By Rob. Walton

WHO IS SHE?:

At age 19, Hawaii-born, Reno-raised dancer/DJ Shannyn Sossamon was spotted by a casting agent at Gwyneth Paltrow's birthday party. A year later Shannyn, a delicious olio of French, Hawaiian, Dutch, Irish, Filipino and German, made her big screen debut in a starring role.

WHAT HAS SHE DONE?:

After appearances in TV commercials (including the Gap Khaki swing ads) and music videos for Goo Goo Dolls, Korn and Mick Jagger, Shannyn landed a lead part in A Knight's Tale opposite Heath Ledger. She followed that up playing Josh Hartnett's love interest in the sex(less) comedy 40 Days and 40 Nights. This week, she stars as a sexually misdirected college student opposite James Van Der Beek in the dark, controversial sex drama The Rules of Attraction, directed by Pulp Fiction's Roger Avary.

WHY DO WE CARE?:

The full-lipped, sleepy-eyed beauty, who just turned 23, is as mysterious as she is hot. Plus, we love a girl who's not afraid to hit the loo in the middle of a phone interview.

Playboy.com: In your new movie, The Rules of Attraction, your character Lauren attends the End of the World Party, the Pre-Saturday Night Party Party and a Dress to Get Screwed Party. What's the best theme party you've ever attended?

Shannyn Sossamon: I went to a slumber party in a hotel. The whole hotel was rented out. The hotel was the party. It really was like a slumber party because you could walk down the hall...there was dancing all night and swimming and performances. It was great.

PB: Having played the role of a sexually misdirected college student so convincingly, why do you think college is such a breeding ground for sexual turmoil?

SS: I've never been to college, so I don't know, but my guess is a lot of kids go to college because it's what they feel like they have to do. So they're probably very confused and lost in that way already.

PB: A lot of agents didn't want their clients to do The Rules of Attraction because it's so dark and the sexual content's so graphic. How come you did it?

SS: I don't know. The script just blew me away. It made me feel really weird, and I liked it because it was an odd feeling. It was a whirlwind, so there was no major analyzing or thinking about "Should I do this? Is this going to be OK?"

PB: What has been trimmed out of the movie from its original NC-17 version that might turn up on the DVD release?

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