Jolen Blalock is all about edges. When the angular actress strides into a Beverly Hills lounge- inhabited by everyone from Jessica Alba to Warren Beatty- her show-stopping good looks freeze the room. One producer looks up and mutters "isn't that Julia Roberts?" Sure, Blalock's dazzling smile may conjure up other pretty women, but she sports a spikier side, too. ("Everything I do, I do with reckless abandon." Blalock declares.) She may not be a household name yet, but with the TV miniseries Diamond Hunters on the way, don't expect this gem to stay hidden for long.

Jolene on whether she was named for Dolly Parton'ssong about a home wrecker: "I think maybe my parents were high when they named me. Nobody likes Dolly Parton that much, do they? If I ever stole someone's man, it was purely unintentional."
Jolene on being a California girl: "I was a good surfer because we grew up a block from the water, and my father tookus to the ocean the way the other fatheres take their kids to the park."
Jolene on the Hollywood casting couch: "I read for a role, and the director showed me pictures of his wife and kids. After the meeting, my then manager said, 'There's a topless scene in the movie and the director needs to see your breasts.' I said, 'Give me a break. Pass.' A few days later, my phone rang and it's this director asking me out to dinner. I think my managers gave him my home phone number. I fired them."
Jolene on auditioning for the Jason and the Argonauts miniseries: "I showed up dressed completely in character- jewels in the hair, arm-bands, and full gown. Yeah, I looked really stupid getting out of the car and going into the building, but so what? At least theyd remember me, right? I love to work. You want to talk about natural highs? There's nothing like it. It's better than sex."
Jolene on method acting: "For Jason I had hair extensions down to my ass that were sewn into my head. I couldn't work out, shower, or wash my hair. After two weeks you could've taken the hair, put aleash on it, and walked it around the block. It was nasty."
Jolene on her ideal man: "I like the men who are very cool but who are also so brilliant that they are almost insame. Sean Penn, Gary Oldman, Bob Dylan, Tom Waits- men who would be flipping burgers if they hadn't found an outlet for their brilliant mind-sets. I also like men who have hands with big masculine veins that you can squish and move."

The article is accompanied by a two page color photo of Jolene laying on a red couch wearing a black bikini and black gloves, looking at the camera; a two thirds page color photo of Jolene topless, with her hands covering her breasts, her legs over the back of a chair with red cover; a full page color photo of Jolene on a red couch with arms covered in black netting, wearing a black corset and though bikini bottom, looking at the camera; a full page color photo of Jolene standing at the top of some stairs, wearing a leopard skin bikini and high heel shoes; a full page color photo of Jolene in a white one piece bathing suit, seated with legs up, in long black books, looking at the camera.