Lauren C. Mayhew

Girls' Life, Oct-Nov, 2004 by Kasey Simcoe

AGE 19 HOMETOWN Tampa, Fla. HER CLAIM TO FAME Catch Lauren in the upcoming flick Raise Your Voice opposite Hilary Duff. "I'm her nemesis throughout the movie. I'm downright evil." In real life, she and Hils are pals. "She's sweet. We get along great." ALL-ACCESS PASS Lauren does red-carpet interviews on TV's Access Hollywood, rubbing elbows with the ultra-famous.

"Meeting Johnny Depp was cool." WHY SHE LOOKS SO FAMILIAR At 13, Lauren was a member of the now-defunct pop quartet PYT. The all-girl group toured with Britney, *NSync and 98 Degrees. PYT even performed at Super Bowl XXXV alongside Sting and Aerosmith. THINKIN' LINKIN The girl is still about the music, and she's working on a solo project she describes as "a girl version of Linkin Park." Get a taste of what Lauren can kick out on the Raise Your Voice soundtrack. SOMETHING IN THE WATER? Seems Tampa is the place for up-and-comers. Lauren's hometown buds are household names. She grew up with Mandy Moore ("Our moms are like best friends"), Brittany Snow ("We hang out a lot") and Willa Ford ("We've been friends since I was little"). PYT PALS "I'm friends with Lydia [Bell] still. But I haven't seen Ashley [Niven] or Tracy [Williams], which is sad because they were like my best friends. It's not like there's bad blood between us. It's just that, um, life has taken us on different paths. It sucks. I miss them very much." HER BEST GUY FRIEND The girl gets to hang with Frankie Muniz. "I used to be close with this kid Chris Marquette, who's on Joan of Arcadia, and I met Frankie through him." PASSION FOR COMPASSION When not working or hanging with her A-list friends, Lauren puts in time with The Alliance for Eating Disorders Awareness. "I never knew much about eating disorders, but I knew I wanted to be a part of it." Lauren has a live monthly Q&A session on the organization's Web site. Check it out at eatingdisorderinfo.org.