By E.C. Gladstone, Photographs: Giuliano Bekor, Styled by Vanessa Geldbach

e live in an era where worship and contempt go hand in hand, especially when it comes to celebrities—the bread and butter, or cake and ice cream, perhaps, of our daily discourse. While we slavishly devote reams of paper, hours of television, and miles of blog pages to their every action, there is scant consideration of their humanity (or ours) in the creation or consumption.

Take Brittany Snow, for example. The 21-year-old Snow, like Jessica Alba, Kirsten Dunst, Scarlett Johansson and so many others, has been following a dream of stardom since early childhood, taking the roles—sometimes silly, sometimes serious—which are expected of girls at certain ages. Like most maturing teen queens, she runs with a gang of fellow actors but doesn't consider herself a "Hollywood socialite"; she yearns for roles that scent of seriousness, and she aspires to greater conquests (producing, directing) than a mere camera-ready career. No surprises there.

Yet there is something sincere about Snow when she says, "I'm a messed-up actress," "I should be strong and have this thick skin, but I'm a really sensitive girl," and, "This is the most weird interview ever." All of those quotes were taken somewhat out of context, but this one, not so much: "I hate people who give interviews and say, ‘People think I'm so happy and bubbly, but I'm really a dark person.' " On that note, we agree.

Our meeting begins in the front window booth of Greenblatt's Delicatessen (her choice), where Snow had planted herself without any of the typical concerns for anonymity. Greenblatt's, something of a Los Angeles landmark, is incidentally two doors (and a world) away from Hyde, the Sunset Strip bar that is currently the single biggest celebrity magnet in town. Snow clearly prefers Greenblatt's. "I love delis. For the first two years that I lived here, I went to Jerry's [Famous] Deli almost every day." Ordering a tuna salad and a side of cole slaw ("You can't go wrong with good cole slaw—it has to be really sweet with all that stuff on it"), she confesses, "I get in these little traditions where I go to the same place every day for a year. That's my deal with Coffee Bean right now. Every Coffee Bean in L.A. knows my name and my drink, a medium vanilla ice blended, no sugar added, three Splendas. I have so much Splenda every day, I would probably snort it if I could. I'm not kidding—it's really depressing."

Her love of delis isn't the first or last untrendy thing about Snow. She only uses her television to watch movies on DVD ("I'm slowly getting acquainted with all the classics"), she writes in a journal every day ("because I'm a total dork"), and she would sooner go to a vintage store and find something like the Buddha pendant she's wearing than try on the latest fashions. "I hate malls, I hate shopping, and I don't try things on when I do go shopping. I would rather go to the orthodontist than try on clothes." Having acquired the ability to guesstimate what will fit just by looking at it, Snow keeps her personal style uncomplicated off-screen, wearing things that are "cute" and "simple" but none too revealing.

Displaying her short, black-painted nails, Snow says her boyfriend, drummer Michael Johnson, "has kind of rubbed off on me. He's crazy, he's a rocker, he has reddish streaks in his hair and a Mohawk, and he's completely into looks that are unlike anybody else's. My whole apartment has a lot of things that he got in Bali.

"I'd like to say I don't get influenced very easily, but for some reason, when someone really likes something, I tend to like it, too," she continues. "That's not to say that I don't definitely have my own opinions about everything ... Oh, my God, there's a bug in my food!"

Indeed, there is a small insect on Snow's plate, which the waiter quickly explains probably came in with the lettuce. While he gets her a new salad, I mention seeing a previous story in which Brittany confessed bugs are her greatest phobia ...

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