(Photo: The Selby)

Jess Weixler is done with her days of playing a man-eating vagina. The 27-year-old actress, who looks like a young Heather Graham, may be best known for her lead role in Teeth, a twisted comedy about a woman’s violently vengeful private parts. But she’s got seven new indie movies lined up. One, a love story called Peter and Vandy, co-stars Jason Ritter and premieres at Sundance this week. Another is an independent romantic comedy called Alexander the Last, which she co-wrote. Weixler, who grew up in Kentucky but now lives in Brooklyn, attended Juilliard before getting her first break. She auditioned for Teeth with no intention of actually being in the movie—“At first I was like, ‘I’m not doing this crazy movie, I’m not doing this crazy movie’ ”—but she was convinced by a persistent casting director who assured her that it was more of a dark comedy than a B-horror movie. “Hopefully, when I look back, it’ll be like my Rocky Horror, you know? One of those things that’s always cool to have done, but you don’t get stuck in any kind of genre for having done it,” she says. It worked for Susan Sarandon.

See Also: Slideshow: Jess's World

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• Archive: “Cover Story”
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