Cruel Intentions Stars Reunite!

With her nasty role as Reese Witherspoon's Harvard Law rival in Legally Blonde, Selma Blair fears she's "lost any chance of ever being America's sweetheart." Recalls the actress: "I was in a test screening and people were booing at me like I was a killer in a horror movie — I was just cowering in my seat. So I've decided I don't want to play the devil to Reese's angel anymore!"

Though they're nemeses in reel life, the two actresses have been real-life pals since co-starring in 1999's campy Dangerous Liaisons remake, Cruel Intentions. "Reese has been the most caring friend to me," Blair says. "She's really taken me under her wing, always making sure I have somewhere to go for Christmas and Thanksgiving."

She's especially wowed by her pal's ability to juggle an acting career with a husband (their Cruel co-star Ryan Phillippe) and a two-year-old. "I'm in awe of her every day," Blair chuckles. "My cat has fleas right now and I'm ruined — I don't know how I'm going to make it through the week! But she can balance it all. I don't know how she does it."

Post-Blonde, moviegoers will see Blair ditch her preppie pearls and sweater sets — and every other stitch of clothing, for that matter — as a troubled vixen in Storytelling. Due out in October, the dark film is directed by controversial auteur Todd Solondz (Happiness, Welcome to the Dollhouse). "I was formerly a photographer," the starlet says, "and God knows I posed for an entire Photo 101 class — so the nudity wasn't scary for me at all. The only weird thing about being nude in front of people [on set] is that I kept apologizing to everyone else, because I didn't want to make them uncomfortable."