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IT’S BEEN FOUR years since Laura Vandervoort broke out as Clark Kent’s super-powered cousin Kara on Smallville, a role that made her familiar to millions of fans of the 21st century spin on the Superman franchise. But it’s only been a month since the 27-year-old actress decided, like so many Canadian stars before her, to go west — and south — to Los Angeles. Over the telephone, Vandervoort admits she’d like her old North York neighbourhood airlifted into the city of angels. “That’s my childhood. That’s where I used to walk my dog. Los Angeles is fast paced and a little bit overwhelming — I miss the quiet a little bit.”

It doesn’t sound as if Vandervoort has had much quiet time in the past year. In addition to shooting the second season of ABC’s V — where she memorably plays twin Visitor sisters — she’s wrapped three feature films that should be released over the fall. In addition to a cameo in music video director- producer McG’s sure-to-be-flashy This Means War, Vandervoort has a choice role in Family Guy mastermind Seth McFarlane’s Ted, which she says gave her a rare chance to flex her comedic muscles. “It’s got a lot of potty humour, a lot of guy humour, which nobody has really seen me do.” She says that she was also excited to co-star with Mark Wahlberg, whom she admits having had a crush on since his bad-boy days in the mid-’90s’ killer-boyfriend thriller Fear. “I also worked with Reese Witherspoon this year,” she says, laughing, “and I was thinking I should have gotten both of them to sign my Fear DVD.” Vandervoort says the move from television into feature film is part of her career path, so long as it’s done on her own terms. That’s why she’s balancing Hollywood productions, like This Means War and Ted, with homegrown projects like Aaron Woodley’s upcoming The Entitled, which was shot in Parry Sound.

“It’s about these three degenerates without any friends who decide to kidnap the popular kids at their school,” says Vandervoort, who adds that she was actually hoping to play one of the bad guys. She’s more interested in stretching her talent than getting pigeonholed, whether it’s as a blonde-sweetheart type or a sci-fi girl. Her biggest imperative, though, is to keep connected to home. “I always want to work with Canadian directors,” she says. “If I had to choose between two great scripts, I think that I’d try to support the Canadian industry.”

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