Actress Leighanne Wallace plays the girl who turns heads in Wild America.

Truthfully, beautiful Leighanne Wallace has been making boys stand up and notice her whole life.  Her appearance at a drag race in Wild America   however,  does something more than just attract the attention of the 'Stouffer brothers', it actually makes them decide to change their lives.   "I play one of the college girls who comes home and kind of kicks the boys butts in telling them to get out and  get a better life," says Leighanne, who makes her feature film debut in Wild America.

In real life, it's Leighanne who recently took a chance to make her life different!  This native of Atlanta, Georgia has been studying acting for years and has appeared in many regional and national commercials.  "I did some modeling and drama in school," she explains. "After high school , I did some theater.  Now, I've moved to L.A. to study more  and act.  I can't remember ever wanting to do anything else."  Leighanne was living in Los Angeles for only a month  when she received word that the role of 'Tanna Stewart' in Wild America was hers!

In the movie, Tanna and her sister 'Jo' are on a collage break when they see 'Marty' and Mark Stouffer' (Scott Bairstow and Devon Sawa) drag racing against their friend 'D.C.' ( Zack Ward).  Of course, the youngest Stouffer brother 'Marshall' (Jonathan Taylor Thomas) is tagging along too. When his brothers put Marshall in yet another dangerous  situation, Tanna and Jo step in.   "Marshall's brothers put him through all kinds of stuff in that scene," says Leighanne, "so we come up and rescue him, basically, and my sister yells at the other brothers."

Although making a movie sounds really fun and glamorous, Leighanne admits that she and the rest of the cast were pretty uncomfortable the day they filmed this dramatic scene which is totally filled with mud. "It was really cold that day," Leighanne recalls. "I was wearing white and pink with a white purse.   I had to get down on the ground, pick Jonathan up , brush his head off and say 'You could have killed him.'" I had mud on my pants, my feet, my hands, my hair and between takes they would come to squirt us with water bottles and rub our skin to get it off.  My skin was all red because they had to clean us between every take.  We were running out of light so we had to have it completed in 30 minutes."

In this scene, Mark Stouffer- Devon's character- flirts with the very pretty sophisticated Tanna.  Although Leighanne looks gorgeous, she admits that she wasn't really thrilled with her appearance in the movie.   "Oh, I thought we looked awful!  Our clothes were great, it was the hairdos that were only okay.  They show my huge forehead!"  But don't believe her- Leighanne looks great even in a silly '60s do!

During her time on the Wild America set, Leighanne got to know the other actors pretty well.  She admits that she fell madly in love with Jonathan- and who could blame her?  "Oh, Jonathan was the best to work with! He's the dreamiest.  I told him that when he turns 18, he's mine!" she says with a laugh.  "But we had a lot of fun.  He's really professional- it's as if you're talking to a 30 year old.  He's also like a one take actor.   They tell him something and he gets it down."

Leighanne also enjoyed working with Devon.   "Devon supposedly was my love interest, if it ever went anywhere else, so we got actually flirt," she says.  "Devon's just a flirt anyways- when he gets to know you. He's really shy at first, real shy, and then he flirts around.  He's a really sweet guy.  He's good too.  He's not as knowledgeable about the acting business as Jonathan, but he is learning.  Jonathan, of  course does this every single day.   So Devon's learning quick and he's very professional.  He's seems to really want to get in there and do his best.  Devon's also a jokester, so we had a ball with him."

Now back in L.A., Leighanne continues taking classes while auditioning for new projects.  No matter where the future leads she admits, that she'll always remember Wild America and working with Jonathan and Devon.  It was totally a dream come true!

Facts That Go With The Pictures That Aren't Previously Mentioned.

Class Act: Although Leighanne wasn't crazy about the hairstyle she sported as 'Tanna', she really liked her 60s era clothes. "I auditioned in a black pair of the exact pants I wear, "she says. "And I kept the tie shirt- I love it!"