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Eliza Dushku
She does a mean cheer, she can kick butt in leather, and she hangs with Robert De Niro. Bring it on!

"I haven't been on 'Buffy' for two years now, so that's slowing down," laughs the 20-year-old actress about fans who recognise her as Faith, the psychotic vampire slayer. "Now I'm the girl from 'Bring It On.' Or the girl from 'Jay and Silent Bob.' People don't really know my name yet. They're like 'Who's that girl?'"

Not for long. The answer is Eliza Dushku - not "Duck-shoot", as director Kevin Smith labelled her on the shoot of 'Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back.' And while her star is rising, she's been around for more than a decade. Remember 1993's 'This Boy's Life,' where the Boston-native held her own against Robert De Niro? No? Then how about 'True Lies' in 1994, when she played Arnold and Jamie Lee's brattish daughter?

In the mid-'90s Dushku's career took a backseat to school, although she did find time to make 'Race the Sun' in Australia in 1996. "I still, to this day, say that I'm going to raise my children in Australia," she says.

Dushku, stunning on screen, is a joy to interview. Her intelligence shines through and, winningly, she laughs frequently, often at herself.

This combination of sass and smarts made her perfect for the rebel role of Missy in 'Bring It On,' in which she stole the show from Kirsten Dunst. Similarly, no one who sees 'Jay and Silent Bob' will forget her leather-clad cat burglar Sissy.

Not that we expect her to be typecast as a femme fatale junior. Next up, as a measure of her acting ability, Dushku reteams with 'This Boy's Life' director Michael Caton-Jones and its star Robert De Niro in the 1950s crime drama 'City by the Sea.' "They were busting my chops," says Dushku, "saying 'Oh, you were such a brat 10 years ago... and you're still such a brat!'"