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Nicole Morgan: The Smarts of Seduction

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ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Has being so academic ever gotten in the way of romance?
NICOLE MORGAN: I think so. As a girl geek I definitely have a different way of relating to guys. I notice that on the show. I don't do flirty or cutesy things. If anything, I like to assert my independence. Since you're constantly judged on your intelligence, you don't ever want to take a step back and look inferior. You're always trying to assert yourself. I think in some sense that changes how I act with guys. One thing I wanted to learn on the show was how not to be seen as the smart classmate or the kid sister.

Being the first female ''geek'' on the show, do you consider yourself an ambassador for female geeks nationwide?
Yeah, and I was a little bit worried about that because it's a lot of weight on one girl's shoulders. Hopefully they'll think I do a good job representing them. There's a large array of geekiness and you see that in the guys on the show. You can have nine guy geeks and they're all very different and geeky at different things, but I have to do it all!

Are you into girly stuff too?
Not really. I don't keep up on fashion trends or read fashion magazines. Every once in a while I might like a romantic comedy, but my top movies to see are sci-fi or fantasy or horror.

Is it possible for girls to balance geek and chic?
I think so. I knew a few girls at Caltech who were very smart but were athletic and would wear cute clothes, too. Those girls blur the definition of geek, because if it's based on intelligence, sure, they're geeks, but they're more well rounded.

That sounds like a small demographic at a school that's 70 percent male.
Because of that, being on the show wasn't that strange to me. I'm used to being around all the guy geeks. It's normal for me.

Did you fit in with the beauties on the show, or hang with the guys more?
A lot of the time I was one of the guys. At first they were trying to get the measure of me and see what I was. I definitely tried to spend time with the beauties, but I felt much more comfortable with the guy geeks.

Let's talk about the show. What was your ''beauty'' like?
Sam is a club promoter, so he's very much in the L.A. scene. He's one of those guys who tans himself a lot! Toward the end, when I got to know him better, he broke my stereotypes. By looking at him, I expected him to be lackadaisical, uncaring, out for a good time. But he does care and by the end of it we got really close. We knew a lot about each other. It was interesting to bond with someone that normally I might not have even talked to or known.

Can you tell us if you found romance?
I would say that having a male beauty in the house definitely spices things up a bit.

Are you happy with the outcome?
Definitely. It was a great experience. To this day, my friends are still seeing things and saying, ''You know, you're a bit different now.'' They've noticed the way I dress, I've tried a few new things. In how I handle myself, I have a bit more confidence now. I've been making more of an effort to go out and do social things. I've learned how to be a bit girlier. I learned you don't always have to be the top of the pack. I know I'm smart, I don't have to act it all the time.

What did Sam teach you?
When I'm doing things I think, ''Well, what would Sam do?'' I've still got a ways to go, but the process continues when you go home and you try to adapt it to your everyday life.

It seems okay these days to be a little nerdy. Half of pop culture revolves around what used to considered super geeky. Why do you think that is?
In some sense it's about people in society getting more comfortable with different niches. Certainly, we're less restricted than in the Victorian era. We're facing different things. You can be gay and be public about it. You can be a geek and be public about it. We're learning to love everyone for who they are, and laughing sometimes. Because sometimes it is funny.