Most men don't give pillows a second thought. It's a household item of little consequence-something to wipe your hands on while watching a game and eating a burger, something mom plumps up in the morning, something your girlfriend may inexplicably bring too many of when she moves in with you. Not something to get excited about. But Malibu-born starlet Dominique Swain once had a pillow that could make you sit up and think. It was given to her when she was 14 and playing the eponymous 12-year-old nymphet in 1995's 'Lolita'. The film's producers had it made for her to sit on during the scenes in which Jeremy Irons, playing her dirty old stepfather, Humbert Humbert, tempted her onto his knee. Made from the same material as Irons' pants, its purpose was to protect her from any possible embarassment. After FHM's steamy photo session in LA, we asked Dominique, now 20, if she thought this ingenious cushioning was necessary--or if there might have been something stirring under there. "Oh no," she says, "it was just so I'd feel comfortable. Maybe he felt better with it, though. Having a youngster writhing on your lap might be, uh, stimulating." Indeed.

After 'Lolita', Dominique went off to play John Travolta's daughter in 'Face/Off', and now has graduated to a string of stirring performances as a grown-up seductress in five films due out later this year. The first film, 'Intern', is set in the killing fields of the New York fashion industry. 'Mary Jane's Last Dance' is a sexy campus murder mystery, and 'Smoker' [sic] is the tale of a gang of vixens from hell who are sick of men dominating them and decide to turn the tables. Then there's the indie film, 'Tart', about a snooty New York high school where Dominique's character can't keep up financially but ends up teaching her classmates a thing or two about life as it should be lived. Recently, she's finished working on 'Happy Campers', a coming-of-age comedy about young adults who are trying to teach "life skills" to children and end up learning some things themselves.

