Klein's Romantic Breakthrough

Seemingly overnight, Chris Klein has gone from being a high school student in Nebraska to being one of the hottest new stars in Hollywood. His film debut last year in Election was followed by a role in the box-office smash hit American Pie.

He talks with Early Show Co-Anchor Jane Clayson about his new film, a romantic comedy called Here on Earth.

Klein was discovered purely by accident by the director of Election as he was walking out of his high school gym in Omaha, Neb.

"I was coming out of the weight room, and I literally bumped into Alexander Payne, the director of Election." Klein recalls. "He was with my principal. And my principal went on to tell him that I had always dreamed about becoming an actor, had always wanted to be an actor....So a couple months later, he called the high school, got my home number."

When Klein moved to Los Angeles, he brought his father along.

"After we made Election, I actually went back to school at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas. And I went out to Los Angeles over spring break, where I met with a couple of agents and found one that I really love," he says.

In high school Klein was voted most likely to be famous.

"It's always something I have dreamed about," he reveals. "My parents and aunts and uncles and grandmas and grandpas would say, 'What do you want to be when you grow up?' You know, when I was little, I told them, 'I want to be an actor,'" he says.

Being a romantic leading man is enjoyable, Klein says.

"Making that movie last summer in Minnesota with Leelee Sobieski and Josh Hartnett, it was fun," he notes.

What else is the young star up to? He is going to Vancouver next to finish Say It Isn't So, a Farrelly Brothers movie with Heather Graham and Sally Field. He also appears on the cover of Vanity Fair this month.