She owes it all to Little Red Riding Hood.

While still in high school, Zooey Deschanel played the caped icon in a local production of Into the Woods. Soon after, she had a manager and a budding career.

Or maybe Zooey was just destined to be a star. After all, this L.A. native shared math class with Kate Hudson and a breakfast table with her famous dad, well-known cinematographer Caleb Deschanel (The Patriot).

"I have a really loud voice, and everything I do is slightly left of normal," the 20-year-old admits. "I would always get picked out when I was younger. Even if everyone was talking in class, somehow the teacher would pick me. It's a blessing and a curse."

Recently, it has been more the former. The actress has been working nonstop since her standout performance as the rebellious sister who turns William Miller (Patrick Fuget) on to his first taste of rock in Cameron Crowe's Almost Famous.

Next up, she gets Manic with Don Cheadle in an indie film about a group of teens in a mental ward. Deschanel then teams with fellow 2001 sizzler Eliza Dushku to play a smart-mouthed high schooler in the comedy The New Guy, about a dorky kid (DJ Qualls) who moves to another school and reinvents himself into Mr. Popular.

This summer, she plays Rene Russo's daughter in Big Trouble, a big-budget Barry Sonnenfeld comedy starring Tim Allen, about a bomb that is inadvertently passed around in Miami.

About to lose the almost part of famous, Deschanel is cautious regarding her career. "I don't want to be one of those It Girls," she says knowingly. "They all just sort of blend into each other. I'd rather be the Not It Girl--an original, something that hasn't been done."