Alice Englert tells us about starring in 'Beautiful Creatures'

Alice Englert has movies in her blood. The 18-year-old actress is the daughter of Oscar-winning director Jane Campion ("The Piano") and grew up around the world of high-end filmmaking.

So it's not a surprise that Englert, heretofore a virtual unknown, seems set for Hollywood stardom. If her lead role in "Beautiful Creatures," a new franchise geared toward occupying some of the young-adult void left by "Twilight" is any indication, we'll be seeing a lot more of her soon.

amNewYork spoke with Englert about the movie, in which she plays Lena Duchannes, a mysterious new student in a small southern school that intrigues local good boy Ethan Wate (Alden Ehrenreich). The film, adapted from the first novel in a series by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl, opens today.