"They would have been good to have on my resume, but at the expense of my soul," he says. "There were some sex scenes. One of them had the foulest language I've ever heard."

He continues to pursue a movie career, but on his terms, and who knows where that will lead. Allred, who married recently in St. George, is developing a backup plan. An avid climber, he teaches climbing classes. He earned an emergency medical technician license and is trying to get a part-time job with search and rescue in Los Angeles. He plays guitar and sings in a band that is a regular on theLos Angeles-Hollywood club scene, playing all original material. He plans to return to school soon. Go ahead, ask him what he plans to study.

"I've wanted to be a pediatrician since I was a kid — I love babies and kids," he says. "But that's a lot of school. A law degree would be cool — and business and finance and communications. I'm an adrenaline junkie — law enforcement or forensics would be good."

Did he miss anything?

"As long as my acting career continues to go well, I'll do it," he says. "If it dies out, there are a million other things I'm interested in."

Allred, who has never taken an acting class in his life, stumbled into movies at the age of 12. His credits include a supporting role in "Anywhere But Here," starring Sarandon and Portman, and a co-starring role in "Diamonds," with Douglas and Aykroyd. He was the star of the TV series, "Teen Angel," and had a small part with Elwes in "Robin Hood: Men in Tights."

"We really just fell into this," says Allred's mother, Diane. "It's not something we planned on. He just kept getting these jobs."

He was a clogger. That's how he was discovered. Clogging, for the uninitiated, is really another term for competitive tap dancing, with judging and scores based on showmanship, tap skills (the sound of the taps), difficulty, etc.

"When they told me he was a clogger, I said, 'What's a clogger?' " says Al Onorato, Allred's longtime manager. "He actually had a tape of it. I thought it was hilarious."

A friend had a clogging class and Allred went along to watch. "I thought it would be so lame, but then I watched, and, I don't know what it was, but I thought it was really cool. Plus, the room was packed with cute girls."

He should have seen it coming. His father, Michael, now an accountant, was a professional tap dancer who performed in the theater and appeared on TV shows and in a couple of movies, including the original "Gypsy."