DATE: Sunday, September 28, 1997            TAG: 9709260312

SECTION: DAILY BREAK             PAGE: E20  EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY MAL VINCENT, ENTERTAINMENT WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   74 lines

JUDD WANTS BOTH LIFE AND CAREER

SHE'S MORE, much more, than the Judd who doesn't sing.

Ashley Judd stars, with above-the-title billing, in ``Kiss the Girls.'' The movie, opening Friday, was directed by Norfolk's own Gary Fleder, filmed in Durham, N.C., and adapted from the best-selling novel by James Patterson. Fleder, who grew up reading movie reviews in The Virginian-Pilot and seeing art flicks at the Naro, chose Judd over a host of high-powered Hollywood names because ``she was Southern, highly intelligent and she really wanted the part.''

She plays a Duke University co-ed who is kidnapped by a heinous serial killer who calls himself ``Casanova.'' She escapes and subsequently aids Morgan Freeman in a suspenseful pursuit.

``The woman is not a victim,'' Judd said. ``That's what I liked most about her. I had to fight to get the role. Gary chose me, but then I had to visit Sherry Lansing, the head of Paramount Studios. She told me, `Gary is our filmmaker whom we trust, but there's one other person you have to convince. Me.' I admired her honesty. So, I guess I convinced her.''

Ashley Judd, in contrast to her mother and sister, Naomi and Wynonna, is the acting Judd, not one of the singing Judds. She's a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of Kentucky, where she majored in French. She had a featured role in the NBC television series ``Sisters'' and starred on Broadway, as Madge, ``the pretty one'' (the Kim Novak role), in a revival of ``Picnic.''

Her breakthrough in movies was the critically acclaimed ``Ruby in Paradise.'' Asked if she hadn't played too many rural girls, Judd counters, ``I don't think I've done too much of anything except what interests me.''

As for rumored competition with her superstar country-singer sister Wynonna, she dismisses the suggestion with the revelation that ``she quit sitting on me when I was about 11. We were united, basically, against my mother - the way sisters are.''

As for boyfriend competition, she said, ``Wynonna was actually a help rather than a competitor. There is a four-year difference in our ages. I liked some boys her age. She'd introduce me to them. We knew we could be individuals. She sang. I read. From the beginning, I knew I wanted to be an actress.''

Mother and sister, though, became big singing stars while little sister Ashley was still growing up. ``Beginning after the ninth grade, I'd tour with them in the summer. I had a job sweeping out the tour bus for $10 a day.''

As far as persistent press rumors of disagreements with her mother, she says, ``We haven't resolved all our differences, but that's just typical mother and daughter things. When I was growing up, I saw that it made her sad that she couldn't provide for us. How that made her feel made me sad. When I was 17, suddenly, we got money. We got `stuff.' Lots of `things.' I began to realize that the `things' were not what I expected. They didn't make any difference.''

Emerging, big time, on the Hollywood scene, she vows that she's going to have a life outside her career. ``I'm hurt by what I see in Hollywood. The broken marriages. The inability of people to have a life plus a career. I'm going to live my life the way I want, and if they don't like it that's their business, not mine. I firmly believe there can be a balance. I don't believe God said `Little Judd girl, you can have this, but you can't have that.' I plan to have it all.''

She had to learn kickboxing for her ``Kiss the Girls'' role - and she enjoyed it. ``I'm more of a tomboy now than when I was as a kid.''

Already finished is ``The Locusts'' with ``The Lost World'' star Vince Vaughn. Then she'll make ``A Prayer for Only Mimi'' and ``A Small Miracle.''

Hollywood, aided by director Fleder, has clearly kissed the girl. With characteristic Judd determination, she adds, ``I didn't climb this hill just to roll down.''

``Now, I'm very careful about how much sleep I get,'' she said. ``That's important.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo

KIMBERLY WRIGHT

Ashley Judd.. KEYWORDS: PROFILE BIOGRAPHY MOVIES

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