She wants you to laugh at her new career turn

She’s an actress who loves reality TV -- a Hollywood no-no -- she’s happy to spill herself gracelessly to the ground and she’s not afraid to eat meatloaf in public.

As a supermodel, as the “X-Men’s” Mystique and now as television’s “Pepper Dennis,” Rebecca Romijn is used to turning heads, but she’s no image-is-everything starlet archetype. Just listen to her talk about meeting one of her fans.

“I got to meet Chris Daughtry!” said a star-struck Romijn of the “American Idol” alternative rocker who had asked to meet her. “He’s got the goods. He’s just so consistently phenomenal.” Romijn had been in her trailer, getting her hair and makeup done when Daughtry, who had been visiting the Fox lot where “Pepper Dennis” shoots, stopped in. As it turns out, “American Idol” is one of her favorite shows and Daughtry is one of her top picks. (Elliott, Mandisa and Paris: She likes you too).

“He really wanted to meet Mystique and sadly I was sitting there,” Romijn said. “I had wet hair and no makeup and I’m like, ‘Great, now he’s looking at my zits. I’m sure this is really living up to all of his fantasies right now.’ ”

Not only does Romijn prefer reality television over scripted programming, she breezily declares that “the Idols are the biggest celebrities in the country right now” in between mouthfuls of meatloaf at Kate Mantilini in Woodland Hills. She and fiance Jerry O’Connell (“Crossing Jordan”) also turn to Bravo’s reality lineup and Comedy Central’s “Drawn Together” for most of their TV viewing (“I’m not snobby about it. I’m not precious like that. I just like to be entertained, period”).

Starting today, it will be Romijn’s turn to entertain viewers on a weekly basis -- and luckily for her -- “Pepper Dennis” will not go head-to-head with the juggernaut singing competition she likes so much. Airing on the WB at 9 p.m. and jostling to land a time slot on the new CW in the fall, “Pepper Dennis” is a dramedy about a driven broadcast journalist, her lack of a love life, her propensity toward clumsiness and alliteration, and her relationship with her younger sister, Kathy (Brooke Burns).

“This girl is crazy. This girl is funny. She’s such an intricate character,” said Romijn, 33. “She’s this brave, outspoken, go get ‘em-type of girl, but she’s also this insecure little girl. I think of her as a cross between my mom and myself when I was a kid.”

Romijn is probably best known for her portrayal of evil blue mutant Mystique, which she reprises in “X-Men: The Last Stand” in May. But comedy is in her blood, which she discovered in her first TV gig on an episode of “Friends” and demonstrated again later on a three-episode arc of “Just Shoot Me.” If it doesn’t seem likely that a poised supermodel would be given to pratfalls, Romijn proves otherwise as she falls in puddles in her designer suits, chases interview subjects in stiletto heels and doesn’t let getting stuck in a revolving door get in the way of interviewing the mayor.

“Rebecca, much like Pepper, takes her job very seriously, but she doesn’t take herself seriously,” said show co-creator Aaron Harberts. “A lot of actors don’t like to play the fool. They feel it weakens them in some way, but Rebecca gets power from it. So when bad things are happening to Pepper, or humiliating things are happening to Pepper, she rolls with it. And because she’s able to throw herself in all the way, it makes the gags work.” During a scene filmed a week ago, Pepper is caught by colleague/crush Charlie Babcock (Josh Hopkins) in the bathroom trying on a bikini, so she conceals her body with toilet seat covers. But then in a moment of empowerment -- improvised by the actress -- she takes off the covers and strides through the newsroom, forgetting to remove one from her rear end.

“She has a great instinct for ad-libs,” Harberts said. “She’s really a collaborator on set, and we didn’t expect that.”

Harberts and co-creator Gretchen Berg, who landed their first writing job as partners on “Beverly Hills, 90210” in 1998, were surprised when they received a call from the William Morris Agency last year that Romijn had read the pilot script and was interested in portraying Pepper.

“We met with her and you could just tell by the way she was responding,” Berg said. “The stuff we were considering taking out of the script because we thought no one would get it were some of her favorite moments. We had to go with her.”

One of the actresses Harberts and Berg had actually had in mind for the role was Burns, whom they had worked with on “North Shore.” Burns was asked to consider the part in case Romijn ended up turning it down, but Burns had other ideas.

“I read the script and I called them right back and I said I am in love with Kathy Dinkle [Pepper’s sister],” Burns said. “Why don’t I ever get the character roles? I would love to do a really quirky, comedic character. She’s ever optimistic. She’s a saint. She is always wanting to help people, even when people don’t want her to help. Just the name makes me laugh.”

If the former “Baywatch” babe seems unrecognizable, that’s her in the short, dark hair wearing the dough-eyed expression. Romijn and Burns seem as if they actually could be sisters.

“Chemistry is so important and Rebecca and I just instantly hit it off,” Burns said. “We both have sisters and we were very excited to explore that on screen. A lot of those scenes that the sisters get to do -- like sisters can make you laugh, they can get on your nerves. But whatever you go through in the end, they’re always there for you.”

Pepper is the more physical Lucy to Kathy’s Ethel. But what she lacks in coordination, Pepper makes up for in vocabulary and wit. “She’s a journalist and words are her playthings,” Berg said. For instance, this is how Pepper complains about a colleague stealing a story: “ ... he pilfered the pope from me.”

“I have to do tongue twisters in the morning,” Romijn said. “Sometimes if I don’t say it over and over, I can’t get the words out properly. I watched ‘His Girl Friday’ and I’ve been watching old episodes of ‘Moonlighting’ on weekends to help me with the alliteration, figures of speech, turns of phrases and innuendo.”

Romijn parlayed her career as a model into a 2 1/2 -year job hosting MTV’s “House of Style” and then dove into acting. Her work ethic, she said, was passed down from her father, a Dutch American furniture designer, and her mother, who teaches English to immigrants.

But unlike Pepper, Romijn is determined to balance her high-profile career with family. Sometime this year she will give marriage a second try (she divorced actor John Stamos last year) and she wants to have children.

“Pepper gets in her own way,” Romijn said. “She thinks you can’t have it all and, of course, everyone’s version of ‘all’ varies. But I think there’s a way to do it with grace and joy. People think that if you have it all, it’s just by the skin of your teeth and you’ll always feel like you’re at the end of your rope. I think there are days when you feel like that, but ... isn’t that part of the roller coaster ride?

“This is more than I ever thought I’d be doing in the industry, so I’m very happy with what’s happened so far in my career. But there’s more that I want out of life.”