Elisha Cuthbert interview

The two tourists waiting for an elevator at the One&Only Palmilla Resort in Los Cabos, Mexico, were in for a shock. When the doors slid open, there inside, dangling from the ceiling air vent, was a petite blonde woman. And not just any woman, but the Canadian-born actress Elisha Cuthbert, who plays Kim Bauer (daughter of Jack) on megahit 24.

“The lift was stuck, I’d been alone in there for 10 minutes, and it was heating up like a furnace. I thought I was going to suffocate,” says Elisha, recalling the strange holiday moment over breakfast. “I don’t know where I thought I was going. But I’m a doer, so I figured, ‘I will get myself out of here.’ Just as I was about to pull myself through the air duct, the doors opened.” What did she do then? “I said, ‘Hi!’” she replies, grinning.

The truth is, Elisha’s petite five-foot-three frame belies her strength. The 26-year-old emanates a “been there” vibe – not exactly hardened, but she’s certainly no pushover. Her dark eyebrows and platinum hair (she dyes it herself) pack a visual wallop, but she softens the look with jeans, an oversize grey sweater and a black scarf. For her Women’s Health interview she’s chosen a low-key neighbourhood café, where she munches on fruit and granola – but she showed up here in a Porsche.

Which is kind of appropriate, actually. In her films – Old School, House of Wax and The Girl Next Door among them – Elisha has carved out a niche as the hottest girl you might know in real life. She’s even become something of a fixture on “sexy” lists, though she’s not the type to obsess over her press.

“I don’t check,” she says, laughing. “In fact, I don’t read any Internet stuff. It seems like a dark and evil place. I have a few friends who are in the spotlight, who’ve called me in the middle of the night crying. I go, ‘What are you doing? Get off your damn computer!’ I mean, I don’t need to know that Joe in his basement prefers Jessica Alba.”

Elisha did, however, spend a few years sampling what she calls “the hype and glory” of being a young Hollywood starlet. “For a long time I was naïve about who I was surrounded by,” she recalls. “I got caught up in the LA scene.” She wasn’t a party animal; it was more like going out to dinner every night with a circle she enjoyed but didn’t quite fit into. “Not that they were bad people,” she says. “I just couldn’t ask any of them to drive me to the airport.”

She’s spent the last year edging away from all that, in favour of truer companions, like her boyfriend, hockey player Dion Phaneuf. “It’s the first real, healthy relationship of my life,” she says. “I think you learn something from every relationship. But I’ve spent too much time with people who weren’t worth spending that much time with.”

Elisha has been trying to find that perfect balance her whole life. At age nine, growing up in Montreal, Canada, she announced to her parents (father Kevin, who runs a motor business, and mother Patricia, a homemaker who used to play on a women’s hockey team) that she was going to be an actress. That’s a pretty typical dream for a self-professed “outgoing goofball” who always wanted to be the centre of attention. What’s atypical is that by 11, she’d made it happen. Elisha appeared in Canadian TV shows and films and co-hosted the Discovery Kids’ series Popular Mechanics for Kids. Right after high school, she Beetled to LA, promising her folks that if she hadn’t found work in six months she’d come home and go to varsity. “I didn’t want to be delusional. I wanted a finish line,” she says. “In the last week, 24 happened. It was my twenty-fourth audition.”

These days Elisha’s drive has downshifted – a little. “I used to be hustle-hustle, work-work,” she says. “I woke up in the morning and went to bed thinking about acting. I wasn’t unhealthy, but I’d say I was borderline.” The key to happiness for her now: being less consumed by her career objectives. “Kiefer used to say to me, ‘Don’t worry about what your next job will be,’ and I’d go, ‘Ha-ha, yeah, nice try.’ But for the first time, I’m trying to not worry. I don’t feel like I have to prove anything; I’m not in a panic anymore. I’m certainly not finished, but I feel like I’ve accomplished a lot. I’m concentrating on other things in my life.”

On her diversionary to-do list: reading (she just finished Nikki Sixx’s Heroin Diaries), painting (mainly abstracts and portraits), pottering around her kitchen and following her favourite sport, hockey. And for the first time in her life, Elisha has joined a gym, where she works out for two hours a day. She loves the range of classes – from boot camp to booty burning to yoga. “Once I start one, I can’t quit; I’m too competitive,” she says. “I try to get to the gym early, ride the bike for an hour, push to that 2 000kJ burn and then do a class.”

