Fresh Face: Jenna Leigh Green

Age: "I'm old enough to know I shouldn't answer that question!"

Currently: Making her Broadway debut in Wicked as Nessarose, green girl Elphaba's wheelchair-bound sister, whose one "click-your-heels" wish is to be like everyone else.

Hometown: Simi Valley, California. Despite its location just 40 miles from downtown Los Angeles, the mountainous town was, according to Green, "more like the middle of Iowa" than the city. She first began performing in school productions in junior high and became heavily involved in Southern California's robust community theater scene during her teen years.

Dibs on Libbs: Green's big break came quickly when she landed the featured role of mean girl Libby Chessler on TV's Sabrina the Teenage Witch just a year after high school graduation. "I had waitressing jobs up to that point, but once Sabrina came along, there went the day job—knock on wood!" she says with a laugh. A decade later, she's still most often recognized as Libby. "It's funny, because I feel like I look so different now; those were the total awkward years. You go away as a freshman in college and everyone totally changes, and here I was doing that on television. Repeats come on every once in a while and I'm like, 'Wow.'"

Bare Facts: Sabrina lasted for seven seasons and Green popped up in guest spots on shows like ER and Dharma & Greg before moving cross-country in 2004 to make her off-Broadway debut in Bare as troubled teen sexpot Ivy. The pop opera announced plans for a commercial transfer after a limited run at the American Theatre of Actors but suddenly lost its funding, disappointing young fans. The actress, who was the only performer still attached to the show from its original L.A. readings back in 1999, admits she was devastated: "Honestly, I'm still a little bittersweet about it because there was no finality." Thinking back, she recalls that critics commented that the teen angst plot "was so dramatic. But hello?!" she says. "Did you go to high school? It was dramatic! A pimple was dramatic. That show was really, really dear to my heart and it was sad to see it end. But we all grow up. We can't play high schoolers forever. Well…I guess it depends on how big the stage is."

Witchy Woman: After the still-tight Bare crew parted ways, the brunette beauty was cast as Nessa in the touring company of Wicked, her second major acting credit involving witches. "I know, right?" she says. "I don't think I ever even dressed up as a witch for Halloween." She also understudied the prime role of Elphaba, which she got to play at least 40 times. "It's one of the best roles ever written," she says simply, adding that it takes a huge amount of "intensity and energy" to perform. "Sometimes I would be tired before I even got to sing," she recalls. "And the costume! I mean, you're wearing paint, you're wearing wool, you're wearing hats. Nothing is forgiving. You step out on stage and you start sweating."

Ease In: With a year on tour under her belt, Green was imported to the Broadway cast along with fellow stars David Garrison, Carol Kane and Derrick Williams. "When you're younger and you dream of being 'on Broadway,' everyone idealizes it in a way that it can't ever live up to," she says thoughtfully. "But I was so excited to have my debut be in this show because I knew it so well. Maybe if it had been something brand-new I would have been more self-conscious and more worried that people wouldn't like me. And who doesn't want their first big gig to be in a huge success? It's not going anywhere!"

Is It Me? After portraying bitchy characters on Sabrina, in Bare and now Wicked, does the actress have a theory on why she gets cast as that tart-tongued girl? "I really don't know!" she says in a pleading tone. "Is that a reflection on me? My hair is so dark and my eyes are dark, and I think sometimes that's just read as a little bit steely...a little more calculating, as opposed to the traditional blonde and blue-eyed ingénue." But don't be fooled by her professional persona: The sweet-natured Green seems truly humbled by the experience of being on Broadway, especially when she talks about the legions of Wicked fans. "It's insane. To walk out of a stage door and have people screaming your name, it's just like, how do you…" she says, trailing off. "But every time I see a little girl with a ball gown and a tiara on, it makes me smile."