LOS ANGELES -- Ah, the old "forget it, I'm just not right for the job" ploy. Who knew it could actually work?

At age 23, Kate Bosworth has had an embarrassment of breaks -- from her debut at 14 opposite Robert Redford in The Horse Whisperer to turns with Denzel Washington (Remember The Titans) and Kevin Spacey (Beyond The Sea).

But it's not enough to convince her that she is A-list material. That -- and the fact she's at least five years too young for the role of Lois Lane as written in Bryan Singer's long-awaited Superman Returns -- played with her head as she went in to read.

Bosworth got the call after a recommendation from Spacey (a.k.a. Lex Luthor). "I didn't even know Superman was being made," says the blond-again Bosworth. "I mean, I kinda knew they were trying to make it, but to be honest, I was more nervous seeing Bryan Singer than I was about being Lois Lane.

"The thing is, when I get nervous I get really honest. I said, 'I'm so excited to meet with you. I think you're one of the best filmmakers ever,' and I told him I saw The Usual Suspects in high school and I was obsessed with it.

"And I said, 'I know this film is going to be amazing, but I just don't know if I'm ready for it, so thank you for sitting with me and it was a pleasure to meet you.' "

"And he said 'Um, that's really interesting. I haven't had anyone do that before. Sit down for a minute.' "

Still not convinced she had a chance, Bosworth ended up reading with Superman himself, newcomer Brandon Routh. "I was just getting lost in that scene and I thought, 'Oh, he's gonna be really good.' I said, 'I don't know what's going to happen with me, but you're great. Congratulations.' "

Imagine Bosworth's surprise when she discovered that not only had she been cast, but that this Superman is all about Lois.

In Superman Returns -- fashioned as a sequel to Richard Donner's 1980 Superman II --our hero has been away five years. And he didn't even say goodbye to the love of his life.

He returns to find she's living with Perry White's nephew Richard (James Marsden), and she has a five-year-old son.

Royally ticked off (she turns out to have won a Pulitzer for the column Why The World Doesn't Need Superman), Lois nonetheless gets back into the Superman business, getting kidnapped by Luthor and even saving Superman's life at one point.

And yes, it wouldn't be a Superman movie if Lois didn't get flown around by the Big Guy. "The first day we rehearsed the flying, you know how you feel when you're a kid on a ride at Disneyland, kind of losing your stomach and you get this huge Cheshire Cat grin on your face? I must have had that grin 'cause I felt like a kid again. I just said, 'Shoot me to the ceiling!' and R.A. (Rondell) our stunt coordinator was, like, 'Really?' It's a huge soundstage in Sydney, I don't know how many storeys high, where they shot Star Wars and The Matrix. So he shot me to the ceiling and I hung on one tiny wire, and then they dropped me. I was in freefall until I was about a foot off the floor."

But then, Bosworth figures guts must be a Lois trademark, at least based on her introduction to Noelle Neill, who played Lois in the '50s TV series with George Reeves and plays a rich widow seduced by Lex in Superman Returns.

"First of all, she came from L.A. to Australia, which is a really long flight that wiped me out. She got off the plane and was there at the Vanderbilt mansion and was so strong and vibrant and so sharp. And I was, like, 'Man, I hope when I'm her age I'm like that. She was just lovely. And the most interesting thing is ... what was it... the '50s? That was a pretty square time. And I could tell when I met her, she was as strong and fast-thinking and fast-talking and independent then as she is now."

"I thought, 'How interesting. That's not only the character's characteristics, but people playing her also had those traits."

As it turns out, she also got a note from Christopher Reeve's Lois, Margot Kidder, "which was very interesting. She was very sweet. It was a piece of advice for (acting opposite) Clark and for Superman. And no, I'm not saying what it was."

It seems some secrets must stay within the League of Loises.