Not at all. But I was probably too exhausted to worry about anything else. I always fell right to sleep. I mean, I was really terrified when I read the script, and that was part of why I was determined to play the part. I just thought it was a scary movie and smart and emotionally resonant and interesting and deep and it had so many great enduring qualities, but in terms of actually making it, it was pretty straightforward.

I have a thing about crooked mountain roads with an abyss on one side. One of my nicknames in the family is "Fearless," and I have tried to in the past year think about what that means. Am I truly devoid of any fear? I think not, but I’d like to believe that I’m courageous, in that I have faith in the face of fear

I’m good enough that I have a lot of fun with it, and I can put a lot of flourishes into my moves. But my instructor, boy, he gets me to a place where I think I’m great and he takes me out in less than the blink of an eye. My sister and I go out to the barn at 9 o'clock every night when we're home and we work out. There's a guy in Nashville who's something of a kickbox instructor: He's a bounty hunter on the weekends and has a 2-by-4 in the back of his truck, and we just play Earth, Wind and Fire and jump around like silly children.

First of all, thank you very much -- that means a lot to me. That's one of the ways in which I am ambitious. I don't think, "OK, I want to be in a movie that grosses X-number of dollars." I want to go to bed at night and think, "Did I use every iota of what I have available to me as a sentient being? Did I really stay present and just knock it out of the park in terms of who I am as a performer?" And a lot of my inspiration comes from the way my sister and I are matched in that way. I mean, she does not give a throwaway concert -- she does not throw away a line. She gets up there and sings from her toenails every single night. When I was in Europe, this one reporter, he said, "So, what's the next non-Ashley Judd role that Ashley Judd is gonna do?" And I appreciate having that kind of diversity and, I mean, I'm hardly Felicity from Smoke, but I got such a rise out of doing that.

First of all, it's not in the truck, and no clothes come off. Evidently it just rattled some cages for the housewives in Tarzana [CA]. I don't mean to use unnecessarily explicit language, but my understanding of the rating system is that during sex scenes, you can have two out of three with regards to the act of making love -- use your imaginations, fill in the blanks -- we have none of those things, so it's really peculiar to me. There's no swearing in this movie. There's no protracted making out. There's nothing. I don't understand it at all.

I give up nothing: I choose to live completely impervious to all of it. I will not let the way we are in contemporary society with regards to both media speculation and scrutiny affect the way I choose to live my life. I might take the back door every now and then. I might consciously choose to be discreet about something, but I’m a little too indignant about the way the invasive press treats people in my profession to let it affect me. I’ve never felt like it was incumbent upon me to divulge the details of my personal life because I happen to be an actress, and in other countries performers are afforded that kind of dignity. It’s just not something we do in America -- yet.

Well, my greatest fear is actually happening -- I am becoming my mother. She always said the greatest thing her mother gave her was raising her in a Christian household, and I can now say that about my mother, too, and it doesn't to me matter so much what you specifically call your religion if you have a relationship with your creator that you cultivate, that's what counts.

I didn’t, really. Except for The Waltons on Thursday nights, when I would make a pizza and chocolate-chip cookies. That was my ritual, every Thursday. And when I was a Candy Striper, I had to get home from my Wednesday duty in time to watch Dynasty. But we didn't really have a TV -- the one that I watched when I was really little, I don't even know where that came from. It might have been a neighbor's, and then we did have a little TV when I was in high school

• Oscar Overboard • The critic's picks • The nominees • The Monday night telecast

When: Monday, 9 p.m., on ABC-TV. The host: Billy Crystal.

Presenters: Jennifer Lopez, Madonna, Frances McDormand, Ashley Judd, Whoopi Goldberg, Drew Barrymore, Juliette Binoche, Neve Campbell, Meg Ryan and Elisabeth Shue.

Also, Sean Connery, Cuba Gooding Jr., Djimon Hounsou, Martin Scorsese, Denzel Washington, Samuel L. Jackson, Ben Affleck, Antonio Banderas, Matt Damon, Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau, Mike Myers, Geoffrey Rush and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Best original song performers: "Go the Distance" ("Hercules"), Michael Bolton; "How Do I Live" ("Con Air"), Trisha Yearwood; "Journey to the Past" ("Anastasia"), Aaliyah; "Miss Misery" ("Good Will Hunting"), Elliott Smith; "My Heart Will Go On" ("Titanic"), Celine Dion.

What do you usually wear to bed?

