READY FOR HER CLOSE-UP; COMING FROM GENERATIONS OF MAKEUP ARTISTS, MCKENZIE WESTMORE STEPS OUT FRONT AS RICH GIRL SHERIDAN CRANE IN NBC SOAP `PASSIONS'.

Byline: Carol Bidwell Staff Writer

McKenzie Westmore pads around her family's Encino home in a sweater, a flippy little skirt - and bare feet.

It's certainly not a look her television persona would stand for. Sheridan Crane, the poor little rich girl on NBC's new soap opera, ``Passions,'' wouldn't settle for less than designer suits, pricey jewelry, sophisticated hairstyles and makeup - anywhere, anytime, any day.

``I looked down at my feet the other day, and I was wearing Gucci shoes,'' Westmore said. ``They were beautiful, but they must have cost a fortune. The wardrobe person said, `You don't want to know what they cost. But they make you feel like a rich girl.' And they did.' ''

Newly applied acrylic nails with a French manicure are Westmore's only personal concessions to the character.

``Usually they're stubs,'' she confessed, scratching the ear of her cat Mickey. ``But I figured if I was playing a rich girl, I'd better start looking like one.''

It's a worthy concession. Her soap role has introduced the Westmore name to a new arena - acting. Until now, the family's talents have shone behind the camera.

Her grandfather, George Westmore, was wigmaker to the British royal court before coming to the United States and inventing movie makeup back in the silent-film days. Her grandfather, Monte, and his five brothers - Perc, Ern, Wally, Bud and Frank - did the makeup for Hollywood's biggest stars. Her father, makeup artist Michael Westmore, followed suit, winning 10 Emmys and an Oscar.

But makeup wasn't McKenzie Westmore's passion. ``Passions'' is.

``I wake up in the morning smiling because I get to go to work,'' the actress said. ``I'm so happy, it's almost ridiculous.''

On a rare day off, Westmore is relaxing in the family's stately two-story home, purchased after the 1994 Northridge Earthquake all but demolished their longtime Studio City residence.

Her mom, Marion - once a fashion model for costume designer Edith Head - has turned the rambling structure into a home that reflects her husband's - and, she hopes, her daughter's - career in the entertainment business.

Antiques acquired over the years mingle with cushy modern sofas, and the built-in bookcase that wraps around the living room fireplace is filled with well-thumbed books, many of them entertainment-related. And on a shelf over the wet bar in the corner of the living room are Michael Westmore's parade of Emmys and his Oscar.

``Next year, McKenzie's Emmy will be up there for best newcomer,'' predicted the actress's dad.

The kitchen, a favorite gathering place, is often where Marion helps her daughter study her lines. It opens into a sunny breakfast nook and onto the garden, centered by a pool with a natural rock waterfall and a built-in rock barbecue. The rock work, which turned bare ground into living space, is Michael Westmore's pride and joy, as well as a place the family loves to sit and talk or read in the evenings.

When there's a party - and that's often, because the Westmores love to have people over - the fun is centered in the tile-floored family room, which has a pool table, pinball machines and a player piano, as well as refurbished figures from an old carousel: a horse, a dog and, just inside the front door, a giant frog.

``The house is homey,'' said McKenzie Westmore. ``We live a very relaxed life, not formal at all. It's good to be home.''

But as much as she loves cuddling with Mickey or swimming in the pool, she loves working in her first starring role more.

Getting the job on ``Passions'' was her 22nd birthday wish. Less than 24 hours later, she got the call from NBC: Pack your bags and get ready to fly to Paris to start filming in less than a week.

At first, she worried that her soap career would be brief.

``They've already had me in a coma, in a near-death experience,'' Westmore ticked off on her fingers. ``I've been cheated on and nearly blown up in an exploding car. I've been in three car accidents and in jail. And that was just in the first three weeks. But I guess they like me, because they're keeping me around.''

Her three-year contract guarantees that, said Annamarie Kostura, vice president of NBC daytime programs, who credits Westmore's hereditary poise and confidence - as much as her acting training - for convincing ``Passions'' executives she was perfect to play Sheridan Crane.

``She has breeding, and it's something that's innate. It's who McKenzie is, and it works well with this role,'' said Kostura. ``We were very impressed with her. The character's a rich girl, but McKenzie makes her sympathetic, vulnerable - somebody the audience can like and identify with.''

The actress says all those childhood trips to movie sets made acting practically second nature to her.

Her dad took McKenzie and older siblings Michael Jr. and Michele wherever he was filming, whether in the studios of Hollywood, the wilds of the Northwest or behind the Iron Curtain.

She grew up toddling after Elizabeth Taylor, Sylvester Stallone, Robert De Niro and dozens of other stars.

``Bobby (De Niro) would come over to the house a lot while Dad was making a life mask of him (for ``Raging Bull''), and he would get down on the floor and play with me,'' Westmore said. ``When time came to cast the role of his 3-year-old daughter, he said, `Why not let McKenzie do it?' I was in one scene, I think. But it wasn't like acting. It was like playing in the pool with Uncle Bobby.''

Now, she's got a dozen years of singing, dancing and acting lessons under her belt, has appeared in a slew of commercials and a handful of television shows and has showcased her coloratura soprano voice in several stage musicals.

She had an early start, starring in her first commercial - for laundry detergent - when she was less than a year old.

``She was, I think, born to do this,'' said her mom, pouring iced tea in the family's black-and-white kitchen. ``When she was little, even before she could read, we'd be in the car, and I'd read a script to her, and by the time we got home, she would have it memorized.

But the little girl was never pushed into becoming an entertainer, said Marion Westmore. ``It was always about what she wanted. She was dedicated, right from the start. She didn't even go to her senior prom because she had the lead in the senior play the next night and wanted to be rested.''

Today, when she's not studying scripts at home, or on screen, the actress can be spotted running or in-line skating in the neighborhood, or at a local gym kickboxing or taking a spinning or aerobics class.

The gym is where she met boyfriend Scott McKay, 34, a personal trainer and Web business developer, just six months ago.

But she has no plans for marriage (``I'm a little young'') or moving out of Mom and Dad's house (``Mom waits up for me, however late I'm out; it's nice to come home to a hug and a kiss'').

And she's gotten over a bout of temporary guilt at not going into the family business.

``When I was in high school, I heard my dad referred to as `the last dinosaur' of the makeup world, and I felt so bad, I felt so guilty,'' Westmore said. ``I thought, `I don't want to be a makeup artist,' but I tried it, took a

class in it. But it just wasn't for me. Then I thought, I can keep the name alive by being an actress.''

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4 Photos

Photo: (1--Cover--Color) Hangin' with a soap princess

Actress McKenzie Westmore shows us her `Passions' for home life

(2--Color) ``Passions'' star McKenzie Westmore plays one of the three ``Star Trek'' pinball machines in the game room of her family home. Her father, Michael Westmore, has done makeup on ``Star Trek'' TV shows and movies for many years, and there is a collage featuring many of the franchise's characters in the background.

(3--Color) ``I wake up in the morning smiling because I get to go to work,'' Westmore says of her job playing Sheridan Crane on ``Passions.'' ``I'm so happy, it's almost ridiculous.''

(4--Color) In the kitchen of their Encino home, Westmore studies her lines with the help of her mother, Marion, who acts out all the other parts.

Gus Ruelas/Staff Photographer