Natassia Malthe: in her first big role she plays the kiss of death. Things can only go up from there

Farrah Fawcett didn't just inspire Natassia Malthe to tease her hair and slip into a skintight outfit for her latest role. The Charlie's Angels star's performance in the 1984 TV movie The Burning Bed, in which the feathered blonde douses her abusive husband in gasoline and sets fire to his sheets, inspired Malthe's entire career. "I thought, Wouldn't it be cool if I could do that?" says the 27-year-old actress (speaking of acting, of course).

Realizing that dream, however, proved more difficult. Raised in Norway by her single mother, Malthe left home at an early age to embark on a career as a model, setting upon years of traveling to places like New York, Singapore, and London. But when it came to getting acting work, her experience was more a hindrance than a help. "A lot of people couldn't get past the model thing," she explains.

Now, after years of toiling in babe-centric roles like French Maid (in Halloween: Resurrection, 2002) and Girl in Bed (in 40 Days and 40 Nights, 2002), Malthe is finally getting her chance to play a woman with a vengeance. Her character in the new film Elektra, Typhoid Mary, is an assassin who takes down her victims by kissing them. Mary is out to get Jennifer Garner, who plays the film's comic-book heroine, reprising her role in Daredevil (2003). "She's fierce and cocky," says Malthe of Typhoid Mary, whose particular superpower had an unexpected perk: "Jennifer Garner's lips taste like bubblegum."

Lewis Beale is a New York City-based writer.

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