By JEFF STRICKLER

Star Tribune (Minneapolis)

MINNEAPOLIS - - You don't have to be a super sleuth to figure out why the producers of "Nancy Drew" decided to send star Emma Roberts on a nationwide publicity tour.

Roberts, who is 16 going on 30, is as cute as a button and as sharp as a tack. She oozes wholesomeness and bubbles with enthusiasm. She's adored by "tweener" girls - - and she's almost just as popular with their mothers.

"I love interacting with the fans," she said during a stop to promote this week's opening of the film. "The fans are the reason we get to do what we do. So I never mind signing autographs for the girls - - or their mothers."

Roberts' handlers said that she was exhausted, but you wouldn't have known it. She came off as upbeat and energetic, even though she had been on the road for two straight weeks, visiting a different city every day. She was headed home to Los Angeles for the weekend, but even that was going to be a working trip, with promotional duties on both Saturday and Sunday. Monday morning, she was going to be back on an airplane on her way to the East Coast.

"And I hate to fly," she said. But she clinches her teeth on takeoffs and landings and keeps going "because I believe in this movie. I love this movie. And I want to do everything I can to support it."

The daughter of actor Eric Roberts, she went into acting over her mother's initial objections. "She thought I was too young," Roberts said. "She wanted me to have a normal childhood."

But in fact, when she's not on location, she leads a fairly typical teenage life - - with one major exception.

"I go to dances and games and weekend parties," she said. "But I don't hang out in malls. I just don't get that. If I go to a mall, it's to go to a movie or something. If I want to hang out, I'll go to a friend's house."

The star of the Nickelodeon TV series "Unfabulous" - - which consistently ranks as one of the top shows among girls 9 to 14 - - Roberts set her sights on the "Nancy Drew" role as soon as she heard about the project.

"I love the idea of the movie," she said. "I love the character, and I love the script. But I didn't let on to (director) Andrew Fleming how badly I wanted it. I even went for a screen test."

After they reach a certain level of stardom, many actors refuse to do screen tests. But Roberts looked at it as a chance to create the Nancy Drew that she wanted. The movie is set in modern times, but Nancy is something of a throwback to the clothes, speech and manners of the 1950s and '60s.

"The character I created for the screen test is pretty much the one that is in the movie," said Roberts, who already has committed to any sequels that might ensue. "It was an easy character to get into. I'd just get my hair and makeup done, and once I got into wardrobe, I was there."

Rachael Leigh Cook has a prominent supporting role. Roberts admitted to being star-struck the first time they met.

"I love her movies: 'She's All That,' 'The Baby-Sitters Club,"' - - she said. "I was actually a little obsessed with Rachael Leigh Cook. So I thought I better tell her that I'm a huge fan. She turned out to such an amazing person. She's so sweet. I ended up doing a lot of scenes with her, and I'm really excited about that."

Although college is still two years away, Roberts said that she is likely to follow the footsteps of Jodie Foster and Natalie Portman, both of whom put their acting careers on hold while they pursued their degrees. She'd also like to end up at an Ivy League school, as did Foster (Yale) and Portman (Harvard).

"I'd love to go to college on the East Coast," she said. "And I think that I would take a break (from acting) to do it."

As for a potential major, she's leaning toward political science. In fact, she's killing time on airplanes by reading a book about famous First Ladies.

"If I weren't an actor, I have lots of ideas about what I'd like to be doing," she said. "One of them is that I would like to be involved in politics. I'd like to be a senator one day."

Star Beacon Print Edition: 6/15/2007

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