Simpson shot "Employee" during her divorce ? a challenge in itself, she says.

"I was going through a really rough time in my life but it was good escapism. It was getting out of the world that I was in and getting into a world of being fought over by boys."

It sounds similar to real life for Simpson, who has been linked with Cook, "Hazzard" star Johnny Knoxville and most recently with musician John Mayer.

When it comes to acting, though, she's sure of who she likes. Her favorite actress is Cate Blanchett, who "rides an emotional roller coaster and allows herself to completely jump into any character she's playing." Meg Ryan and Julia Roberts also make Simpson's list. But she acknowledges she has a lot more to learn before she can count herself in their company.

First she has to figure out how to balance singing and acting, she says.

"I really want to dedicate everything to every project that I do. So to be able to give of myself like that, I think I need to focus on one thing at a time."

She'll film two movies before recording another album, she says. The first, called "Blonde Ambition," stars Luke Wilson and begins shooting next month.

Simpson credits her family, especially her manager-dad Joe Simpson ? whom she calls "one of the best managers in the business" ? with helping her juggle the demands of her dual career.

"I couldn't do this without my father," she says.

(Joe Simpson is credited as a producer on "Employee of the Month." "He comes with the package," Coolidge says.)

Simpson's latest album, "A Public Affair," was released in August, along with a music video that takes a satirical look at the challenges of fame. In it, Simpson and famous gal pals Christina Applegate, Christina Milian and Eva Longoria share a limo and a chat about the paparazzi surely to be awaiting them at their next destination.

"I want to be more famous than the Internet," she quips in the video.

With two careers, plus a line of beauty products and a globe-trotting philanthropic gig with Operation Smile, which repairs children's facial deformities, Simpson might be on her way, but she says the line was just a joke.

What isn't a joke, she adds, is her second single, "I Belong to Me."

"It wasn't even going to be on my album because I was kind of afraid to sing the song. It's a very powerful statement ... about owning yourself and controlling yourself. It's part of evolving, of growing up and becoming a woman."

1

2