Mol plays the mysterious fantasy figure in The Notorious Bettie Page. And although she admits that some were skeptical of her ability to, um, embody the porn pioneer at first, Mol says that a philosophical kinship, along with thick-banged black wigs, enabled a remarkable transformation.

"Going in, you had to be prepared to do what she did in her photographs, whether she was tied up or nude or whatever," Mol says of Page, who, though still alive, remains something of a recluse since becoming a born-again Christian and, reportedly, spending some time institutionalized. The film is focused on Page's '50s heyday.

"I really believed in what I took to be her philosophy of nonjudgment," Mol continues. "She had an effervescence, she seemed so free and liberated, particularly when she was doing the nude photographs outside. I really do feel that we have so much shame and so many issues surrounding the naked body. I just had to tap into the feeling that this is pretty liberating, actually. But it was still something, obviously, that I thought through."

"I loved being a brunette," Mol says. "And I'll never be able to have that much hair, it was so fun for me. Even when I was doing some of the more difficult, more vulnerable, more naked scenes, I always had that wig. So I never felt totally exposed."

Though she hasn't been in the publicity spotlight in recent years, Mol, 33, has been diligently building a distinguished body of work that includes a television production of The Magnificent Ambersons and both stage and screen versions of Neil LaBute's The Shape of Things. Bettie Page marks her biggest role yet.

"I've not been this involved with anything I've done before, so I'm excited about that," she says. "But the trajectory of one's career . . . I don't know. It was definitely strange, the way it all happened. But I wouldn't say that I regret it at all, because I feel like who I am now is all part of the picture, the lessons and things you gain. And I also did a lot of things that I've been proud of in the interim. So I think it's all OK. And it's nice to kind of still be kickin' around."

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