Hollywood's newest It girl reflects on success, romance and Austin Powers

Heather Graham, 29, is sitting on top of the world. She's riding high on the monster success of Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, and has finally found true love with actor Ed Burns (She's The One, Brothers McMullen). Her career is as hot as her love life. In Bowfinger (see Preview page 18), the Milwaukee-born actress shares the screen with comedy veterans Eddie Murphy and Steve Martin. Then, she will dabble in the land of independent films with the upcoming Committed.

What surprises you about being so successful?

I guess, if you want to be an actress, there's a part of your brain that's like, 'Wouldn't it be great if I was successful, and got the roles I wanted?' And then there's a part of your brain that's like, 'Oh, it's so hard, it's impossible.' So when you do get it, there's a part of you that's just in disbelief.

Even though you think, 'Yeah, I worked really hard and I deserve it,' it's still kind of amazing because I've been doing this for more than 13 years.

Can you tell us about your character in Bowfinger?
Bowfinger is about these people who are kind losers in Hollywood and they want to be part of the movie business. I come to town from Ohio. I'm this very innocent, naive girl, and I basically sleep my way to the top.

What kind of environment was it with Eddie Murphy and Steve Martin on the set?
That was so cool. I was thinking, 'Wow, I was growing up watching them, and here they are sitting around talking about it.' Because that was so exciting, as a kid, watching Saturday Night Live and thinking about them being on that show.

Did you enjoy making Austin Powers?
It was fun. I think I just loved the first movie so much that I was just so happy to be there. And I loved my character. With a name like Felicity Shagwell, it's hard not to
have fun. Also, Mike Myers is just such a brilliant comedian and he kept us entertained all the time.

Did you have trouble keeping a straight face at times?
I'd say that he's definitely a mixture of a funny guy and definitely entertaining, and also very serious about what he does, and very thoughtful. He's got all these index cards, and he plans everything out ahead of time, and he's a perfectionist about it.

Would you want to be in the sequel?
Yeah. No matter what they want to do, if they want to kill me off or keep
me on, they're really nice. I had a great experience. I'd love to work with
them again.

You were falling in love in real life during the filming of Austin, weren't you?
I was. It was great because there were so many other happy couples on that movie, too. You think of Hollywood as this really sleazy place, where everyone is picking up on each other, but I think this movie had the most happy couples I've ever seen on a Hollywood movie set.

You've been very comfortable talking about your boyfriend [Burns]. Is that a conscious decision not to hide your life?
I don't know. You read about all these actors and actresses being like, 'I don't want to talk about my relationship,' and then I think, 'Am I talking about it too much?' But I really like talking about it. Plus, it's not that I'm getting into real personal details, and we're so happy.  I don't know, I like when he reads an interview and I say that I'm in love with him. And he reads it and feels like I'm talking about him. I think that's kind of romantic.

You and your sister [Aimee] haven't worked together yet, have you?
No, we haven't.

Is that something you look forward to?
Actually, I don't really have a good relationship with my sister or my parents. In fact, we're kind of estranged, so we'd probably have trouble working together. Maybe, if we overcome our difficulties.

Were you prepared to be adored by fans?
There's something kind of fun about that, in just a total vanity way. It's funny
to think that you can be someone that people think is sexy. It's just a kick,
you know.

by tina malone