Seven To Watch

The cast of Sleepover In July, these four girls can be seen as the geeks who compete in a scavenger hunt against the popular girls to win the best table in the school cafeteria. But in real life, from left, Scout Taylor-Compton, Alexa Vega, Mika Boorem, and Kallie Flynn Childress are actually pretty freaking cool. And they're all overachievers: Alexa did her own stunts in the hugely popular Spy Kids trilogy; Scout has been on Gilmore Girls and played one of Jen Garner's character's friends in 13 Going on 30; and Mika was Kate Bosworth's sister in Blue Crush. "Being recognized is so much fun," says Alexa, 15. Meeting Orlando Bloom didn't suck, either. "I still get star-struck; I don't even know what to say." — Reporting by Ali Gazan
	Hayden Panettiere "I was born ready to act," says Hayden Panettiere. The 14-year-old means that literally. She did her first television commercial at the ripe age of 11 months old. "I did a soap opera when I was 4-years-old and then I started doing movies," she explains. Look for Hayden in May's Raising Helen, as Kate Hudson's sassy niece who gets wild after her parents die. Though Hayden has two other projects in the works — she's trapped in purgatory in The Dust Factory and races zebras in Racing Stripes — her ideal role would be Lara Croft Jr. "Angelina Jolie has to do a third one where I get to play her daughter," says Hayden, who lives in Palisades, NY. "I want to kick some serious butt!"
	Jonathan Tucker Don't ever say that Jonathan Tucker isn't in touch with his sensitive side. "In second grade, I was the queen in a modern retelling of Cinderella. I dressed in drag and played it to the nines," says the 22-year-old. Tucker has even danced professionally with the Boston Ballet. "Ballet was really my love and my passion for a long time. I didn't care what anyone thought. There were six boys in the Boston Ballet School and 465 young women, so I was in heaven to say the least," he grins. Jonathan takes the stereotypical macho route in his next role as a Marine who falls in love with a mentally ill girl played by his friend Rachael Leigh Cook in May's Stateside. To prepare, he went through a hellacious week of boot camp. "Every morning I woke up at 3:30 a.m., waiting for the drill instructors to scream in my face," says Jonathan, who has already made three other movies this year. "It was worth the torture, though. I wanted to make the brave men and women who've served our country proud."
	Callum Blue "When I'm on the red carpet, most people say, 'Who the hell is that?' " says Callum, 26, in his charming British accent. (He grew up in Essex, England.) "It's downright embarrassing." So the cynical grim reaper on Showtime's Dead Like Me has sworn off premieres, at least until his movie The Princess Diaries 2 comes out in August. Callum's going to score major sympathy points since his character, Duke Andrew, is forced into an arranged marriage with Princess Mia (Anne Hathaway). And even though he portrays a duke on camera, in real life Callum swears he's the "most common person you're ever going to meet." Callum is also one of the more mysterious actors out there. "The Princess Diaries 2 was a fun movie. But I couldn't wait to get back to Dead Like Me. I guess I'm drawn to the dark side. I had never been involved with anything that wasn't edgy."

— Patty Adams
Photo: Jonathan Skow