Given her pedigree, the 21-year-old had planned on a screenwriting career. "But at the end of high school," she says, "I realized I'd only written like one three-page short and I'd pretty much been acting like a writer." So, off to acting classes she went for a few years of training.
Since then, she's been working nonstop, jumping from one big project to the next. This year, audiences will finally get to see exactly what's been going on behind those cameras. Towne has five films slated for release: Town and Country, with Warren Beatty and Diane Keaton; the thriller In Crowd; What Lies Beneath, opposite Harrison Ford and Michelle Pfeiffer; the teen romance Jack of All Trades; and the dark comedy But I'm a Cheerleader, where, among other "crazy, kooky" things, Towne found herself masturbating with a cattle prod. "It was nothing much, just a little embarrassing," she jokes.
And in case that's not enough, the second-generation Towne is also the star of NBC's midseason offering M.Y.O.B.. "There's some horrible part of me that can't wait to see this show, even though I'm terrified. I mean, it's all me, all the time. You really have to like me, and I don't even like me all that much."
In fact, there's only one role Towne has played that she'll boast about. If you happened to be watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer's season opener in October, you may remember a nasty vamp by the name of Sunday. More likely, you won't. But don't tell that to the self-proclaimed Slayer fanatic. She's still on a high from the experience. "I'm a little psychotic about Buffy. I always wanted to be on that show--just to tell my grandkids."
--Amanda Rudolph
Sizzlin´ Sixteen 2000 from E! Online