Q: There's a rumor that you kiss your female film co-star James King in 'Happy Campers'. Is that true?
A: Yes, but I don't know if it'll make it to the final cut. I've heard it's not going to be left in, and I'm kind of disappointed. It was an awakening for my character, so it's kind of important. It's really a good scene, besides being stimulating. Boys always like to see that. I don't understand it. Girls don't want to see boys kiss.
Q: Apparently you also get girl-on-girl action in 'Mary Jane's Last Dance'.
A: That was a lot of fun: I enjoy scenes where I'm allowed to express myself sexually. I play the college sexual icon, a very promiscuous girl, and end up having a relationship with everyone in sight. We had raucous parties, and the director would choose the extras and say, "OK, here's your woman for the night," and they'd be terrifed. I was fine with it; I'm open to anything. I think everyone should enjoy every moment that they experience. In the movie, one of my roommates dies mysteriously, and Taye Diggs is a detective trying to unravel the mystery. Rachel True and I did one scene where we were supposed to charm Taye Diggs into getting off the case. We end up having this encounter in front of him, and the director told us to flash him at the same time. I lifted my shirt, and he just looked on. I couldn't handle it because I didn't know how to react--at all. I have no idea what was going on in his mind; he's one of the hardest people to figure out. I laughed so hard, I peed on the floor.
Q: 'Intern' is set in the fashion business. Is that a world you want a piece of?
A: No way. I play this forthright character who's trying to deal with all these absolutely insane, affected people. She's treated absolutley atrociously. For instance, one of editors on the editors on the magazine she works for asks her to get a skim milk cappuccino; the editor drinks it really fast and then asks, "You didn't forget to get skim milk, did you?" I say, "They ran out, so they made it with one percent milk," and she vomits in the wastepaper basket and makes me take it away. I hope I never have to endure that.
Q: You play the lead in 'Tart'. Is that a reflection on your character?
A: Ha! Everybody says that. No, it's tart meaning bittersweet. Although it's usually less complicated to say yes, because I'm the main character.
Q: You played John Travolta's daughter in 'Face/Off'. Do you think he'dmake a good dad, or would you rather have been Nicolas Cage's daughter?
A: I got to interact with them both, and, funny enough, it was when John was playing Nic Cage that he was the better father. When you're growing up, you're really won over by the R-rated movie actors, and I loved Nicolas Cage in 'Peggy Sue Got Married' and John Travolta in 'Grease'-I must have watched that every week when I was 10. I thought, "I should treat them like my contemporaries," but ended up telling them I worshipped the ground they walked on and salaamed them every day.
Q: When you were 10, you were the stunt double for Quinn Culkin in 'The Good Son' and emerged from beneath a sheet of ice. Was that scary?
A: No, I'm a surf punk and was a junior lifeguard for about eight years--that's how I got picked. I did think I was going to drown a few times. The "ice" was a solid pane of plastic and they had me under there for about three hours. I ran out of air and really panicked a couple of times. I was pounding on the plastic, trying to get out.
Q: Does that mean you like dangerous stunts?
A: I am a bit of a daredevil. I go snowboarding in Mammoth, CA, and I intend to go skydiving.
Q: Aren't there contracts in your business preventing you from doing that kind of stuff?
A: I refuse to sign those contracts. On 'Lolita' I was sort of a cunt because I told them I was going skiing when we were off at Christmas, and they said, "No you're not." So I bargained until the paid for all my friends to come and stay with me on the set.
Q: You were chosen to be Lolita after a six-month search that involved rejecting 2,500 hopefuls. Did you think you were going to get it?
A: When I found out about it, I'd dyed my haif black and had braces, so I didn't think they'd consider me. But it's my favorite book, so I made a tape of myself reading from it. They flew me to New York the next day, and I did a screen test with Jeremy Irons, only I didn't know who he was. I think it was the lack of being impressed with him that got me the role. Lolita didn't have any respect for anyone.
Q: Did it creep you out having Jeremy Irons lust after you?
A: No, I knew what it was going to entail and that he was just in character when he was doing that. It was very impressive. I felt that he was this role.
Q: Besides the famous "pillow", what other precautions did they take?
A: I don't think the word sex was used once. They knew I wasn't very sexually experienced, so they'd paraphrase it. But I knew exactly what was going on. It seemed silly because I was this 14-year-old punk who didn't think I had to be protected. Lolita and I had that in common--a rebellious nature.
Q: Were you relieved that they used a body double?
A: I was kind of resentful. I've never had any inhibitions about nudity. People could not even describe to me what my body double had been doing. And she made it sound kind of scary. But if I'd been in that position, I wouldn't have thought it was. They made her comb out her pubic hair so it would look pre-pubescent. She was just this innocent Southern girl who was 20. She was more spooked by it than I would have been. Or maybe that was just my attitude then.
Q: Are you happy to do nudity in films now?
A: In tasteful doses, yeah. It's a lot easier with female directors. They're not there to sneak a quick peek or cop a feel. Being as open as I am, I have to make sure I'm not taken advantage of. If I'm calling the shots, it's fine, but once people start telling me what to do, I'm going to have to regulate.
Q: You had to do high-level flirting in 'Lolita'. Is that a natural talent of yours?
A: I don't know whether I'd call it a talent. Sometimes I think I might insult people by being openly flirtatious, then snatching it back. I am just friendly with everyone, and if someone is interested, it's not my responsibility to hold myself back and be cold. But that has gotten me in a lot of trouble. I'm a very phsyical person, but I don't think that should be interpreted as flirting. And I am going to be myself regardless of how other people see me.
Q: Have you ever had "favorite uncle" or other creepy old man experiences?
A: I didn't before 'Lolita', but since then, people have started latching on to me. I get letters saying, "Oh, you were Lolita. I have no legs and am 94. I love you and want to marry you." Jesus!
Q: What was the worst thing you did as a teenager?
A: When I was 17, I had this boyfriend who was physically abusive and sold narcotics. I was subject to both of them, and I got pregnant and disavowed everyone I cared about, but I got out of it.
Q: What's the corniest approach or worst pick-up line anyone's used on you?
A: This guy I was talking to on the phone said, "Is your mom retarded?" I went, "What? Why?" And he said, "Because you sure are speacial." That was funny.
Q: Your younger sister, Chelse, is in 'The Virgin Suicides'. Are you two competitive?
A: She's always wanted to be an actress, and I am really, really proud of her. I think she's great in her movie, and I want her to succeed in the world in any way she wants to. We'll both have a niche in this industry if we're lucky.
Q: You were photographed after falling down on your way in 'The Virgin Suicides' premiere. Do you hate the paparazzi?
A: That was so funny. They gave us these ridiculous clothes to wear to the premiere, and I've never understood what it is about designer clothes, they get away with making the most hideous trash. They sent us demin chaps with awful midriff-revealing denim jackets. I'm wearing the whole shebang walking down the aisle and doing the press line when someone says, "Hurry up, girls. The film's starting," and I trip over a planter. I go sprawling on my back, and this stuff is not only atrocious, but it's really delicate as well, so my clothes are falling off. I was freaking; people must have thought I was so high. The audacity of them taking pictures while I was in pain! But ...whatever... it's my job I suppose, and I brought it on myself, so that's okay.
Q: You're keen on self-defense classes. Could you handle yourself in a fight?
A: I like to think so. Sometimes I get paranoid going home to my apartment in the middle of the night and I think there are people after me everywhere. But now I know I could knee them in the balls and run; impact is the way to go. Also, making you think you're not a victim is really important. Poeple with that mentality don't get attacked.
Q: Have you ever been in a brawl?
A: I almost got in a fight with a girl from high school. I was walking past her with another friend who said, "I think she just called you a bitch." So I said, "Wait a minute, did you just call me a bitch?" She was like, "I don't remember-probably." I was on the verge of brawling with her when I realized it wasn't really worth it. Since then, I have though I should have taken her down, but I probably made the right decision. She looked kind of tough.
Q: You life with your older sister, Alexis. Are you constantly fighting over whose turn it is to buy milk or clean the bathroom?
A: No, we get along really well. She's more conservative than I am and keeps different hours, but she brings fun people over and so do I. It's kind of a party house. I tend to live in squalor, but Alexis is very tidy and clean. I do tidy up sometimes when someone important is coming over. It ususally entails putting boxes of stuff into closets, but that's only for someone who doesn't know the way I live and hasn't had to see it before.
Q: Would you clean up if a guy was coming over?
A: It would be an idea if I didn't want to scare him away--only if I cared.
Q: You have a pet ferret. Doesn't it stink?
A: She's been de-scented. I bought her in North Carolina, where they're legal. They aren't in California, so I don't have her with me. I love ferrets. If you raise them from when they're babies, they come and snuggle with you and bounce around the room. They amke the cutest noises and are just like little criminal bandits.
Q: Does she go up people's pant legs?
A: Yes, that's one of hte most endearing things about her. I wear high socks, and she'll be all the way up there by my crotch before I realize.

Interview by Bridget Freer