Mary Stuart Masterson

5 YEARS AGO ''I never wanted to sing in front of everybody -- I wanted it to be my thing. So I rehearsed my songs in the shower. At one point I wrote a script with a character who sings at night by herself; clearly there's something subconscious going on.''

NOW ''It's a rush to be up there with that caliber of actors [Antonio Banderas, Jane Krakowski, and Chita Rivera]. The project was to create warmth and connection and trust among the cast. There's nobody in the chorus. Everybody's a unique presence.''

5 YEARS FROM NOW ''I'm writing a book, writing poetry, producing a movie -- I'm doing all these things. I think women are multitaskers so they can feed their young, cook the meal, protect the hearth, and be ultimately creative at the same time.''

RESUME

AGE 36 CURRENT Plays a put-upon wife in the Broadway musical Nine EXPERIENCE Some Kind of Wonderful, Fried Green Tomatoes NEXT Filming Gianni in Ecstasy, written by her and directed by husband Damon Santostefano