Alexondra Lee has been stealing hearts since she was a teenager. As the free-spirited (and not-so-nice) Callie in the long-running hit series "Party of Five," she first walked off with the affections of hunky Scott Wolf. And she's still at it, graduating to Mel Gibson, whose eye she catches in "What Women Want," also starring Helen Hunt and Bette Midler.

Later this season, Lee does it again, mesmerizing the unwitting Scott Cohen in the ABC movie "Kiss My Act," produced by and starring Camryn Manheim. Set against a background of the Manhattan comedy club scene, the story is a gender-reversed version of the French classic Cyrano de Bergerac, with the beautiful Lee winning in love and on stage by using the funny Manheim's material. This made-for-TV movie airs April 23rd, 2001.

And there's muscle and training behind that pretty face, assets Lee shows off as the star of UPN's new series "Special Unit 2." As Special Forces Officer Kate Benson, Lee goes to war against the dark creatures lurking in Chicago's underworld. Described as "The X-Files" meets "Men in Black," the series premiered on April 11th, 2001.

Most recently, Lee landed a series recurring role on David E. Kelly's new hit show "Boston Public," which debuted this season on FOX. Lee plays the school cheer-leading coach, Tina, who immediately makes a name for herself by getting the girls to do a rather risqué performance in order to win a cheer-leading contest. Lee's episodes began airing in January 2001.

Originally from Pennsylvania, Lee began performing as a child and was dancing with the New York City Ballet by the time she was 7. Several years later she was discovered by David E. Kelly, who cast her first as a guest star on "L.A. Law" and later on his quirky and beloved "Picket Fences."

Recently Stuff magazine voted Lee one of the 101 "Most Beautiful Women in The World."

The following is an upclose and personal chat with the queen of sci-fi TV, Alexondra Lee.

Chauncé Hayden: I just finished reading your interview in Stuff magazine.

Alexondra Lee: (Laughs) Oh, it wasn't much of an interview! Actually, that little interview took nearly two hours! They didn't even mention that I have a boyfriend. They didn't put in any of that stuff. They made it sound like I was totally single.

Who's your boyfriend?

I won't say his name, but he's on the TV show "DAG" with David Alan Grier.

Why do actors always hook up with other actors?

To be honest, I don't meet anybody else! I guest-starred on a show that he did last year, and that's how we met. That's just how I usually meet people. (Laughs) I just don't run into many stockbrokers.

The first question of the Stuff interview reads: "You are so hot, please comment."

(Yells) That was never said to me!

And your answer is: "It's not just about being a good actor." That makes no sense.

I know! I know! Oh, my God. It's so embarrassing. By the way, Steppin' Out is an awesome magazine. They need one of these in Los Angeles.

Thanks. Are you just trying to get on my good side?

(Laughs) No! I really think it's awesome!

Speaking of Stuff, they voted you one of the "Top 101 Women in the World."

(Laughs) I was!

Most women would consider it an honor to be a part of a list like that. But I have to ask you, were you at all bothered that they had you listed at 81? That means that according to Stuff, there were 80 women more attractive than you. Did you look at the other women and say, "Wait a second, I'm better looking than her!"

I actually went through it from 101 to 80 and thought, "Oh, my God, she's gorgeous! I'm not prettier than she is!" It's so funny! But I will say that my friends went out and bought that issue of Stuff and rearranged the list. (Laughs) Of course, I ended up at number one somehow!

They had Lucy Liu at number 47. You're definitely better looking than she is!

(Laughs) Thank you very much, but unfortunately, I didn't have a movie that made 300 million this year.

So it's not just based on looks?

It's a little bit of a popularity contest. Whoever is the most famous moves up on the list. But no matter what, I'm very proud to be 81.

Do you agree that it's more important to get on the cover of a magazine today than it is to be a talented actor, in terms of the amount of work that's offered to you?

Yeah, plus it's just so accessible now to get major publicity without having to do a lot of work. I posed for a magazine cover yesterday that's going to feature a bunch of the new sci-fi girls. There's just so many crazy syndicated shows like Cleopatra 2525 and Earth: Final Conflict.

And they all feature a stunning actress.

Yeah, I guess that's how it works. And then there's all these magazines like Maxim, Stuff, and FHM. They all cater to the same thing, which is kind of good because you can get a lot of publicity without having to be Cameron Diaz.

It's great to be young and beautiful in Hollywood and have so much attention. But do you ever wonder what's going to happen when the next crop of beautiful young actresses comes along?

I think about that a lot. I just want to continue working. The longevity of my career is more important to me than anything. I emulate people like Jessica Lange, Holly Hunter, and people that have lasted in this business even though they're not the flavor of the month. It's all so fleeting. But if you're good and you make the right choices, you have a good shot at sticking around. Granted, publicity really helps when you're getting started. So when you're young, just the exposure is fine. But if I'm not totally well-known by the time I'm in my 30s, it won't make any difference to me because I would be totally happy doing theater in Massachusetts forever.

Well, so far, so good. Your career thus far is looking very promising.

Yeah, but it's hard to keep that perspective when you live out here because there's always someone who's doing better then you. It's just brutal.

