Anna Faris is her generation's Goldie Hawn, except Hollywood has taken its sweet time realizing what a comedy genius they have on their collective hands. Whether you're talking her bread and butter, the Scary Movie franchise, or her scene-stealing turns in flicks like Just Friends, Waiting..., and even Lost in Translation (in which she unwittingly parodied Cameron Diaz), Faris consistently manages to make the movies around her better and, most often, funnier. Finally, after years of hard work, it looks like she's about to get her due with The House Bunny, a movie she conceived after wondering what happens to a sheltered Playboy mansion fixture, like any of the "girls next door," when she's forced to reenter the real world. In Faris's imagination, the girl becomes a sorority mother to a house full of campus's geekiest chicks. Here's what she had to say to me on the subject ...

Cole Haddon: How did you prepare for playing a spacey aspiring Playboy bunny, and to what extent could you, you know, relate to a spacey aspiring Playboy bunny?

Anna Faris: Um, I would like to say that I slept with Hef, but I'll dispel that rumor right now [laughs]. No, I was thinking about three years ago about what happens when it's time for the next phase of life for some of these girls who have lived in the Playboy mansion? I pitched the character ... and, the next thing you know, we're shooting at the Playboy mansion. [But] I have to admit, I did very little to emotionally prepare to play Shelly Darlington. I guess she's always been in there somewhere.

CH: You had to sit through three hours of make-up every day. But those shoes' heels looked a lot more daunting.

AF: [laughs] Shelly, y'know, she's got a lot of hair. She likes a lot of makeup. We had to do a lot of body make-up and make-up to make my cleavage look bigger. But, yeah, the shoes ... strapping in. It was like, yeah, it was a challenge. The shoes I loved. As I think everyone knows, I kept them all. I still will put them on at night and trot around.

CH: Has Hef seen the movie yet? [He has a lengthy cameo as himself in The House Bunny.]

AF: Yes, yes ... he loves it. He's been an incredible support system. His girls are in it [too]. It definitely was thrilling to see him act in a movie we conceived.

CH: You came up with the idea behind The House Bunny and ended up an executive producer on it. Can you discuss in contrast the satisfaction you get from actually generating a movie and working on it all the way to the premiere?

AF: It was amazing. Very inspiring and empowering, and also eye opening because I had no idea how difficult it was to make a movie and to put all the pieces together. We thankfully had the support of my writers, [Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith (Legally Blonde), without whom I] would still be twiddling my thumbs thinking, "Where would that Playboy bunny go?" I've [just] got to say I wasn't getting a chance to play the roles that I really wanted to and so this felt like, "Oh, so maybe I can do this and maybe I can continue to do this." Which would be amazing.

CH: In the end Shelly doesn't end up doing the centerfold. What does that say about empowerment and a publication like Playboy?

AF: I don't think it's a stand against not being a model. I think Shelly will always be a little vain, and love her wardrobe, and her curves or whatever. But, I think it's more about finding her real family and that she realized that she doesn't belong in that world anymore. But I don't think it's necessarily a judgment against that world.

CH: Considering Hef's and Playboy's involvement, I'm curious if he offered you a chance to pose in those hallowed pages? [I, um, in no way asked this question for any personal interest.]

AF: Just keep your eye out for maybe the September issue [laughs]. I have to cryptic about these things, I'm instructed to be.

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