'Veronica Mars,' 'Pulse' star stays away from bimbo roles

Kristen Bell has a bit of advice to other aspiring young actresses: Don't act stupid.

And Bell should know. The actress, who just turned 26 in July, is currently reaping the benefits of playing smart female characters — on television's "Veronica Mars" and in the new horror film "Pulse."

"Smart is the new sexy, haven't you heard? And apparently that makes me very sexy," Bell said with a laugh.

The fresh-faced Bell doesn't seem too interested in exploiting her natural beauty. Her appearances on Maxim magazine's "Hot 100" lists come as an embarrassment, she says, and more than anything she'd rather become "the next Kathy Bates than the next Kathy Ireland."

"When I came out to Hollywood," Bell said by phone from Los Angeles, "I immediately let everyone knows I just wasn't interested in playing dumb bimbos. I just wanted to get good, meaty roles, things like what Charlize Theron did in 'Monster' and Cameron Diaz did in 'Being John Malkovich.'

"Obviously, I know they both worked hard to get those parts and did a few things they weren't proud of when they started their careers. But I made the decision early on that I wasn't just going to take every role that was offered to me."

Before starring in "Veronica Mars," Bell appeared on television's "Deadwood" and "The Shield," and she has been very selective about film roles. Most of her work has been limited to voice performances, such as her performance for a dubbed version of the Japanese cartoon "The Cat Returns."

She said she jumped at the chance to star in "Pulse," a remake of a 2001 Japanese horror hit, scripted by veteran filmmaker Wes Craven (the "Scream" and "Nightmare on Elm Street" movies). Bell describes it as "a psychological horror film, with very little or no gore. It's mostly atmosphere."

In the film, Bell plays Mattie Webber, a college student whose boyfriend is killed under mysterious circumstances. "Basically he found some sort of frequency that's tapped into another dimension. Terrible things start happening to people, and my character is trying to figure out a way to stop the end of the world."

Though the cast and crew actually shot the movie last year, the release for "Pulse" was delayed while filmmakers reshot a couple of sequences and re-edited the whole thing. "I know that doesn't sound very encouraging, but we've been doing everything we can to make the film better."