HOLLYWOOD -- It's a long way from the coal mines of Kentucky to the runways of Manhattan.

Rebecca Gayheart didn't actually work in the coal mines but her father did, which makes her a coal miner's daughter.

"If you live in a coal mining town, it's almost as if you worked in the mines. Everyone's life revolves around the mine,'' said Gayheart in a recent interview.

"I was 15 when I decided I wanted to be an actress. I had to get away from Pine Top, Kentucky. It's a town of 1,000 and there's a real routine if you stay.

"By now I'd be married with children of my own," explains Gayheart, who plays one of the devious teens in the horror comedy Jawbreaker, opening Friday.

She was in for quite a rude awakening when she arrived in New York 11 years ago.

"I really didn't fit in. I wore these turquoise bows in my hair and matching ankle socks. Everyone else was wearing black tank tops and black stretch pants."

For the first few months, Gayheart waited tables, ate peanut butter and walked from her tiny, expensive apartment to her classes and jobs.

"Modelling happened first but I was always determined to be an actress. As soon as I got my first modelling job, I met some other girls and moved into an apartment with eight other models.

"It was absolutely crazy."

Gayheart also met a struggling film student named Brett Ratner who directed more than 75 music videos before directing Money Talks and last year's runaway hit Rush Hour.

The couple are still together.

When Gayheart became the Noxema girl, she was able to spend more money and more time on acting lessons at the Lee Strasberg Institute.

Gayheart's Noxema ads won her more than freedom. They won her the undying love of Garth and Wayne on Saturday Night Live's Wayne's World skits.

"I didn't see the show on which Garth and Wayne named me one of their favourite 'schwing' girls. My answering machine was filled with congratulations.

"When I caught one of the episodes, I was really honoured."

Gayheart's first acting jobs were in TV shows and soaps shot in New York, but eventually she got an offer from the producers of Beverly Hills, 90210.

"They asked me to play Luke Perry's wife. I knew going in that it was just a nine-week contract and that my character was going to die.

"So in nine weeks, Luke and I met, fell in love, got engaged, married and I died. It was a very popular storyline. I still have 90210 fans approach me in the malls."

When her boyfriend finally moved to L.A. four years ago, Gayheart relocated with him and began auditioning for films.

She made her feature film debut in Nothing to Lose with Martin Lawrence and Tim Robbins. She had a cameo role in Scream 2 and played the demented killer last year in Urban Legend.

Before beginning work on Jawbreaker, Gayheart travelled to South Africa to film The Hangman's Daughter, the prequel to From Dusk Till Dawn.

"I play a minister's wife who gets bitten and turns into a voracious, sexy vampire. It was great fun."

Last year, Gayheart made her stage debut in the Los Angeles production of The Last Night of Ballyhoo by Alfred Uhry, the author of Driving Miss Daisy.

"I was so terrified that I'd fail miserably and be fired but it turned out to be a wonderful experience. I'd love one day to return to New York to star in a Broadway show."

Gayheart also hopes that Jawbreaker will mark the end of her teenage roles.

"It was a very low-budget movie ($3 million US) that got fast-tracked to cash in on the teen movie fad.

"I loved the script because it mixed together such movies as Heathers, Grease, Clueless and Carrie.

"It's a good thing that everyone was as excited about the script as I was. It was a four-week shoot so we were doing 16-hour days, six days a week.

"People got pretty cranky and punchy but at the end of each day we all agreed we were happy to be there."