Michelle in the driver's seat: she spied as Harriet and kicked butt with Buffy. Now Michelle Trachtenberg takes the wheel in Ice Princess.

Michelle Trachtenberg, the girl you know so well as Harriet the Spy and Buffy's kid sister Dawn, has something insightful to say about whatever topic is brought up. It's almost as if there were an interesting and wise old woman lurking behind her 18-year-old blue eyes, sharing deep beliefs about personal truths and what girls need.

For example? "What kind of bees make milk?" she asks, grinning suspiciously. "Boo-bees!"

She's messing with you. And you might think that joke is dumb, but a five-spot says you'll tell it to someone, even if it's that second-grader you're babysitting. Michelle jokes because she has spent so much time fielding questions about heavy stuff, like the value of trusting friends. She has a playful side, but she only shows it after she's sure you understand she's an actress of substance.

"There's nothing in particular that I scream and shout about. I just want girls to know how important it is to believe in themselves," she says, fiddling with a collection of bracelets she wears on both wrists, stopping to reveal a leather cuff that has the word "believe" embossed on it. "I wear this cuff because believing is something I have to do. When I believe, so much more happens."

And believing is seeing. This March, Michelle stars in Ice Princess, about a girl who wants to become an elite ice skater and sets out to make that dream happen despite obstacles. "My character is Casey, but it was hard for me to find something to relate to with her because I'm more confident. She's very insecure."

Insecure, lacking confidence, needing help with everything from her makeup to her double axels, Casey isn't the most promising skater. But she has the crucial ingredient she needs to become a skating star: She believes she can do it.

"Casey has it in her to put her goals in front of her and work hard to become an ice skater," Michelle says. "Her determination is how I connected with her because I look at myself as the most insecure confident person in the world."

Michelle pauses, and slowly turns the "believe" cuff on her wrist. "I have to have a lot of confidence to do what I do in this business but, of course, I have insecurities. I just don't let myself obsess on them or show them to the world. I let my confidence shine through."

This feel-good platform of self-understanding is a big deal to Michelle, and she's terrific at swinging conversation around to it. She feels insecurity is a girl's biggest obstacle. When a girl gives it power, things can spin out of control because everything is processed through a filter of self-consciousness.

"Insecurity isn't just silly, it's ... unnecessary," she says. "I trained for seven months, learning all the tricks of the ice, figuring out what I couldn't do, which was jumps--jumps scare me. I had to take ballet classes and skating lessons. I worked really hard.

Before it all gets too sappy, Michelle suddenly switches gears and talks about the pro skaters she met while filming. "I always watched ice skating, and I thought Michelle Kwan was so beautiful. She's so natural on the ice, so it was exciting to meet her and skate with her. And the girl who does most of my jumping stunts is six-time Canadian national champion Jennifer Robinson.

"I didn't realize the skating world was so intense. I did most of my own skating and was in skates, like, 24/7. You can't step on the ice at 18 and expect to be as impressive as Michelle Kwan, but I did a lot of my own tricks because I'm told I'm graceful on the ice and I'm very flexible."

The Dawn of Michelle

We interrupt this story to be superficial, starting with Michelle's looks. The lips? She has a kisser that dozens of Beverly Hills plastic surgeons probably clone with collagen injections on desperate housewives. The skin? Milk. The eyes? Clear-blue gems that sparkle when she talks. The hair? A natural caramel-brown that's halfway to her butt.

When you talk to Michelle, you might have one of those secretly jealous moments she so adamantly opposes. It's just that she's so pretty and so smart and so successful that any girl might think life isn't fair. Some girls get it all....

"Teenagers are really influenced by their friends, but it gets sticky when a girl compares herself to another girl because then you might feel like you're stuck in second place. I'll go out for any role I'm feeling. There's a lot of luck involved. But a girl has better luck if she works hard. If you think I don't face rejection or don't sacrifice ...? It's hard."

Being smart, grounded and real isn't a trend with teen actresses. "There's a lot of competition in Hollywood, and people get snippy," Michelle says. "There are a lot of actresses but not a lot of good roles. I compete by being myself."

Is it a coincidence that teen actresses who nurture their minds stay out of the tabloids? If priorities are work, family, friendships and learning, then underage drinking and worrying about who's dating Aaron Carter are non-issues. That teen-Hollywood party-girl scene is so disappointing. Of course, we gripe about this, using it as a nudge to maybe get Michelle to gossip, but she won't.

Trash talk isn't a subject she embraces. In fact, Michelle puts her money where her mouth is by contributing her celebrity to organizations like DARE America, The Starlight Foundation and several other one-shot charitable events. How centered is that?

And she could throw out a lot of jive about her BF Shawn Ashmore, who you might know as Iceman in the X-Men movies, but she'd just be another girl talking about her boyfriend. They kiss, they watch DVDs at home, he's cute. What else is there to say?

"I'm a Nutella freak!" Michelle offers randomly. "You know that chocolate sauce? My secret talent is I can eat a whole tub. Just gimme a spoon, man."

The conversation winds down with chat about her Bully the Vampire Slayer stint. Michelle is good friends with Sarah Michelle Gellar and goes out to dinner with her all the time. "She just gave me the prettiest earrings with blue stones before she took off to tour her movie The Grudge," Michelle says, choosing her words carefully so she doesn't sound like she's bragging.

We ask Michelle if she has more to share. "Hmm ... You know, I'm sure that if I hadn't been an actress, I would have been a big nerd. I don't like that word, but I know I would have. Nerds are nice to everyone. They know who they are. I'm going to always try to be who I am because I hope I'm in this business for a long time. I just have to believe."

Spoken like the least insecure confident person in the world.