Scene-Stealer: Ari Graynor

WHY HER

Playing a ditzy, drunk party girl, Graynor nearly stumbles off with Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist. The 25-year-old stage veteran generates big laughs from her character's most prolonged relationship — with a single piece of chewing gum.

HOW SHE DID IT

To nail the subtleties of playing drunk, Graynor asked pals to videotape her getting plastered in her Manhattan apartment. "I finished off a bottle of Absolut," she says. "The pathetic, sad parts of drinking were the funniest, and hardest, to watch."

WHY SHE LOOKS FAMILIAR

Graynor's first big role was playing Meadow's clingy college roommate on The Sopranos. "The first scene I shot, I come in and I'm drunk — also! — and I take off some of my clothes and do a little dance. It's pretty much the most horrifying thing you can imagine walking into."

WHAT'S NEXT

She will appear as one of Ellen Page's Roller Derby teammates in Drew Barrymore's directorial debut, Whip It!, and reteams with Nick & Norah star Michael Cera in the domestic comedy Youth in Revolt. "I play Steve Buscemi's girlfriend, and Steve plays Michael's dad, and Michael comes to live with us. It was fun playing this bizarre parental figure to Michael."