By Jeanne Wolf, Photographs: Rodolfo Martinez

n the short list of small-town girls who succeed in making their dreams of stardom come true is 19-year-old Arielle Kebbel. The babelicious blonde, who recently posed in barely there underwear for Maxim, got her first job on Gilmore Girls the day after she arrived in Hollywood from Winter Park, Florida. Arielle has had a lot of attention as Lindsay Lister, especially since she got the hunk in the persona of Jared Padalecki, who plays Dean Forester. First she married him (after his longtime girlfriend, Rory, portrayed by Alexis Bledel, kicked him to the curb), and now she's ready to dump him. Faithful fans have already discovered in this season's premiere episode that Dean jumped into bed with Rory — and it wasn't just a sleepover.

Recently Arielle played Tom Arnold's daughter in the raucous big-screen comedy Soul Plane, while buddying up to some of her favorite rappers, including Snoop Dogg and Method Man. That led to a juicy little role in Be Cool, the sequel to Get Shorty. As Arielle works to prove that she's more than just another pretty face, her determination, wicked sense of humor, and common sense make her as much fun to talk to as she is to watch on screens big and small.

VEGAS: Wow, things are heating up on Gilmore Girls, but unfortunately, it's not your marriage to the ever sexy and desirable Dean. He cheats on you with Rory and it looks like splitsville.

ARIELLE KEBBEL: Poor Lindsay. She just keeps trying to have a perfect life with Dean, but it seems that no matter what she does, he's not happy. Everything is crumbling down around her. It's like the more she tries, the more she upsets him. Finally it gets down to roast beef. She cooks for him in desperation, like, Please, somebody, say that this roast will save my marriage, because at this point I don't know what will.

But when she intercepts a letter from Rory and realizes that Dean has been cheating, it appears that Lindsay has forgotten about saving her marriage.

Things escalate very quickly, and you get to see Lindsay in a new light. With a lot of help from her mother, she kicks Dean out — not to mention throwing his stuff from an upstairs window. I hope people are on my side. It's all Dean's fault. And I still don't know where the two of them will end up. That's in the hands of the writers.

There's a lot of cynicism about marriage in general, particularly in Hollywood. Did playing out the breakup on Gilmore Girls make you think about that?

With my generation, especially, times have changed, and it's not as popular to marry young. In Hollywood everything is more career-driven, and a lot of actors seem to want to be more settled before they begin to raise a family. But I've always been a hopeless romantic, you know. I've been one to stand up for myself and never really feel like I need a relationship, but once I get in one little parts of Lindsay are inside me. I don't necessarily bake the brownies with the gummy bears, but I do leave little notes around the house for him to find. I really do believe in following your heart and being fearless, because that's how you learn to love and how you learn from your mistakes.

So is there a guy in your life you're leaving notes around the house for?

Yes, there is: Brahman Turner. He's an actor. We met out here in L.A. and it is a special relationship for me because it's the first one away from home...

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