I read an article in which your makeup woman was quoted as saying about you, "I only put lipstick, blush, and eye shadow on her ."
Yeah, right! [Laughs] I don't use much base. My skin won't accept really heavy foundation. It won't go on, or else it will eat it up. But I'm hooked on Yves St. Laurent concealer. It's almost invisible and I put it under my eyes and stuff. They have gorgeous old-fashioned gold tubes. And all the lipstick colors are really beautiful. They're brilliant punk rock colors that you can't get anywhere else, like fluorescent pink and really beautiful reds. But I heard they may scrap the whole line and start over. I'm really depressed. That always happens - all my favorite things go out of business. My favorite bubble bath in the whole world, Japanese cherry blossom, the most delicious bubble bath, has been discontinued. My favorite bra just went out of business, and I completely flipped out. I don't know what I'm going to do!

Did your grandmother, Dorothea Johnson, who's an etiquette consultant in Washington, D.C., teach you etiquette as a kid?
Yeah. Just from being around her, I learned some really good skills, too. Like knowing at a really young age where to start with your forks and knives and how to put everything away in resting position and finished position and stuff. These are definitely good things to know.

Does your husband-to-be, Spacehog bassist Royston Langdon, know them too?
Oh, he's got the best manners in the whole world. He's English! He's very polite.

Have you two set a wedding date?
It's private. It's too beautiful for the whole world to know about. That's very romantic.
I'm a very romantic person.

He certainly has something in common with your father, doesn't he?
He does. They're very cute together.

Is it exciting to be engaged?
Come on! No more! I'm sorry - I'm not trying to deprive you of anything, but it's really beautiful and personal to me, and I don't want to. You know what I mean?

OK, tell me about your role in The Lord of the Rings.
It's been expanded from the books. There's a big appendix at the end with a large chapter about Arwen. Basically, there wasn't enough female presence in a lot of the film, so they took the appendix and used that story and placed it throughout. We shot all three movies at once. It took a year and a half, back and forth to New Zealand.

Is acting scary?
It's terrifying. It's so scary, because you get used to being around the crew and being friendly with everyone and then suddenly, at a certain point, everything switches and you're the one standing behind the lights and nobody's going to help you. And that can be really difficult sometimes. A lot of times, I don't plan what I'm going to do in a scene - that's a really vulnerable place to be. Just to see where something will take you. I do struggle a lot with trying not to be so hard on myself because that makes life painful. I try to experience it as fun and not put so much pressure on myself.

Do you get stage fright?
It depends. Usually when I'm really scared, it's because I don't know if my ability is great enough to pull off what they expect of me. But then it usually goes really smoothly. And I'm, like, "Wow, that was great!" I don't have a problem with stage fright while I'm working, but I do being in public, like going on talk shows or doing press conferences. I'm horrible. I just get really panicked.

What happens?
I'm so fiery already and I've got so much adrenaline all the time that I think when I get nervous, it just overflows. [Laughs] Sometimes I feel like I'm going to pass out. It's hard going on talk shows. I always watch other people on David Letterman and they're speaking out to the audience and to him and all around. But when I get on, I can't look at anyone but him. If I were to turn my head away for a second, I'd die!

What are the advantages of fame?
I was just saying this to Roy the other day. For me, the main advantage of fame is being able to get into really good restaurants whenever you want and not have to wait for weeks or hours. [Laughs] That's, like, the only thing I love about fame. But I don't go out that much. . I don't live a very posh life. I don't have drivers waiting around for me and people doing everything for me. I pretty much just live like a normal person.

Do you want to live a posh life one day?
No. I would if I wanted to. It's not interesting to me. I have a housekeeper, but I don't think it's good to have a life without responsibilities, you know?

If you don't go out much, what do you do?
Hang out at home. In the winter, especially, because I'm just so cold. I like to do stuff in the afternoon and then come home, make dinner, and have home time.

What do you like to cook?
Everything. I love to cook. Sometimes I just ad-lib or I'll taste things and know how to make them because of the way they taste.

Is there anything you'd like to change about yourself?
Everybody has things they're not completely happy with, but you can't snap your fingers and become a perfect person overnight. And how boring we all would be if we were! It's part of life to find those things out about yourself and learn how to deal with them.

What do you see when you look in the mirror?
Liv! [Laughs] I don't usually stare at myself in the mirror. Usually I'm doing something, like brushing my teeth or washing my face or squeezing a spot or covering up a spot with makeup. Everybody sees themselves with a very critical eye.

What annoys you?
Dishonest people. I wish people could be more clear and honest about stuff, because I'm really good at seeing through them when they're trying to tell me things that aren't true, and I hate it.

What music are you listening to these days?
The brilliant new Spacehog record because it's being made before my eyes. I love it so much. I have such a big, wide range of taste in music. I go through different things all the time. An interviewer the other day brought me records by Eartha Kitt, Eydie Gorme, and Julie London. I was really excited to have some new girly music.

DVD or VCR?
I don't have a DVD. I have a laserdisc, but I don't ever use it. I just use a VCR. I haven't gotten into the whole DVD thing because every time I go to the video store, I see that they don't have many movies on DVD.

How do you feel now that you're 23?
Really good. A lot more comfortable in my skin, settling into who I am, and listening to my instincts. I feel really happy. I've never been happier in my whole life. Things are really good for me.