PAZ VEGA

This Month THE FOOD SNOB'S DICTIONARY VOLUME GEORGE WAYNE HAMS IT UP WITH VAL KILMER

Plus: WHAT IF PARIS HILTON WERE PRESIDENT? AND MORE!

AGE AND OCCUPATION: 28, actor. PROVENANCE: Seville, Spain. TOO SEXY: Vega starred as Lucia in the Spanish import Se* and Lucia. "It was my first big role. That movie, the success was, for the director, for me, it was a surprise. A lot of [American] directors, when they see me, they say, 'Oh, you're from Sex and Lucia/ It's amazing." HOT-NANNY ALERT: That role led to her upcoming American debut (for which she had to learn English), this month, in James L. Brooks's Spanglish, playing a single mother from Mexico who fakes a job as a nanny for an American couple (played by Adam Sandler and Tea Leoni). Much cross cultural chaos ensues. "When Jim talks about the movie, he says, 'realistic comedy.' It's really, really fun, but sometimes you can cry at the same time." HOOKED ON HOLLYWOOD: "When I finished the movie, I said, 'I hate L.A., I hate everything; I don't want to come back to L.A., never in my life.' But now, everything's great—I love ... everything!"

KRISTA SMITH

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