Elisha also logs a lot of air miles visiting Phaneuf in Calgary, Canada. “Until now, I’d thought I was cursed in love,” she says. “I thought, ‘I got what I wanted in my career, and too bad, you can’t have everything.’” What’s more, her parents set the bar high. “They were meant to be together. It’s awe-inspiring. I don’t want marriage if it’s not going to be what they have,” she says. “But now I know more what I want in a partner – someone with family values, who has something going on in his life.”

Of course, there are times when being alone has its advantages too. Not long after the lift incident in Los Cabos, Elisha had another mishap, this time in Austin, Texas. She found herself in a lift that plunged 15 floors, four floors at a time.

“It was terrifying – the emergency brake screeching, me holding on to my luggage for dear life,” she says. “But I prefer to be alone [in those situations], because you don’t want someone with you panicking and making it worse.” Somewhere, Jack Bauer is smiling.

Elisha by the numbers

The star of 24 tallies up some other significant digits

Dollars (about R800 000!) spent on her biggest splurge, a 2005 Porsche. “My dad is in the motor industry. When I was a kid he’d always say his favourite car was a Porsche, so it was my dream car. And now I have it.”

Year she wishes she’d been alive. “I would love to have seen Woodstock. That would have been wicked.”

Number of songs on her iPod. At least. “I’m not picky. I throw them all on.”

How many pairs of shoes are in her cupboard.

Average number of text messages she sends per day. “I do have a boyfriend in another country.”

Age she had her first kiss. “It was on camera, for the Canadian film Dancing on the Moon. With an actor I don’t even remember. I was scared out of my mind. I got my first real kiss a year later, from my first boyfriend.”

Aeroplane trips in a typical month. “For example, I just flew in yesterday, and I’m leaving tomorrow. My boyfriend and I are trying to do fewer trips with longer stays, but when something comes up, I have to go.”

Her shoe size. She used to be a foot model.

Number of people Kim Bauer has killed. “But I shot him twice.”

Inside scoop on her male co-stars

Kiefer Sutherland: “There’s something dangerous and edgy about Kiefer. He has a lot of rock star in him. He could be someone in Aerosmith or the Rolling Stones.”

Will Ferrell: “Quiet, shy – a calm soul. That, to me, was really shocking.”

Luke Wilson: “A sweetheart. Just so generous and kind.”

Vince Vaughn: “He’s witty, quick and sarcastic – which can be a little intimidating. He’s scary in the way that David Letterman is scary.”

Elisha’s favourite things
Go-to accessory: “Scarves. I have all kinds, tons and tons, prints and solids, silk and pashmina. I’m always cold, so scarves are really great.”

Beauty item: “I’m a huge lip balm person.”

De-stresser: “Steam shower. I have a steamer in my house. I just sit in there for a long time and suffocate myself with steam. I detox and melt away all my problems.”

Room in your house: “My kitchen. All the appliances are from an actual restaurant. They were bought for the US restaurant Koi, and they’d overbought ovens. I have the most amazing industrial hood fan – it would suck me up through it, I swear to God. I try not to turn it on. It’s so loud, you can’t even talk while you’re cooking.”

Guilty pleasure: “Junk food: I’m a big chocolate fan. Lindor – the little balls – don’t give me a bag of those, they’ll be gone. They’re so creamy and good. I don’t know how they stay melty like that, even if you put them in the fridge. I like all chocolate, though.”

Celebrity crush: “Never had one, not even as a kid. I think I’ve got to understand and meet someone to have a connection to them.”

Favourite workout song: “Lady Gaga, ‘Just Dance’. It’s an upbeat tune. And I love Sia; she’s terrific.”

Favourite designer: “I have so many. I love Balenciaga. And Nike. How about that for a gamut? I love Nike’s workout stuff, it’s so great. The DryFit! Great stuff.”

Favourite sport to play: “Volleyball. And I like to ski, too.”

Favourite charity: “The Michael J Fox Foundation. He’s Canadian; I grew up watching him. He’s an idol of mine.”