Life's Golden for 'Hellboy' Star Selma Blair

July 11, 2008— -- NEW YORK — Some celebrities use their famous names to get every advantage. Others, like Selma Blair, go the opposite route.

After a waiter addresses her by a name not her own, the actress explains: "I go by a pseudonym that was my best friend's name from high school," she says, giggling. "She was the prettiest girl in my high school, and I always wanted to be her, and now I get to be her. And I love it."

She's also loving being surrounded again by her band of misfits in "Hellboy II: The Golden Army", opening today. In the sequel, Blair's Liz Sherman is in a tumultuous relationship with the scarlet hero (Ron Perlman). In between bickering about personal space, boundaries and Hellboy's love of cats, they need to save the world from the ruthless Prince Nuada and his mythical army.

While filming the 2004 original in the Czech Republic, she says, "I was incredibly lonely. I'd gone through a terrible breakup. I depended on these people from Hellboy so much to get me through that, and I became really close to them. When I went back to the second one, I'd missed them so much."

The feeling was mutual. Perlman calls Blair "truly a delight. She's this cute little girl but also one of the guys. She's got this really quick wit. She's a crack-up. She's incredibly bright and very quick, and she's a great partner to work with."

And Blair's character has plenty to do this time. Liz is tougher and stronger than in the first installment.

Blair, 36, says she is now, too: "I'm more capable. But I'm not in the family way, like Liz is. I don't burst into flame. But I think I am a capable, functioning woman this time around, and I can't say I was at any other time in my life."

She pauses, catching herself mid-thought.

"I shouldn't be so candid because I sound like a mess. I've always been the goofball or the dramatic one, and I don't have enough energy for that anymore," she says with a sigh. "I'll always be candid and a bit of a loose cannon because that's so ingrained in me, but now I've set up a way of living that's a little more guarded."