{"id":387785,"date":"2026-04-12T05:24:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-12T05:24:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/387785\/"},"modified":"2026-04-12T05:24:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-12T05:24:10","slug":"heather-graham-recalls-being-labeled-nerdy-before-license-to-drive-role","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/387785\/","title":{"rendered":"Heather Graham recalls being labeled ‘nerdy’ before ‘License to Drive’ role"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!\n <\/p>\n

Before Hollywood came calling, Heather Graham<\/a> said, she was dismissed as a “nerdy” teenager.<\/p>\n

The actress recalled being underestimated in high school before landing the popular cheerleader role in “License to Drive,” a turning point she described as a “huge moment” that launched her independence and her career.<\/p>\n

“I was nerdy. \u2026 You know, I was smart, and I was just, like, nobody thought I was that pretty,” Graham recalled during an episode of “Dinner’s on Me with Jesse Tyler Ferguson<\/a>.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

HEATHER GRAHAM SLAMS \u2018AWKWARD\u2019 NEW REALITY OF HOLLYWOOD SEX SCENES<\/a><\/p>\n

“So, I got this job as, like, the popular, pretty cheerleader, and I had very bad style and bad hair and makeup. Like, I did not know how to, like, do that. And then people were like, ‘Oh?’<\/p>\n

“[The movie] came out right as I was graduating,” Graham added. “And I think people were like, ‘Well, maybe we should have paid attention to her.'”<\/p>\n

\"Heather <\/p>\n

Heather Graham landed the role of Mercedes Lane in “License to Drive.” (Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Graham revealed landing the iconic role as Mercedes Lane in “License to Drive” was a “huge moment” for her at 17.<\/p>\n

“It was huge for me. Like, that was a huge moment,” she explained. “I got to make money. I was independent. I had a bank account, you know, and I could live on my own.”<\/p>\n

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\"Heather <\/p>\n

Heather Graham got her career breakthrough with “License to Drive” and “Boogie Nights.” (Ron Galella\/Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Graham began her career with small roles in commercials and TV before landing teen films such as “Drugstore Cowboy” and “Swingers.”<\/p>\n

She got her breakthrough with “Boogie Nights,<\/a>” “Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me” and “Bowfinger.”<\/p>\n

Graham landed a role in the blockbuster film “The Hangover” in 2009. She has since continued acting in films and TV while also expanding into writing and directing projects.<\/p>\n

Her latest film, “They Will Kill You,” hit theaters March 27.<\/p>\n

\"Heather <\/p>\n

Heather Graham poses for a portrait in 2001. (Eric Vandeville\/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

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The 56-year-old actress shared some of her beauty secrets in a recent interview with Us Weekly.<\/a><\/p>\n

Graham claimed she’s “never had an actual operation where they\u2019re cutting my face open.” But she said she has tried a series of other methods, including “microneedling, Botox \u2026 and a bunch of lasery things.”<\/p>\n

“Some of those laser treatments are torture,” she said. “Like, an hour and a half of your face getting blasted.”<\/p>\n

\"Heather <\/p>\n

Heather Graham revealed her wellness routine to help her stay young and in shape. (Daniele Venturelli\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

The movie star’s goal is to stay away from invasive plastic surgery<\/a> because she doesn’t “want to look freaky,” and her “goal is to look natural.”<\/p>\n

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“I feel like some people get facelifts and they just kind of end up looking like \u2026 I mean, there are people that get it, and it\u2019s good. But I just don\u2019t want to be one of those people that got it and look freaky,” she said. “But I don\u2019t know if [when] I got older, I wouldn\u2019t completely rule out. Who knows, in the future.”<\/p>\n

Graham also tries to maintain a balanced diet and get 10 to 11 hours of sleep. She said she uses yoga as a way to stay in shape and manage stress, calling it “so cathartic.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! Before Hollywood came calling, Heather Graham said, she was dismissed…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":387786,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[458,146,53474,85,46,397],"class_list":{"0":"post-387785","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-celebrities","8":"tag-celebrities","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-heather-graham","11":"tag-il","12":"tag-israel","13":"tag-movies"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/387785","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=387785"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/387785\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/387786"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=387785"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=387785"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=387785"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}