Genevieve Cortese.

CLAIM TO FAME Gen stars as 18-year-old Kris Furillo in the new ABC Family drama series Wildfire, premiering June 20, 8 p.m. HORSESHOE IN THE WAH-ZOO Kris is a detention center inmate who is lucky to land a job at a high-end horse ranch upon her release, pulls a stupid stunt right out the gate but manages to come up smelling like a rose. "Kris is much rougher around the edges than I am. She has more of a barrier between people. I like to think I'm a lot warmer than that." REBEL YELL Genevieve does, however, feel she can identify with her character's rebellion. "If my mom said one thing, I had to do the other thing. If my friends were doing something, I had do it, I had to do it better. I wasn't so much of a troublemaker, just more of the rebellious streak where I had to find my own voice." BOARD TO TEARS Genevieve attended boarding school and compares it to Kris's stint in juvie hall. "It's this feeling of, 'I have absolutely no control over anything.' You have a bedtime. My senior year, they were telling me I had to turn my lights out? I was like, 'Are you kidding me?'" BORN TO RIDE Gen does her fair share of horseback riding on the show. "I grew up riding horses. I'm definitely not an expert, by any means, but I know how to ride." WILD FRIENDS Gen plays opposite Micah Alberti and Ryan Sypek (getting a gander at these two is worth tuning in, girls), and co-star Nicole Tubiola was up for the part of Kris. "We were up against each other, and they couldn't decide. They loved her so much that they cast her as Danielle." Danielle is Kris's archenemy on the show but, in the real world, the cast is superclose. "Honestly, truly, it's bizarre how close everyone is." REAL-LIFE ON-SET ROMANCE? "Not yet, but I don't know.... it would be interesting."