HOLLYWOOD -- Angie Harmon concedes her life has been a series of incredible surprises.

Not least of all was the night New York Giants cornerback Jason Sehorn proposed to her on the Tonight Show with host Jay Leno trying to look as if he hadn't been Sehorn's co-conspirator.

"Next to my wedding itself, that has been the best moment in my life because it was such a surprise," says Harmon, whose engagement ring would make Elizabeth Taylor green with envy.

"I have no idea how many carats it is. That's not something I was remotely tempted to ask."

It was Giants defensive end Michael Strahan who played cupid for Harmon and Sehorn.

"Both Jason and I knew Michael and he just had it in his mind we should meet and he wouldn't take no for an answer.

"At the time, Jason and I weren't looking to meet someone because we'd both just come out of disastrous relationships. Finally, we agreed to meet one day outside the stadium and it was great and just kept getting greater."

Marriage has not changed one of the things that drew her to Sehorn in the first place.

"He was a complete gentleman and a very funny person. After two years of marriage, he still makes me laugh and he still opens doors and holds chairs for me.

"I live to make him laugh because he has such a deep, hearty laugh. It's just the sexiest thing."

Harmon insists she's a housewife first and an actress second.

"My motto is if you're not happy at home, you're not happy anywhere else, so Jason and our marriage come first.

"When he's in football season, I don't work. I'm there with him. I don't want to be in Botswana and hear that Jason has been rushed to a hospital with some injury."

This is Harmon's explanation as to why she has done relatively little since she left the hit TV series Law & Order.

"I have to work around Jason's schedule. When he retires, we'll put a new game plan into effect."

That plan doesn't necessarily mean starting a family.

"We're being very careful right now because we don't have any immediate plans to start a family. When we decide differently, we'll be less careful and see what happens.

"God has been most generous to me already and done a great job of guiding my life, so I'm happy to put that part of my life in His hands, too."

Harmon was a successful model who'd harboured ambitions of being a movie star since she was a young child when she was discovered by David Hasselhoff on an airline flight.

He insisted she contact him and, when she did, he cast her in Baywatch Nights as Ryan McBride.

She's been acting ever since on TV and in such feature films as Lawn Dogs, Good Advice and Sudden Fear.

In the family comedy Agent Cody Banks, which opens Friday, Harmon plays CIA operative Ronica Miles, who is put in charge of teenage spy Cody Banks (Frankie Muniz).

"I don't mind playing the older woman to a teenager because I'm not in any way Cody's love interest. I'm his tutor.

"People tell me I'm going to have a whole new fan base with teenage boys. I don't know whether that's a plus or not."

She says what she likes most about her Cody Banks character is "that she never wears the same outfit twice. She's a cross between a Bond girl and Emma Peel from The Avengers."

Ronica is also one mean martial artist, but she meets her match in Cody, who can spin, kick and flip with precision and ease.

"Most of the kicking, swinging and hitting in the film is me. My stunt double did the really tricky moves and then taught me to do the others.

"In the scene where Cody and Ronica train, Frankie and I almost killed each other we were so intent on doing our own stunts.

"At one point we struck at each other and hit bone-to-bone. It was so painful, I thought I'd broken the bone in my hand."

Harmon says instead of making her leery of action flicks, her experiences on Cody Banks have whetted her appetite.

"I'd really like to do a big action flick, but for adults this time."

Kids' flick or not, the costume people on Agent Cody Banks made certain Harmon had an enhanced figure.

"Nicole Kidman got the prosthetic nose for The Hours. I got the prosthetic boobs for Cody Banks. They were stuffing everything into my bras but the kitchen sink, and on a couple of days, I swear they even wheeled in the sink.

"At one point they had shoulder pads and chicken cutlets in the bras at the same time."

Harmon, 30, says she maintains her sleek figure "through extensive cardio workouts. That's always worked for me. I really like running.

"When Jason and I are at home in Texas, we run together, except that he always ends up about a mile ahead of me."

When it comes to her body, Harmon admits to being blessed.

"I'm the daughter of two gorgeous people. Both my parents were international models in the 1970s. My mom took me on shoots when I was a child and I started modelling at a young age."

Harmon's parents divorced when she was still a toddler.

"I've had a lot of therapy. None of that has left any permanent scars, and I certainly have never felt I lost my soul to modelling because I started so young."

Neither does Harmon have any regrets over leaving Law & Order where she played Assistant District Attorney Abbie Carmichael.

"I loved the show and I loved being there for a while, but when I saw my character wasn't going anywhere, there was no point in continuing.

"I got tired of hearing Jack McCoy (Sam Waterston) tell me I was an idiot every time Abbie suggested another way of doing something."

Harmon concedes she is not exactly inundated with film offers.

"I've been told Hollywood doesn't know what to do with me and I can understand that because there are days I don't know what to do with myself.

"I know I'd like to do a real comedy because when I can make people laugh, it makes me feel beautiful. That probably sounds weird, but it's true.

"I've never taken my looks for granted, but I feel more beautiful when people around me are laughing."


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