Yeah, sometimes they really do. One time I was shopping straight after work, and I heard over the loudspeaker, 'Peyton aisle 4.' I thought everyone was going to turn around and throw fruit at me. But actually, most people really like and admire her because she's so devious - which is quite a frightening commentary on society.

And are you really like Peyton?

No way! I'm really just a hippy girl at heart, man - no make-up, no expensive clothes, just tie-die T-shirts and overalls. Mind you, that isn't to say that I don't like to dress up and go out to dinner looking like a million bucks - that's fun too.

Do you have one of those huge walk-in wardrobes that Tori Spelling has?

No, when I appear on TV shows, I always have to borrow clothes. I'm always expected to look like Peyton, but that's just not me. I don't have mini skirts or little pointy bras. Although I do have plenty of sexy underwear in my wardrobe...

Would you ever do what Peyton did and seduce your best friend's husband?

Goodness, no. I could barely even get my own boyfriend when I was growing up.

I don't believe you.

No, really, I was a tomboy - and over weight. I was a lot of fun to be with, but not a sexual item at all. My humour is what got me by. I was the one in school everyone thought had the best sense of humour, not because I was funny, but because I laughed at everything.

What kind of tomboy things did you used to get up to, then?

I climbed trees, I was on the soccer team...

You played football?

Yeah, I gave it up because, in one game I was doing really well, but then I fell and hit my head and I wanted to stop, but they wouldn't let me. Then I ended up scoring a point for the other team and everyone was getting at me, and I was like, 'I can't handle this pressure!'

Do you get embarassed when you're filming the sex scenes in Savannah?

Very, very rarely. But I sometimes get very embarassed when I watch them afterwards!

Do you have a limit on how much skin you'll show?

Yeah, because it's primetime there's a rule that you can't really show anything. As for me personally, though, I'd only take my clothes off for a film if it made sense in the plot.

So if you got a part in a De Niro movie and it called for you to strip off completely, would you do it?

It'd have to be the right film. I'd ask why I was taking my all clothes off, and where I was taking all my clothes off. If it was just gratuitous, I wouldn't do it. But if I was running naked through a field of poppies because I'd, like, just freed my lover or something, I'd think, 'That's beautiful!" The human body is a very beautfil thing and it should be exposed. You shouldn't be ashamed of it. Europeans are much more liberal about all that than the Americans.

If you were offered enough money, would you pose for Playboy?

No, that's not where my heart lies. And I don't really care about the money. They asked me a few years ago, but I said no. It's not that I don't loving having my picture taken, or that I'm ashamed of my body, but it doesn't have to be the kind of open-crotch shots you get in Playboy.

Do you get sent a lot of dodgy film scripts?

Yeah, mainly ones where my clothes keep falling off, but I really don't want to go that way. I just try to forget them. But I'm enjoying taking some time off right now. I'm not auditioning for anything at all. I work for nine months of the year, with an unbelievable schedule - five days a week from six in the morning to eight or nine at night - and there are always a million people around, all wanting a piece of me. I need to have time away from people, to rejuvenate.

So how do you rejuvenate, exactly?

I love camping. My boyfriend and I are avid campers. We've been all over the country. I love to camp under the stars with him. It's very romantic. You get very in tune with the natural environment - you know, the birds and the bees and all that. It gets me very calm inside, because this acting business can make me crazy. I need to take some time to myself when I'm not insecure and thinking about what this or that person is thinking about me. I can't live that way all the time. How can you not get self-conscious? So going out there and being at one with nature is my way of escaping from it all. When I try to be at one with nature, I always end up getting soaking wet or having enormous insects attack me...

Yeah, but I love all that! I really don't mind. And we always take bug-repellant. We've found snakes, coyotes, dear, buffalo, eagles, squirrels, chipmunks and every sort of animal. It's great.

And you kill them and eat them, right?

"No way! I couldn't even catch a fish, let alone kill one. We take camping food with us, in cans. One day, we were thinking about going fishing, and we got a little box of crickets for bait, but I just felt sorry for them and set them all free.

Do you get on better with men or women?

I'd have to say my closest friends are guys. That goes back to my tomboy days. I like to throw a ball and be active and run around, you know. So I just find myself among the men.

And what kind of man do you go for?

"An outdoors man who's adventurous, artistic, poetic, kind and honest. Yeah, a man has got to be totally honest with me. I can always tell straight away if he's not.

What happens if you find out a man's been telling you porkies?

It changes everything. I just won't trust him anymore. I won't get angry, but it'd all be over. You have nothing if you don't have trust. The most important thing in a man is that he should be my best friend. Then it's dynamite!

Were you any good at school?

Well, I really wasn't the best student. I excelled in drama and art, and I got along with my teachers. But my problem was that I was a bit of a social butterfly. I loved to talk a lot - although I wasn't a party girl. I preferred to hang out at home with my mom.

Any different now?

Yeah, now I like to party, sure. But my kind of good time is not going to a nightclub or a bar that's just a meat market. I don't go to those kinds of places. I prefer to have a big camp fire at home and have all my friends round and share a big bottle of wine.

Any hidden talents we should know about?

Painting. I love to paint landscapes while I'm out camping. I haven't sold any yet, but there might come a day when I'll try to. And did I mention that I'm also a pretty good cook?

No. Tell me more...

I went to culinary school and worked in a French restaurant. Cooking is a huge passion of mine. In the future, I'd like to own my own restaurant.

So I bet you're great at cooking up a romantic dinner for two...

Are you kidding? I love it.

So what are the essential ingredients of a seduction meal?