HOLLYWOOD -- You could call her actress, interrupted.

Amber Valletta is turning heads as the vampish other woman in the Harrison Ford-Michelle Pfeiffer hit thriller, What Lies Beneath.

The former model also co-stars in another bif film, Family Man, with Nicolas Cage, which is set for release later in the year.

She's definitely on a roll. But the Tulsa native is planning a production of her own that might stall a career takeoff.

She's expecting a baby with U.S. Olympic volleyball player Chip McCaw in early October.

"I had morning sickness at the beginning," reports the 26-year-old at a Beverly Hills hotel recently. "But I feel great now, although sleeping is hard. I'm starting to get really uncomfortable."

LUCKY COINCIDENCE

That's just as she settles into a decent career, although some film industry cranks suggest that she got the What Lies Beneath part only because she resembles Pfeiffer.

"We only realized that after we cast Amber," says director Robert Zemeckis.

Still, it's another lucky coincidence for Valletta. She's had lots.

An Italian modelling scout discovered her when she was a 15-year-old, five-foot-nine beauty at a Tulsa fashion show. It led to an agent, then modelling work in Dallas, New York and Paris.

After six years, cover-girl good looks and a winning personality earned her the co-hosting job on MTV's high-profile House Of Style.

"It all fell in my lap," she admits. "It was fun, but modelling didn't feed me mentally and spiritually."

BREAKTHROUGH

Her House Of Style TV gig was especially frustrating for her. "I needed something different."

When an associate suggested she try acting, she considered it. A little later, when Steven Spielberg's production company inquired whether she was into acting, "I took it as a sign," she says chuckling.

Acting courses followed; so did a part in Stacy Cochran's Drop Back Ten, which will eventually get its release sometime this fall. Subsequently, What Lies Beneath and Family Man were her breakthrough hires.

Her other job, the mother one, will likely consume a great deal of her time for lots of months to come.

As a gesture to nesting, Valletta has even returned to Tulsa from her New York base.

"Yeah, I bought a house there because I was pregnant, and I was tired of New York," she says. "I couldn't be pregnant in New York, and it was too far away from my family."

She smiles, obviously happy with her decision, but aware of the loving, smothering atmosphere that awaits her.

"My family is kind of like Hotel California," Valletta maintains. "Once you get in, you can't really get out."


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