Anna Camp

Hometown: Columbia, South Carolina

Currently: Winning critical and audience acclaim as toxic blonde bombshell Clea in Theresa Rebeck's brutal comedy The Scene at Second Stage.

All in the Family: Camp credits her family's tradition of watching classic films for her interest in acting, as well as the performing bug the whole clan seemed to share. "My mom used to be a dancer, my sister is also an actress and my dad is really funny—he's a banker, but I think he should be a comedian," she says affectionately. "I grew up just really wanting to act, not focusing on math or English or anything at school except drama. My favorite class would probably be recess, then acting after school."

In the Heights: Shortly after receiving her B.F.A. from North Carolina School of the Arts, Camp and two friends packed up a U-Haul and headed for the Big Apple and their first dig in Washington Heights. "I hadn't seen the apartment, which was on 189th Street and St. Nicholas Avenue," she recalls. "We pulled up, and I was like, 'Oh my god, where are we living?' I went to meet my sister at the subway once, and I'm the only blonde girl for miles, wearing this little blue sweatshirt standing on the corner. People are like, 'You live here?' and I'm like 'Yeah!' I was completely naïve to what this part of town was like." Camp's first job, a commercial for Enterprise Rent-a-Car, gave her a taste of the other side of city life. "They wanted me to get my hair cut for the commercial," she explains, "and they picked me up in this limo and took me to a hairstylist and I was like, 'Wow! This is fine with me!"

Getting In on The Scene: Camp's journey to The Scene began after a chance meeting with playwright Rebeck, who had just seen her in the off-Broadway play God Hates the Irish. "Theresa came up to me after the show and said, 'Hey, I have this script,' and I was like, 'Yeah, thanks.' I was tired and wanted to go home. I didn't know who she was then!" Camp fell in love with The Scene and kept it on her radar as other roles came and went; a year later, she auditioned for the Humana Festival production of the play. Though nursing a hurt foot, the young actress gamely dove into the role. "I had a cast on my ankle, so I hobbled into the audition—it was so sexy," she says with a laugh. That same afternoon, she got the part and was the only Humana cast member asked to reprise her role in New York opposite stage vets Tony Shalhoub, Patricia Heaton and Christopher Evan Welch.

The Love Machine: Rebeck's script includes a wickedly funny, wildly physical Act Two sex scene between Camp and Shalhoub that sees them making love all over the set. "When you first meet, and you know that scene is in the script, there's always the feeling of, 'So, you're the guy I'm gonna…you know…" she remembers. "You try to put each other at ease because it's an intimate situation with a stranger. It helps that it's a funny scene, so you go through the comedy of it and the acrobatics of it—it was a lot of fun getting it 'up on its feet,' so to speak." Shalhoub's gentlemanly concern eased any potential awkwardness. "He made me feel so comfortable," Camp says. "I was crawling around the coffee table once, and he stopped and put newspapers under my knees so I wouldn't bruise myself. It was so sweet!"

She's Bringing Sexy Back. Yeah! Camp's vivid portrayal of party girl Clea raises inevitable questions about her own participation in New York City's nightlife. "People ask me, 'So, do you do the scene?'" she says. "Honestly, I'd rather be home watching the Food Network in my pajamas eating ice cream than going out to clubs." Camp does, however, identify with the irreverent attitude of her character: "I won't go to her limits of doing amoral things, but her heart is into having a good time. I do like to flirt and have fun while I can. Take my top off!" she jokes. "You know what I mean? I can't tell you how liberating it is to go onstage every night and let go of my inhibitions. I forget that the audience is there. There's no better job than this!"

Feeling the Love: While maintaining the superstition most actors have about not reading reviews, Camp can't deny savoring the love letter she got from New York Times critic Charles Isherwood. "My boyfriend picked up the Times the morning after opening and said, 'You have to read this.' And my parents called and were screaming into the phone from South Carolina." Their daughter's hard work had paid off. "I'm really putting myself out in this role," Camp says. "I'm trying to be fearless, and it feels good when someone recognizes that you're walking the edge and sharing a lot of yourself."