Foreword: Scene One , Take One

Secrets of my Hollywood Life (Secrets of My Hollywood Life #1)

Jen Calonita

To my boys, Mike and Tyler.

--J.C.

Foreword: Scene One, Take One

I'm going to let you in on a little HOLLYWOOD SECRET: Movie stars don't always get along. It's true. You can't believe everything you hear during interviews on Access Hollywood . When a star is asked about her costar, she'll gush about how the two are best buds who go to the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf every Saturday morning after Ashtanga yoga for a fat-free vanilla Ice Blended. The truth is they probably haven't seen each other outside work in six months. Celebrities will say anything for good publicity.

How do I know? You've probably already guessed. I'm one of them . One of Teen Peoples "25 Hottest Stars Under 25." Number six on Entertainment Weekly's "It List." And, unfortunately, I'm as guilty as anyone of the secret I just shared. What can I say? My publicist, Laney Peters, says talking honestly about Sky Mackenzie would be bad for my image.

"You're America's newest sweetheart," she explains with a flip of her $300 honey-highlighted hair during one of our notoriously long lunch meetings at The Ivy. "You don't bash people -- especially your costars. The Kaitlin Burke the public loves would never do such a thing."

Yeah, well, the real me is having a tough time sticking to that motto. Sky and I have never been friends and we've worked together since we were four, when we were cast to play fraternal twins on the nighttime soap Family Affair. I should have known we would have a volatile relationship from our first scene together. Seconds before the director yelled "action," Sky clocked me over the head with her pink Barbie Corvette. We delayed filming for a week -- while we waited for the large bump on my head to go down.

Just like real life, our characters are polar opposites. Sky plays Sara, the scheming bad seed in our TV family. This season alone Sara has crashed our dad's Hummer, slept with his boss, and been in rehab for her rum and Coke addiction. My character, Samantha, is a bit of a goody two-shoes. In one episode, Sam skipped the winter formal to run a food drive for a local orphanage. Kind of makes you want to gag, doesn't it?

After twelve seasons, I've become a pro at ignoring Sky's comments. ( "Nice zit, K," she said the other morning in makeup. "Ever hear of Clearasil?") I've even learned to tune out the tantrums she throws when she thinks I have more lines than her in an episode.