LESLIE BIBB Q&A - THE SKULLS

We all know Leslie Bibb as the beautiful, smart and sassy cheerleader Brooke McQueen on "Popular," but get ready to see a whole new Leslie in "The Skulls." To put it simply, she kicks some serious butt in the flick! And that's especially cool when you realize she's pretty much the only female character in the movie. What did Leslie have to say about being the lone girl? Let's see...

Teenmag.com: I have to start by saying that your character, Chloe, is one of the best female characters we've seen in a long time!
LB: Thank you! I'm so glad that you just said that!

Teenmag.com: She really is. It's so great to see such a strong female lead.
LB: It is and she is! I don't think anyone expected Chloe to get the response she has been getting, but I'm really, really, really excited about it! People keep saying to me that the character is awesome and so strong, and this is my first movie, so it really means a lot to me to get that feedback.

Teenmag.com: Your first movie? Yikes! Were you nervous about the reviews and the movie critics?
LB: Very! I really wasn't sure what to expect. But I love the response, and the fact that everyone has been so kind, because I put so much into the character. I really cared about Chloe. And I think she could have gone unnoticed, could have been one of those characters that people said 'Oh, she could've been much stronger,' so it's a good feeling when your hard work has paid off.

Teenmag.com: Especially since you were like the only female member of the cast . . . was that kind of weird?
LB: (Laughing) Not really that weird . . . kind of cool, too.

Teenmag.com: Yeah - I guess it wasn't all that tough to hang with Josh and Paul between takes...
LB: They're both such practical jokers! Josh is all about making people laugh, but Paul is too. He was always stealing Josh's guitar on the set and hiding it from him. But it was a great environment . . . like being around a bunch of brothers, which is especially cool for me since I come from a family of four sisters. Of course they pick on me a lot (laughs). But it was fun . . . between Josh and Paul and Hil Harper, who is also amazing in the movie, they did really like to pick on me.

Teenmag.com: Sounds like it was a fun set!
LB: It was. We were all really happy to be there, doing the movie, working together, and everyone was so supportive. I knew that if I had a bad day, or I messed up or wasn't really proud of a certain take, that Josh and Paul and Hil and everyone else wouldn't be there judging me. And Rob Cohen, our director, was very kind to all us. He always made it clear to us that his door was always open, that we could just go ahead and jump off the cliff, take some chances, take risks and that he would be our net.

Teenmag.com: : How much input did you have into building the Chloe character? Because, like you said, she really could have been just another "victim" kind of sidekick, but she the way you played her she was one of the strongest characters.
LB: After I was cast, I sat down with Rob and found out that he always wanted (Chloe) to be very strong. He likes very strong women, which says a lot about him as a person, too. We even made up with this background for her . . . that she had spent the summer in Morocco taking art classes. That wasn't specifically in the movie, but it was reflected in her wardrobe and the Buddhas and art hanging in her dorm room.

But then you would also see her wearing a diamond necklace at certain points, or wearing Miu Miu shoes ...actually I remember sitting down with the costume designers too and we decided that we wanted to show with her wardrobe that Chloe came from money, but that you didn't really see it, because she was very artsy, and that came through a lot more.. . . so there were a lot of things like that where subtle things served to build Chloe. I think the best part of it was that it was all very much a collaboration between a lot of people who wanted the character to be very strong.

Teenmag.com: It worked, she comes across as totally strong! Your role is very physical. Did you do any of the stunts?
LB: I did, and I actually got hurt during one of them. During the scene where Chloe and Luke are stopped and Luke is pulled out of the truck, you see me tackle the guy who pulls him out. So in the stunt, I'm supposed to tackle him, he's supposed to push me off, I'm supposed to hit the car, come forward and hit the car in front of me and then fall out of frame. Which is what you see in the finished film. But when we were filming, I hit the car really hard and fell out of frame and somehow missed the mat that was covering a train trestle. So I ended up hitting my head really hard on the trestle. It hurt so much, and I was trying really hard not to cry (she laughs), because there were all these guys there and I was trying to be all tough and brave.

Teenmag.com: : Well, no one has to know - you seemed really tough but then, you're used to playing touch chicks, right? Your "Popular" character, Brooke is certainly more than the stereotypical cheerleader . . .
LB: Yeah, she definitely is. It's funny, because when directors come in they always say 'You have the hardest role on the show' and it's because she is popular and seems to have everything and it's hard to get people to feel compassionate for Brooke because, hey, why should they? So it's a challenge to make her strong and beautiful and popular, but also not a "oh, poor me" character, either.

Teenmag.com: : Is it hard portraying her as someone who's not just a beauty-obsessed airhead?
LB: It is. And I think it's hard playing a 16-year-old. [Leslie's 26] But the hardest thing about the show is the time and the hours. And you get so into the characters and you care so much about them that you take it home with you a lot of the time.

Teenmag.com: Do you enjoy TV or is working in films more for you?
LB: I guess I like films a little more only because you can tell a story, develop a character and then move on and do another one. Not that TV is boring, at all, but it's fun to get to experience a lot of different characters, too.

Teenmag.com: But you do seem really into playing Brooke . . .
LB: I am! I love Brooke. I'm actually pretty anal retentive about her, because I do love playing her and I think she's such a good girl. But I drive the wardrobe people crazy, for example, because I'm always saying 'O.K., Brooke wouldn't wear that.' Or I'll say to them, 'Brooke's having a bad day today, she can't wear that bright color' and stuff like that, but it's because I really do hold her very dear to my heart.

Teenmag.com: :Can you give us any scoop on the rest of the season of "Popular"?
LB: (Laughing) Oh, I'm gonna be killed for this! Well, I will tell you that lately the show has been about different characters, focusing on everyone and exploring a lot of Brooke and Sam's friends and classmates, but as we get closer to the last few episodes, the focus is going to revert back to Sam and Brooke and their parents.

Teenmag.com: : Any cliffhangers to end the season?
LB: O.K., all I'll say is that Sam's mom and Brooke's dad are ready to get married, but people have forgotten that Brooke has a mom missing-in-action out there, and her return would definitely create some problems . . .

Teenmag.com: : Hmmm.. . thanks, Leslie! And thanks for chatting with us. You're definitely our new favorite kick-butt chick!