'Beauty' For Alicia Silverstone

It's hard to believe, but it's been ten years since Alicia Silverstone's breakthrough as Beverly Hills teen-age philosopher and matchmaker, Cher, in the hit comedy "Clueless." Since then, Silverstone has built a successful career, mixing stage, screen, and television.

In her latest film, "Beauty Shop," she plays a hairdresser trying to fit in at an African-American salon.

To get her character (Lynn) down, Silverstone tells The Early Show co-anchor Rene Syler, she worked with a dialect coach to perfect an accent from Blueridge, Ga.

"I listened to a few different voices of different people, and I wanted to be someone from an obscure place from Georgia, and this man's voice from Blueridge was hilarious," she says. "It was just so much fun. It was really exciting."

Lynn is the shampoo girl at a posh Southern salon led by George (Kevin Bacon), a very flamboyant and egotistical boss. But she ends up quitting.

Silverstone explains, "She quits because he's being a jerk to her and I'm, like, a closet hairdresser who does amazing ghetto fabulous hair, and it's my little secret."

Silverstone says Kevin Bacon in the part is "brilliant."

She says, "He's amazing in everything, but he's really funny in this. And so, I take off with Gina. Gina gives me a phone call and says, 'I opened a shop,' and I just can't believe it, and then I go work with her."

Gina, of course, is Queen Latifah, who gives her the chance to cut hair. Everybody in the cast had to actually attend a beauty shop school to prepare for the role, Silverstone notes.

She says, "I had a little bit of attention deficit disorder in there. I learned I will never make a good hairdresser. I'd like to be a food critic. I think that would be fun. Off the subject, but it was really intense. It was fun because we went to Inglewood. There was this great guy Rand [technical advisor Randy White] who had a shop there [Golden Touch salon in Inglewood, Calif.], and he was so lovely. He taught us how to do all the things. I was good at the massage. The girl said, 'I never do that.' Everybody was so great. The movie is really fun."

About Alicia Silverstone:

• Born in San Francisco, Calif. on Oct. 4, 1976
• Attended Beverly Hills High School in Beverly Hills, Calif., for a semester; dropped out in her sophomore year. Earned her Graduate Equivalency Diploma.
• In 1993, first gained attention in a popular trilogy of Aerosmith videos ("Cryin'," "Amazing" and "Crazy") and the feature "The Crush," for which she won two MTV Movie awards--Best Villain and Best Breakthrough Performance. Some have speculated she received these honors more for her work with Aerosmith than for her feature bad girl.
• In 1994, she was seen on the small screen in "The Cool and the Crazy," a Ralph Bakshi-directed installment of Showtime's "Rebel Highway" telefilm series, playing a troubled young bride.
• In 1995, she went on to play Jeff Goldblum's imperiled daughter in "Hideaway," a supernatural flop. And Amy Heckerling's "Clueless," a critical and commercial success perhaps best described as a "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" spin on Jane Austen's "Emma."

  Her performance skyrocketed her value, and the season's "It-Girl" subsequently signed a deal worth between $7 and 10 million to produce and star in two movies for Columbia Pictures. She also snared a three-year non-exclusive "first-look" production pact with the studio for her production company, First Kiss Productions.

• In 1997, she was seen in "Batman & Robin" and "Excess Baggage" – both failed at the box office.
• In 1999, Silverstone opted for the pallid romantic comedy "Blast From the Past," opposite Brendan Fraser. Although on paper the project appeared to have possibilities (he's lived his whole life in an underground fallout shelter, she's the contemporary chick who introduces him to the ways of the world), the final execution left reviewers and audiences bored.
• In 2000, Silverstone fared much better in an unlikely role, her first Shakespearean part in "Love's Labour's Lost," Kenneth Branagh's musical take on the Bard's romantic comedy.
• From 2001-2003, was the voice to 13-year-old Sharon Spitz, the lead character of the socially conscious and frequently awarded animated TV series "Braceface," which the actress also executive produced.
• On screen, Silverstone's 2002 heist comedy "Scorched" and rock satire "Global Heresy" made little impact, but that same year she received many positive critical notices for her stint on Broadway as Elaine Robinson in the popular stage production of the classic 1967 film "The Graduate," opposite Jason Biggs and Kathleen Turner.
• In 2003, she teamed with producer Darren Star ("Melrose Place," "Sex in the City") for "Miss Match." (NBC). In the lighthearted, romance-minded series, she starred as Kate Fox, divorce lawyer by day and professional matchmaker by night.
• In 2004, Silverstone had a turn a sexy investigative reporter badgering Scooby, Shaggy and the gang in the sequel "Scoopy Doo 2: Monster Unleashed."