Unconventional choices set her apart

Julia Stiles has been spending a lot of time in college. Not only was she one of the ‘50s-era Wellesley coeds in last year’s “Mona Lisa Smile,” in her off-screen life the actress is two semesters shy of completing her English degree at Columbia University. In “The Prince & Me,” the romantic comedy that opened April 2, she stars as a serious-minded college senior.

“I certainly related to the idea of a girl who’s never really wanted to be Cinderella,” says Stiles of Paige Morgan, a pre-med student who has no time to be swept off her feet by a real-life Prince Charming. “What was interesting to me about Paige -- and I feel like I’ve exorcised some of my own demons through her -- is that she uses her sarcasm and cynicism as a defense mechanism until she’s taken by surprise by her feelings.”

So, following Morgan’s lead, could Stiles ever chuck it all in the name of true love? “The romantic in me thinks sure that could happen,” she says. “There’s something really exciting about the idea of not having things planned.” “

Once Morgan and the Prince (engaging newcomer Luke Mably) hook up, she finds herself at the center of a media whirlwind -- a circumstance all too recognizable to Stiles.

“I understand why people are interested in actors and their lives,” Stiles says, “but when I get asked questions about some things, even simple things like hobbies, it sort of reduces them to a sound bite. I think it’s harder when you know so much about an actor’s life and their personality to see them on-screen and accept them as somebody else,” she points out. “The actors I admire the most, people like Kevin Kline, Cate Blanchett, you don’t really know much about their personal lives. The less you know about me in real life, the more you can know about the characters I play.”

This deliberately low profile may well have played a role in Stiles developing a film resume that hasn’t stranded her in any genre. Her diverse choices have allowed Stiles to develop a deep body of work and also set her apart from many other young actresses. After appearing as Harrison Ford’s daughter in “The Devil’s Own” (1997), she attracted attention in 1999’s “10 Things I Hate About You,” a teen version of Shakespeare’s “Taming of the Shrew.” Flipping the mask from comedy to tragedy, Stiles costarred in two other contemporary treatments of the Bard, playing Ophelia to Ethan Hawke’s “Hamlet” (2000) and a 21st century Desdemona in “O” (2001), based on “Othello.”

Stiles has carefully balanced standard studio fare such as “Down to You” (2000) and “A Guy Thing” (2003) with independent films such as David Mamet’s ensemble comedy “State and Main” (2000) and the intense “The Business of Strangers” (2001) -- less conventional choices that should keep her from being pigeonholed as her career progresses.

She’s now making her London stage debut, but Stiles’ theatrical chops are already well seasoned: As a young child she first acted at New York’s avant-garde La Mama Theater. In 2002 she starred in “Twelfth Night” in Central Park. Leaping across the pond from the Upper West Side to the West End, Stiles is costarring with Aaron Eckhardt in Mamet’s “Oleanna,” a provocative two-person drama about a sexual harassment charge leveled at a college professor by a female student.

This summer Stiles returns in “The Bourne Supremacy,” reprising her “Bourne Identity” role as Nicolette, a government agent either in cahoots or at odds with Matt Damon’s title character. “She was the last person to see Jason Bourne alive,” Stiles says, alluding to the end of the earlier film. “Nicolette thought she could get out of all that intrigue. She’s started a new life, but then she’s literally pulled in off the street when there’s this new operation to find Jason Bourne again -- and he’s trying to find her as well because Nicolette is the only link to his past that’s still alive.”

Whether discussing a recent role or her favorite subjects in school -- 20th century American fiction is at the top of the list -- Stiles, who recently turned 23, is thoughtful about answering questions and becomes most animated when talking about all she has gleaned from her college experience. “When I first started school, it was more for the experience of having that safe place to make mistakes,” she explains. “It was a good way to step back from my career and get some perspective. I’m a little bit of a control freak in terms of my work, but when I’m at school it’s really time for me to enjoy letting things happen as they happen, be more spontaneous.”

Stiles is currently taking a semester off, but she’s determined to complete her degree. Nevertheless, there doesn’t seem to be much chance that she’ll forsake film stardom for an academic career or her own fairy-tale romance -- unless the role calls for it. “All my friends at school are driving themselves crazy, trying to figure out what they’re going to do when they graduate. I’m so lucky that I already know what I want to do. Acting is a joy for me.”