The Second Coming of Alanis

To answer a few prevalent Net questions: Yes, that is her body. No, they didn't shoot her on a set and digitally superimpose her on the street scenes; the clip was shot over two nights on the deserted streets of downtown Los Angeles and in a nearby subway and supermarket. Yes, she really was buck nekkid, except for two-inch latex patches over her nipples (to comply with local laws) and a patch over what the French Sednaoui charmingly refers to as ''her sex.'' And no, Morissette never felt nervous about wearing her birthday suit for the all-night shoots. ''She really felt dressed up,'' the director says. Oh, go on! ''No, really. Psychologically, when you wear very strong makeup over your body, many women do feel a bit dressed.''

One last question: Is she supposed to be, like, God, or what?

''Oh, no. We didn't want her to be a Madonna or divinity. We didn't want her to be unreachable. In the video, she's a human being who just chooses to go a bit further for all of us.''

Mortal? That might be blasphemy to the likes of Kevin Smith (we sense a theologically based MTV Celebrity Deathmatch coming on).

''I know it sounds like a publicity stunt, or me casting a crush, but it was an uphill battle,'' says the Dogma director, who put Morissette at his movie's celestial center after Oscar winner Emma Thompson dropped out of the project. ''Finally, the powers that be [at Miramax] relented.... I guess some people were wondering why I cast her. I guess I owe it to [Dogma costar]Linda Fiorentino,'' who was well aware of Smith's infatuation with the singer. ''One day Linda was in her makeup trailer and said, 'I met Alanis.' I said, 'Yeah.' And she was like, 'So, God is who you love, isn't it?' And that's exactly it.''

(Additional reporting by Rob Brunner, Heidi Siegmund Cuda, Daniel Fierman, Degen Pener, and Jessica Shaw)