Busy Phillipps

She's Not That Bothered, Right?

	I don't think it makes sense that teen actors on soap operas make more than teachers. But they're paying it, so I'm taking it

The best thing about interviewing a star from a hit teenybopper show like Dawson's Creek is that there are a ton of fan sites out there to provide useless facts. So what did we learn about Busy Philipps? She likes to put 7-Up in her fruit salad, she used to go out with Colin Hanks (son of Tom Hanks) and she once severely injured herself in a mosh-pit accident. Pretty cool, eh?

Busy first gained popularity playing Kim on the oft-heralded (and unceremoniously cancelled) US TV show Freaks And Geeks. After appearing in feel-good films about hate crimes (Anatomy Of A Hate Crime) and school shootings (Home Room), Busy parlayed a guest appearance on Dawson's Creek into a full-time gig playing Audrey, the rich, blonde party girl who adds some spice to Dawson's milk toast world. Mmm. Smells like cinnamon!

You're so successful that you make more money than your father, who's an engineer at a nuclear power plant.

Yeah. That sucks, huh? I don't think it makes sense that teen actors on soap operas make more than teachers. But they're paying it, so I'm taking it.

You've said that you were a freak in high school. Are you just trying to sound grounded?

How can I prove it to you?

You can tell me your mosh-pit story.

I was at the Valentine's Day dance, and it was the year 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' came out. Everybody was moshing to it. I started checking it out, and this guy flew out of the pit, ran into me and dislocated my knee. They called 911, and I don't know how this happened, but it was, like, five fire trucks and three ambulances. They had to cut my jeans off in front of everyone. I didn't go back to school for a month. I'm not kidding.

I've never seen an episode of Dawson's Creek. Does that make you angry?

It's OK. Right now I'm feeling sort of indifferent.

Apparently your character, Audrey, is going through a downward spiral...

Yes. I'm drinking and I'm taking Vicodin and all kinds of pills.

Do you take those drugs in real life just to get prepared?

No. Vicodin upsets my stomach. After the knee dislocation, I was given a lot of painkillers. They make me want to hurl, and I hate throwing up.

We find your pictures very pretty. How did the shoot go?

Once I got past the initial shock and vulnerability of the thing, I totally got into it. My boyfriend took me aside and was like, 'You're so fucking hot. If you're gonna do this, just go for it.' So I did.

Did the experience inspire you to adopt the same attitude in the bedroom?

Like, go rent a studio and crawl on my hands and knees across it? No.

So, we've made it this far. Are you pleased that I haven't asked you about that weird first name of yours?

Thanks for that. I kind of feel like, who cares?

Vital statistic:
Born Elizabeth Jean Philipps on June 25 1979 in Oak Park Illinois, and raised in Scottsdale, Arizona, she was given the moniker Busy when she was six months old becuse she was constantly on the go. She's obviously still a bit of a goer because the nickname has stuck and even appears on her driver's licence. So now you know.

It's a Barbie World: Busy's first stint of acting was as a pig. Yes a pig. She played Wilbur in her third grade class production of Charlotte's Web. 'From that moment, I was hooked,' she admits. She went on to study at the Actors Lab of Arizona. Her first professional gig came at age 17, when she was hired by Mattel for the Toy Fair convention in New York. She played a real-life Barbie doll.