature, as well as Latin American studies and psychology. 'I'm looking forward to it. It will be a kind of a break [from filming] which I will work on in the summer.' And her love life? Stiles admits only to dating someone. 'He's not an actor. It's not very serious,' she adds quickly. Meanwhile she wants to do a comedy, has ambitions to write and is rehearsing a new film with Stockard Channing, The Business Of Strangers. What a girl!

Down To You
Cert: cert12