TEEN MOVIELINE: New, New, New: Marla Sokoloff

She may only be 19, who stars as a suacy-but-sweet secretary on ABC's hit series "The Practice" is already wise to the ways of Hollywood--it's all about who you know.

When the San Francisco Native got a callback for the role of an innocent girl-next door in "Whatever It Takes", she learned she'd be auditioning with Shane West ("Once and Again")--a friend and former flame. "Shane and I dated for a little while but decided we were better as friends," explains the actress. "We did the reading and never let the producers know that we knew eachother." The unwitting producers saw chemistry between the actors and cast them as neighbors who would become lovers. (Marla's real life love these days is James Franco who also starred in "Whatever It Takes".)

There are far more dubious ways to get ahead of Hollywood, but we can't imagine the doe-eyed Marla trying them. In fact, we can't imagine her being naughty at all, so it's difficult for us to picture her in her next role, as a second-string cheerleader bitterly resentfulof the top-tier pom-pommers in the upcomming "Sugar and Spice", which co-stars Marley Shelton, Mena Suvari and James Marsden. "My character is a vindictive, greedy girl," says Marla. "She does everything in her power to copy Marley's Miss Perfect--her hairstyles, the way she dresses--but she doesn't get it right."

Written By: Jeffery Epstein

Note: You can find a Really nice pic of Marla on pg.16 and a couple of smaller pix on pages 6 and 90.

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