How do you deal with the pressure of keeping up with the actor next door?

You just have to surround yourself with friends and family. A support system is the most important thing out here. You have to realize that you're going to end up where you're going to end up. As long as you're happy with your personal life, I think it will make your career go a lot smoother.

For most, making it in Hollywood is a tough, uphill struggle. However, would you say that things have come relatively easy for you thus far?

Yeah, well, it seems like I've always been working in one way or another. I started really young. But it's never been easy for me. Because I don't have a parent in the industry or anything like that.

So you're saying that if your dad is Aaron Spelling, it helps?

(Laughs) I've heard it does! What was semi-easy for me was modeling. I went from working when I was very young into modeling, and that rolled right into commercials, then acting, and soon I had an agent.

How important is it to have an agent?

The agent is the hardest thing to get. Then it's just a matter of getting work. But it's never been easy for me. I've never rolled from one thing to another. It's always been work to get the next thing.

Do you find that being too attractive can work against you?

Yeah, I've been told that. It's always going to be something. Unfortunately, when you audition as much as I do, you're going to hear a number of reasons why you didn't get the part. I would love to get to that place where I just go in and do my thing and then just leave the room. But unfortunately, as human beings, we're all very insecure and vulnerable, and when you do a great job and don't get the part, you want to know what happened. Sometimes I do hear that I was too attractive.

How does that make you feel?

It's weird and frustrating. But I understand it. I don't think I'm beautiful-beautiful. I'm more interesting-looking. So that's a whole different category than being a supermodel.

Famed television producer David Kelly seems to believe in you.

Yeah! My first job ever was on L.A. Law. He hired me when I was sixteen. I got to play a guest star on that series.

You've also been involved in some very controversial roles. Didn't you play a teenage lesbian on "Picket Fences"?

Yeah, it was the first TV kiss between two girls. Plus, being teenagers made it controversial. It was on CBS and they had a lot of problems with places like Utah. So when they did, they darkened the scene, which actually made it worse because you could hear what was happening but not see it. They brought me back on the show and I eventually got arrested for dealing acid or something like that!

When you agreed to do the lesbian scene, did anyone try to talk you out of it?

It's so weird when you're starting out. You feel so lucky to get the job. That's all that matters. David Kelly's writing is so brilliantly done and so human that there's just no question that it's going to be classy. It's not like we were trying to be titillating. We were really trying to tell a story and develop characters. (Laughs) But on the other hand, I was only seventeen at the time, and I did have to go back to high school and face those people! It took seven years to get back on a David Kelly series, Boston Public.

I want to talk to you about both Boston Public and Special Unit 2. But first, tell me about Party of Five. Was that the turning point of your career?

Yeah, because the show had just hit. It was the third year of the show and they had such a huge following. Unfortunately for me, I was only on it for a year. But the regulars on the show had become really famous. So I didn't get much of the fame that the others got from it, but overall, that was pretty much the biggest thing.

We hear rumors about the casting couch in Hollywood. In fact, Steven Seigal's name has come up more than once as one of those who insists on a personal audition. Have you ever had a problem like that?

No, but I've heard it so much over the years. I think over recent years it's been so focused on that nobody really does it anymore. Maybe on higher levels, with a girl who's naive, without an agent or anyone protecting them, I could see that happening. Which is really, really sad. But for me, I've always had such a great support system with managers and agents that if that ever happened to me, they would get in so much trouble! But ten years ago, I think that happened a lot more.

Boston Public has turned out to be one of the few hit shows of this past season. You must be pretty thrilled to be a part of it.

It's so much fun! I'm having the best time right now! It's the greatest feeling to be working, especially working on a David Kelly show. The character is so great!

And starting this week, you'll be seen starring in a new TV series called Special Unit 2. There are so many sci-fi adventure series coming out. What's going to set this one apart?

It's hard to tell until it gets on the air. But luckily, we're on a major network. The syndicated shows have trouble making it because they're on all over the place at weird times. But Special Unit 2 is a prime-time show, and hopefully it will catch on. But the one thing I can say about it is that it's so completely different compared to those other sci-fi shows.

In what way?

Because it's really like Men in Black. It's got so much humor in it, and it's also got a dark side to it. So there's that X-Files element to it as well. We have a lot of different elements and mixed genres that it will be a big hit or ... (laughs) not at all!

You've been described as a sexy sort of Agent Scully.

Yeah. That's a good way to describe my character. She's a lot like Agent Scully. She's very tough and very smart. She uses her intelligence to find all these creators in Chicago. But the relationship I have with my partner, played by Michael Landes, is a love/hate relationship, which is fun.

Lots of sexual tension?

Yeah, lots! But every week, there's a different creator that we have to find. So it will change every week. The creators are more like storybook characters like fairies, werewolves, and gnomes.

No vampires?

There's a funny moment in the pilot where the Captain is telling me about all the creators that they find, like werewolves and mummies and fairies and all this crazy stuff, but then he says: "Vampires ... they don't exist! (Laughs) I think that's our little jab at Buffy.

What's the biggest part you auditioned for but didn't get?