The rebel in Erika Christensen

It was late in the year when Erika Christensen’s career took a defining turn when she was cast as the rebellious and drug-addicted teenage daughter of a US drug czar, played by Michael Douglas, in Steven Soderbergh’s critically-acclaimed drama Traffic.

"I’m a rebel. But I do my very best to be logical," the actress says. "I don’t do drugs, I kind of go against the grain. That’s how I am a rebel."

After winning the 2001 MTV Movie Awards’ Breakthrough Performance award for her role, she has since then appeared in movies with Susan Sarandon, Goldie Hawn, Kevin Costner and Joan Allen.

This November, she co-stars with Jodie Foster in Touchstone’s air-bound thriller, Flightplan, which opens tomorrow. The Lord of the Rings’ Sean Bean and Kinsey’s Peter Saarsgard also co-star.

Flightplan is about Kyle Pratt (Foster), a bereaved woman transporting her dead husband’s body from Berlin to America when her daughter vanishes in mid-air.

Christensen plays one of the flight attendants who assist Foster’s Pratt in locating the missing daughter.

Recently, the talented star spent a breezy Fall late afternoon weekend with a host of other writers for a roundtable interview at the Westin Hotel and Spa in Century City. Talk initially focused on the movie and veered to her Scientology roots.

To prepare for her role, Christensen shares that she had training sessions with a professional flight attendant instructor and had to peruse a "six-inch thick manual that flight attendants today must know inside and out!"

"There was tutoring day and a crash course with actual attendants. We also learned how to handle things and follow the directions in a situation – you got to be somewhat willing to take charge," she recalls.

Although her flight attendant is on the snooty side, she reveals she has not had a bad airplane experience yet: "I am easy. All I want is an extra blanket once in a while."

"I think attendants are really, really underappreciated. They are qualified individuals – they are security guards and nurses and all these things that are kind of rolled into one, and they definitely are heroes for keeping everything running smoothly as it does," she continues.

Although the young actress is a relative newcomer compared to Foster’s 40-year career, she however, shares the latter’s enthusiasm with acting.

"I am addicted to it. When I am not working, I miss it. I love it so much. There’s something really amazing about it," she excitedly declares.

And about her legendary co-star, she has nothing but only praises for her.

"She has a kind of nobility about her that I admire," she says. "In my observation, she went very quickly from being herself – laidback, hanging out – to the role that is so intense and emotional. She was able to make something from nothing. That’s what I want to try and do. She was always ready to do whatever is needed to be done. She was so professional."

The 23-year-old star is also careful in threading the infamous Hollywood lifestyle. She has avoided the fad diets that have turned most young actors her age into almost pin-thin caricatures.

"When they look weak, I don’t think that’s actually healthy. There’s a range of weight that is healthy. I do Pilates and swimming. I also do push-ups with my brothers," she laughs.

She regards her passionate interest in Philosophy and Religion as the reason of her being able to maintain the so-called "Balance" amidst the glitz and glamor, and temptations, of the business.

"If the road to being happier or more effective is through awareness, then drugs will take you to the other direction," she says.

She doesn’t drink alcohol either. And, for years, Christensen has been an active Scientologist.

When asked how she would best describe her church, she says: "Practicality. It is religion because it acknowledges us as spiritual beings and it has that kind of "End" like we’re going to some kind of higher awareness, like other religions, but, in a word, practicality."

"I think it is really sad when someone can’t jump on the couch out of enthusiasm," in reference to her fellow Scientologist Tom Cruise’s much-maligned Oprah appearance last summer. "People will certainly have problems with me doing some things that I do out of choice but anyone that is curious about Scientology, (they can) go to Barnes & Noble and read a book and they’ll see that it’s very practical. It has a different approach on what is the best way to cause the most good," she adds.

After Flightplan, the actress will next appear with Annette Bening in A Hole in the Earth.

There are also other projects lined up for her to do: "I don’t know if I could be satisfied with the amount of work that I do because I always want to be working," she laughs.