Nothin'. But I love my nightgown. I drove across country in it. When I saw Something to Talk About, people went nuts when Julia Roberts pops up in a bar in her nightgown, because it seemed odd. But to me it was funny because it seemed real.

What's your favorite body part?

The back of my hand -- though it's swelled up at the moment from grease and water retention -- because my hands are like my grandmother's, and remind me of my grandparents, a real poignant part of my life.

Middle America is seeing you now in your first mainstream movie [Heat ] -- but it's already watched your life portrayed in a TV docudrama, Naomi and Wynonna: Love Can Build a Bridge, based on your mom's book. (grimaces) That ain't any life I recognized. The girl was pretty and had hair like I used to have, but she was really whiny and dependent. And they filmed scenes that absolutely did not occur in real life, like me saying to my sister [Wynonna], "I don't hate you, but you got Mom -- I envy you." The three of us were watching it, and I just had a fit, totally exploded. We put it on pause and talked about it.

Who should have played you?

First thing that comes to mind is, who do I think is the best actress of my generation, and that's Jennifer Jason Leigh. But I would've never made her do such a shitty little part!

Act II: An hour later, the St. Regis Hotel dining room. Judd orders herself enough breakfast for three, explaining, "I'm on a major food holiday because I need a break between jobs. This is my free-for-all."

You may be the only young actress who doesn't smoke cigarettes, but you were smoking cigars long before it was trendy. I think it has to do with being a Kentuckian -- I love tobacco. In third and fourth grades I spent summers at my grandparents' watching a lot of baseball on TV. When my pawpaw Judd would get up from his chair to get a Pepsi or go to the bathroom, I would poke through the ashtray to find the most recent cigarette butt and drag on it.

Speaking of Smoke, thanks to that movie you were in Jerry Garcia's last video. Were you a Deadhead growing up? Not at all. I honestly thought that if I went to a Dead show, someone was gonna drop that liquid acid on me. I've never done drugs, but I wore a lot of tie-dye!

So how did you play the junkie so accurately in Smoke ? No preparation -- you just do the work. You live truthfully in the imaginary circumstances -- that's what acting is. It's fun. I mean, if I didn't have some social restraint, I'd stand up and do something right here in this restaurant. I would like to find a part in a movie that's clean, to which I could take my grandparents.

You filmed another one-scene performance for Natural Born Killers, as a witness who testifies against the serial killers. Why was it cut from the final print? It would've made the movie NC-17. The ratings board found it "too emotionally harrowing." I took that as a compliment.

Act III: A photographer's studio overlooking the Holland Tunnel. An Alison Krauss CD is blaring. Judd sits before a mirror being made up, wearing only underwear and a sheer pink chiffon robe. Her publicist comments that she looks like Mrs. Roper from Three's Company.

Did you watch a lot of television growing up? It was limited.

How about The Beverly Hillbillies ? I liked the animals Elly May had -- great big tigers and stuff, and they were all so tame. My sister says I act like a hillbilly when I go to the airport and I'm still rearranging my clothing -- with it all splayed out on the Mercedes in the parking lot.

Can you talk about your first real boyfriend? (immediately) Chris Price, in the fifth grade. (pause) Oh, you mean the giving away of my virginity? No!

How old were you? Too young. I'll just say, I was in the van, but I wasn't driving. Ha-ha-ha! (doubles over)

I was going to ask about your dating preferences, but now you have -- Sweetie Pie -- S.P. for short. I never dated very much, because it's so rare for me to be inspired. I've had a crush or two, but love is sacred, and by virtue of that, it's not pedestrian. You don't like somebody every other week.

Where did Matthew sleep when he visited your mom's? He slept in the office out in the barn -- I don't want to be disrespectful to my parents.

Aren't you twenty-seven years old? I know, but...Matthew and I lived together while doing A Time to Kill , which is not something that I would do in normal, straight life, because I don't believe in simulating marriage. You're either married or you're not.

Judd is beckoned to her place in front of the camera. She resembles an auto-repair-shop calendar girl. She playfully toys with provided props -- cigar, beer bottle, stuffed dog -- spanking the latter in a self-consciously Betty Page way.

What will your family think when they see this photograph of you? My sister's gonna have a heart attack. My mama'll just shake her head and not speak to me for a week. Then she'll assign Pop to give me a lecture. (The sound system starts playing Merle Haggard's "Okie From Muskogee," and Judd starts dancing wantonly.) Obviously, I am not from Muskogee! (Exeunt.)

Details, January 1996