​A new chapter for Sienna Miller

In the 2006 movie "Factory Girl," Sienna Miller played the role of Edie Sedgwick, the socialite caught up in the pop art world of Andy Warhol. She plays a very different role in her latest film, as Anthony Mason shows us in this Sunday Profile:

For much of her career, Sienna Miller was known more for her tabloid headlines than her acting roles. That may be about to change.

The British actress, who grew up in London, has seven films in the works.

Among them: the upcoming comedy, "Unfinished Business," in which she plays Vince Vaughn's former boss, now business rival.

She's also in the new Clint Eastwood film, "American Sniper," about Navy SEAL sharpshooter Chris Kyle, played by Bradley Cooper. Miller plays his wife, Taya.

"Do you view this kind of as a second act?" Mason asked.

"I think its impossible not to," she replied. "Maybe not a second act, because I'm 32 and I feel a little young for a second act! But, you know, a nice new chapter for sure."

She was just 21 when she won her first major film roles in 2003, playing mobster Daniel Craig's girlfriend in "Layer Cake," and then one of Jude Law's flings in "Alfie."

The chemistry between the costars was real; a romance blossomed on the set, and Law and Miller quickly became the paparazzi's favorite couple.

"You were pretty young when your private life basically became your public life," said Mason. "How did you cope with that?"

"I think I've always been kind of a resilient person," Miller replied. "It just was -- that was my life. And it coincided with a very exciting time. I was falling in love with someone and it was great."

But their love affair became a soap opera, when Law was caught cheating with his children's babysitter, and Miller broke off their engagement. She was hounded by photographers everywhere she went.

Mason asked, "What was the cost to you of all that?"

"I think it was incredibly damaging in terms of my career," she said. "It's very hard to be considered a serious actor if you have that level of paparazzi attention or tabloid attention."

"Do you think it cost you roles?"

"I do. Yeah, I do. And I understand why. It became inelegant. It became completely out of control. It was a daily -- you know, I was sick to death of me!"

But the paparazzi weren't -- and intimate details of Miller's life began turning up in the tabloid News of the World.

She began suspecting her friends and family: "Yeah, of course, because it felt ridiculous to think, 'Well, someone's hacking my phone.' It just sounded dramatic and odd."

Then it broke that the newspaper owned by Rupert Murdoch's News International had been routinely hacking into the cellphones of celebrities, politicians and members of the royal family.

Miller demanded to see the evidence from the police: "And I got four huge boxes of handwritten notes, of passwords and PIN numbers and email access codes and my friends' PIN numbers, and I saw the kind of depth of information that they had, private information."

"Must have been incredibly unsettling to go through that box," said Mason.

"It was."

The actress decided to file suit against Murdoch's newspaper. Actor Hugh Grant, who was also hacked, called her "the real heroine and first one out of the trenches, walking towards the machine guns."

"He said something really dramatic -- 'First one out of the trenches'" she laughed. "I loved that!"

She says it was scary to take them on: "I realized quite early on that this was a decision that I had to make. I could have been paid off, and silenced. And I think that was happening a lot."

"Why didn't you just take the money and shut up?" asked Mason.

"Because it wasn't about the money," Miller said. "That would have been immoral for me."

The case culminated in an inquiry ordered by British Prime Minister David Cameron. Miller testified at the hearing the day after she found out she was pregnant. "I was so ill during that Leveson Inquiry, with morning sickness -- I was green," she laughed.

At the Leveson Inquiry she said:

"I feel terrible that I would even consider accusing people of betraying me like that, especially people who I know would rather die than betray me, but it just seemed so intensely paranoid to assume that your house is bugged or you're being listened to somehow. It just seemed so extreme, especially considering that I'd changed my number so many times, and it still happened, that I couldn't think of an alternative."

In the end, Miller would win a $160,000 judgment. The News of the World was shut down, and Rupert Murdoch's son, James, the chairman of News International, was forced to resign.

"It was, you know, Goliath -- and I do feel a huge sense of personal pride in making that decision and sticking to it, and winning," she said.

Miller, who took her first acting classes at the Lee Strasberg Institute in New York, has returned to acting with a passion. She took a year off after the birth of her daughter, Marlowe, with her fiancé, Tom Sturridge, in 2012. But she's a cover girl again, and in the new issue of Vogue, two-year-old Marlowe makes a discreet appearance.

Marlowe travels with her mother: "She's really good at being a gypsy now," said Miller.

"She's her mother's daughter?"

"Yes, exactly!"

"Do you feel like you're a different actress because you're a mother now, in any way?" Mason asked.

"I think it's a lot easier to cry than it used to be!" she laughed. "I think parenthood and sleep deprivation contribute to a huge well of emotion that you can just switch on."

Sienna Miller is starting that new chapter without trying to rewrite the last one.

"I mean, I feel like we're making this all bad. I had a blast!" she laughed. "I had an absolute riot! I mean, Murdoch or no Murdoch, nothing got in my way."

GALLERY: Sienna Miller

For more info:

• Follow Sienna Miller on Twitter (@imsiennamiller)
• "American Sniper" (Official site)
• "Foxcatcher" (Official site)
• Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute, New York