Why is a nice girl from Naples, Florida, trying to be a little like Britney Spears? Haley Bennett swears it's only acting, and she does keep her undies on, although she gets to wear some pretty hot-and-sexy outfits. Bennett is making her big-screen debut in a juicy role in Music and Lyrics, playing a teen idol whom she admits is "a little insane and does some outrageous things."

Haley won't say if Spears was the model for her over-the-top performance as Cora Corman, a multiplatinum-selling singer, but she does admit, "I patterned the character after some big pop stars, and I made her a little spacy."

The 19-year-old Bennett confesses she was a little overwhelmed to be co-starring in Music and Lyrics with Drew Barrymore and Hugh Grant, but says they helped her get over feeling intimidated. "I was so nervous, but they were both very relaxed and natural," she remembers. "They taught me that you have to feel confident and comfortable in front of the camera."

But Bennett reveals that she did have to face one unexpected challenge. Even though she looks enviably skinny, the producers wanted her to be even thinner. "I had to lose 10 pounds," she remembers, "but Drew told me not to take it personally, it's all part of the job. I admit as soon as we finished filming I pigged out a little."

Her talent as a singer helped Haley get the part after competing against a slew of other actresses. "Haley could really belt out a song, and that's what we were looking for," director Marc Lawrence says.

Bennett, who has a couple of tunes on the soundtrack of Music and Lyrics, is hard at work on her first album, which will include some songs she has written. Her style has been compared to Jewel, whom Haley admits has been one of her musical influences. "I've been singing since I was 10," she says. "It's really my first love, and when I first came to L.A. I thought I was going to get a record deal. It fell through, but the producer was really excited and told my parents he thought I could make it."

Now the kid who jumped up to join the band at the Snook Inn on Marco Island when she was 10 is on the brink of realizing her dreams. "I moved to California to be an actress and singer, and I got the chance to do both in Music and Lyrics," she says. "I really had fun, and I just want to make it keep on happening."