Julia Stiles talks about being swept off her feet for the making of her latest film The Prince and Me in which she plays Paige Morgan, a college student who falls in love with a boy who turns out to be a prince

Do American girls dream of being swept off their feet by a dashing prince?
'I don't know if every girl dreams that. I kind of liked it that it wasn't Paige's dream. But I also like that in the movie you get to see how the fantasy might play out and whether it would work in reality.'

Was dressing up in the ball gowns fun and which side of the character did you most relate to?
'I felt more comfortable in the college student scenes. But it was certainly fun to wear the ball gown and the dance in the ballroom was so romantic. We shot in a beautiful palace and I felt like I was playing dress-up, I didn't necessarily feel at home there. But it was still thrilling.'

For the farm sequences did you really milk cows?
'Yeah. I'm a city girl so I had no idea about a farm. But I got to learn how to ride horses and steer cattle and we saw a cow give birth. It was an interesting experience to milk a cow. It was tedious. My God, I don't know how milkmaids used to do it. So I did it by hand just to get the full experience. They are huge animals and they shift their weight so much that you have to be careful they don't step on you. I think the farmers had a good laugh watching the city girl.'

Do you agree that love stops you from thinking reasonably?
'Yes that is what's so thrilling about romance.'

What's the craziest thing that you have ever done for love?
'I'm only 23, I haven't really done many crazy things for love. I would like to do something really crazy.'

Are you still studying?
'Yeah I took a semester off to do Oleanna and I have a year left. I'm majoring in English. The way it works is that I take a semester off if I'm going to make a movie and if I have time between movies then I go and I try and do a semester at school. I'm lucky because at the school that I go to you can defer as long as you want. I get a little bit frustrated sometimes that I can't get a credit for a performance of a Shakespearean play. They have strict rules at Columbia about what you can get credit for.'

What do you want to do with your degree?
'I might be 30 by the time I get it! It's not vocational so it doesn't really apply to anything that I would do. But I'm curious about a lot of different subjects and enjoy reading novels. So if I can get a degree for reading novels there's nothing wrong with that.'

In the movie you are torn between love and your career. In real life what would you choose?
'Oh I think that a lot of modern girls are in similar situations where you have to balance your career and life goals and personal life. What I like is that Paige can have both. I like that she picks a guy who wants to compromise with her and really likes her ambition and passion and drive. Hopefully I'll be able to do that. What would I choose? I don't know. I love acting. If I could give it up I wouldn't want the guy to want me to give it up.'

What are the similarities between you and your screen character?
'I can be stubbornly independent. Playing Paige I realised that being cynical and sarcastic and focused is a way of being guarded and I feel I do that a lot. I'm only focused on my work because it's easier to do that than risk falling in love with somebody. '

Could you relate to the prince's problems in trying to have a private life?
'I think it is more exaggerated for the prince in the movie. The paparazzi don't chase me. The difference between me being a public figure as opposed to someone who is royalty is that I chose my profession. So any negative aspects of being a public figure is really my own doing. But a prince is born into it and can't have it any other way.'

Do you have to think carefully about where you might go out with a boyfriend?
'I'm just not interesting enough for the paparazzi. [laughs] So I don't really have a problem. If I come out of the theatre after giving a performance then there will be people waiting for autographs and wanting pictures. But that's entirely different. In terms of people trying to get a picture of me in a bikini - that doesn't happen. Thank God!'

Why did you decide to stop being a vegan?
'I stopped being a vegan and then became a vegetarian. But the first meat I ate was not a hamburger - that was just a joke I made on a TV chat show. I changed diet because it really wasn't healthy. Being vegan is a hard thing to do and I became really anaemic. When you're travelling there's no way you can get proper nutrition. I do eat some red meat but not all the time.'

Are you enjoying living in London?
'I love London so much. I'm enchanted by it. The novelty has not worn. There is so much great art and culture. When we were rehearsing Oleanna I worked all day long and would come home and go to sleep. But now I'm trying to soak it all up. A treat for me in London is having a fancy high tea with cucumber sandwiches and scones.'

What must you have with you from home when you're in London?
'I get the New York Post sent over. Even though you have great papers here I still miss my New York Post.'