In our wild entertainment jungle, where new celebrities keep appearing out of nowhere faster than the tick of the clock, Julie Estelle stands out from the crowd.

Consider this: her first leading role, in Alexandria (2005), helped the film become one of the sleeper hits of the year, and its soundtrack by pop/rock band Peterpan is arguably one of the most memorable soundtracks in recent memory.

Then she jumped into the starring role in Kuntilanak (literally translates as Female Ghost, but the film went by the English title The Chanting, 2006), which interestingly set aside the titular creature and put Julie's character up front.

The box office success of the film generated two sequels, Kuntilanak 2 (2007) and Kuntilanak 3 (2008), and together these three films have been seen by millions across the region.

In between, she took a 180-degree turn to play a drug addict in Selamanya... (Forever..., 2007). Despite some cheesy dialogue, she rose above the film, resulting in her first taste of critical approval: Best Actress at the little-known Bali International Film Festival 2007 and Best Actress nominee at the equally unheralded Festival Film Jakarta (2007).

All of those achievements have come at the tender age of 19, with no sign of selling out to, God forbid, over-the-top TV soaps.

In a phone interview, she talks about staying grounded despite all the early success.

"I am very close to my sister Cathy (Cathy Sharon, actress and TV host), and she's six years older than me, so I am used to hanging out with her and her friends. Obviously, they are more mature than me.

"But I take it this way: being with her and them actually helped me play all of my roles so far. Especially in Alexandria. I was only 15 when I made the film but I had to play my character, who is 23 years old. So I needed to know how these 20-somethings behave, and I picked it up from what I observed."

"Besides, none of my roles are similar to what I am. Come on, drug addict?" she laughed.

She recalled her first encounter with the spotlight.

"I was doing a press conference for Alexandria, the first time for me to do that kind of publicity promotion. There was this reporter who asked me, 'Julie, can you tell me about your character in this film?' Such a simple question, but I was lost for words. I was speechless, and it took me ages to answer."

Now is a different story, though, as she has begun to master her words. In fact, she didn't hesitate to challenge me when I teased her about her occasional non-work appearances on gossip shows. She asked, "Well, which one do you want to know about?"

Unprepared, I spluttered out, "The Playboy case."

She quickly responded, "All I did was a photo shoot for a profile article of me as a film star. No nudity or skimpy clothes involved, but with the Playboy name on it, somehow everything was blown out of proportion."

I asked her about the fact that so far she has only worked with two directors: Ody C. Harahap (Alexandria and Selamanya...) and Rizal Mantovani (the Kuntilanak series).

"I saw it as my lucky opportunity, though. I was, and I am, I think, still relatively new to this industry, but at this early stage, I have been directed by two directors who are actually willing to let actors explore their characters," she said.

"They care about the characters they are directing, which in turn helps me focus on what I am playing."

Still, she says she is more than willing to work with other directors, in other genres as well. Which shouldn't be a problem for her. Quite a few directors and screenwriters have expressed interest in working with Julie.

Coming up for her is a romantic-comedy that is still in the early stages of development, although really wants to try her hand at a completely different genre.

"I want to make an art film. OK, I don't know what your definition of art film is, but to me, it has to have educational value, communicate to audiences and be acceptable in any sense, without sacrificing the art of the filmmaking itself.

"To me, La Vie en Rose is an art film and so is A Mighty Heart (starring Angelina Jolie). They are not confined to art-house cinemas, and like Rose, it is actually an effective tool to show how drugs destroy your life, no matter how famous you are.

"Or in Mighty Heart, we know it is heavy, with all the killing, but we accept the film, and we get to believe such a danger exists. But I don't know, someday, maybe, I will get to produce or even direct these kind of films."

Either Jolie or Julie, they have proved to the world that beauty has nothing to do with talent and the skill to deliver a great performance. In due time, Julie should be able to catch up with Jolie.

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