Kristin Kreuk can sit through an entire autopsy video. Constant sunshine “disturbs” her. She doesn’t return phone calls from Warner Bros. execs, prefers villain Lex Luthor to Superman and Mother Nature to just about anybody. The 20-year-old Vancouver starlet, who plays a heart-of-gold cheerleader on the TV series Smallville and pure-as-the-driven Snow White in an ABC TV movie, enjoys brandishing her fang tooth at reporters.

Don’t expect any woe-is-me tales about paying dues. “It’s all kind of fallen in my lap,” says Kreuk, whose exotic beauty is a result of her Dutch, Chinese-Indonesian and Jamaican roots. Her drama teacher sent her to an audition for the CBC teen soap Edgemont and she landed a leading role. Ditto Smallville, and then Warner Bros. had to convince her that her character Lana Lang wasn’t a pompom-shaking “idiot.”

Kreuk won’t dish about her private life, but will say she’s never dated an actor. “It would be difficult. You’d think about the business too much. I need to stay grounded.” At the end of the day, the Neutrogena spokesmodel believes stardom is “not about you, it’s about image. It depresses me thinking all I’m doing is selling products. But actors have the opportunity to make a difference and touch people.” Popularity has its drawbacks, though, including gawkers. “It’s strange because they point like you’re this object, not a person.”

It’s probably a relief then that the Lana Lang doll bears no resemblance to Kreuk, whose childhood Barbies wore afros. She later banned her younger sister from playing with them since they were “girly, prissy, unrealistic.” She also has fun with her own squeaky clean image. She may not date bad boys, smoke or have ever been drunk, but by calling herself a “good girl” one minute and mentioning “evil thoughts” the next, she is an enigma wrapped in fleece.

“Psychology is a huge part of acting,” says Kreuk, who is looking forward to sinking her teeth into “a darker role. I’ve never thought of myself as a light person. I’m excited to get out there and grow. You get stunted in the business.”

Luckily, Kreuk hasn’t been flung head first into the Hollywood pool party. Both Edgemont and Smallville are filmed in Vancouver. She has no plans to pack up for La La Land and only last year moved out of the family home. “I dreamed about it for a long time. It’s nice to have a place of my own to mess up.” The apartment is “pretty dark with lots of candles, South Asian and Moroccan stuff. I’ve painted my hallway a powerful red and bought a beautiful blue-green Indian door.”

When talk turns to clothes, her eyes roll. “I’ve got a limited wardrobe,” says Kreuk, describing a recent purchase as “black pants, a black top, some spiky, pointy-toe boot things.” [Don't worry Kristin, you look good in ANYTHING]

Kreuk prefers reading, writing and travelling. “The business overwhelms you. I want to have another life, become one with my surroundings instead of the materialistic world.”

In the meantime, it’s back to the Smallville set for a martial arts lesson. “Lana’s learning how to defend herself,” she says. Asked what her kryptonite is, she replies: “I don’t have a kryptonite. Nothing makes me weak.”