Horrors! Paris Hilton burns to be an actor

NEW YORK - For someone with a wilder-than-wild party girl history and a faker-than-fake reality TV show, Paris Hilton is surprisingly real.

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In person, what you see - glammed up, glammed down, hair extensions in, hair extensions out - is what you get. She doesn't hide her silly spoils, like her dog's designer carrying case, and has perfected her paparazzi pout. The result? Ever-increasing fame for the omnipresent hotel heiress turned sex-tape star and reality TV supernova.

Now Miss Hilton, 24, is moving into acting. In House of Wax, opening today, Miss Hilton does horror. She'll later surface in National Lampoon's Pledge This! and Bottom's Up. But when it comes to her tabloid-tracked personal life, Miss Hilton insists she's become more interested in playing housewife than club hopper.

Other than the husband, two kids and white picket fence, Miss Hilton seemingly has it all. And it's all about Paris: a self-titled fragrance, self-titled nightclub chain, self-titled jewelry line. She's also working on a self-titled boutique hotel chain, as-yet-untitled makeup and clothing lines and a more-than-likely mild CD.

During a recent interview, Miss Hilton's trendy SoHo hotel room had the frenzied atmosphere of a children's play area. A plate with scrambled egg remnants lingered on an end table. Makeup bags doubled as a throw pillows on the couch. Bottles of vitamins fought for space on a cluttered coffee table. Two smiley publicists leered from the bedroom while a makeup artist prepared his palette and a hairdresser prodded the top of Miss Hilton's head, installing her latest set of hair extensions.

With her infamous Chihuahua, Tinkerbell, half-awake in her lap, Miss Hilton rested in the eye of the storm, unfazed by a barrage of silly questions. Other than refusing to utter Backstreet Boy and ex-beau Nick Carter's name, Miss Hilton purred freely about her sex tape, her falling out with Simple Life cohort Nicole Richie and her naughty House of Wax scenes..

Q: So how would you describe your occupation?

A: I don't know. I'm an actress, a brand, a businesswoman. I'm all kinds of stuff.

Q: If you had to pick just one ...

A: An actress.

Q: So all of this - the partying, the modeling, the reality show - was just your journey to an acting career?

A: Yeah, I guess.

Q: Do you read what's written about you? Do you pick up the tabloids?

A: I don't read any of it. I just look at the pictures to see what I was wearing last week and if it was cute.

Q: What did you want to be when you were a little girl?

A: A veterinarian, but then I realized I could just buy a bunch of animals.

Q: So let's talk about the movie. I'm sure you've had a gazillion scripts on your doorstep. Why do House of Wax?

A: It's a fun summer movie about teenagers. When I got the script, I went out and got the original and thought it was creepy and fun. And because of Joel Silver. I've known Joel since I was little, so I was very excited when he asked me to be in one of his movies. He's a Hollywood legend.

Q: Tell me about your character, Paige.

A: She's very sexy. She's a small-town girl.

Q: Who do you want to be your new Simple Life co-star?

A: I want it to be Kim (Stewart, daughter of rocker Rod), but it could be anybody. I don't know.

Q: Have you spoken to Nicole following the big breakup?

A: No, we haven't spoke in a while. I've been very busy with my boyfriend and the movie and everything..

Q: Why are you so popular?

A: I don't know, because of who I am. I'm not like anybody else. I'm like an American princess.