HER CHARACTER Halley Martin, a teen whose parents' divorce makes her prematurely cynical about love -- at least until she falls for a seemingly perfect guy (newcomer Trent Ford).
HER QUALIFICATIONS Despite her image as a clean-teen pop princess, Moore proved she could handle the romantic-angst thang as the cancer-stricken heroine of last year's adolescent weepie ''A Walk to Remember.''
FUN FACT Talk about girl power: ''Deal'' was adapted by screenwriter Neena Beber (from two novels by Sarah Dessen) and directed by Claire Kilner. ''I've never worked with a female director before,'' Moore told EW. ''It was really nice. If you're going through stuff personally, if you're having a bad day, if you're on your period, you know she understands.'' No wonder New Line is counterprogramming this against ''Bad Boys II.''
WHAT'S NEXT Racing Katie Holmes to the multiplex. Both are currently filming movies about presidents' daughters who ditch the Secret Service and find romance.
