'I've wanted to be an action hero my whole life. If you asked me what roles I want to play, I (would) say Indiana Jones' THE true test of a celebrity's patience and graciousness can be applied by plying her with the most obvious question - one that has probably been asked by every journalist she has met.

In the case of Maria Bello, who was promoting The Mummy: Tomb Of The Dragon Emperor at a round-table interview held last month at Four Seasons Hotel in Los Angeles, the question was: 'So what is it like to step into the shoes of Rachel Weisz?'

NOT JUST A PRETTY FACE: She was the owner of a hot nightspot in 2000's Coyote Ugly, but Maria Bello has moved on to serious roles in films such as A History Of Violence (2005), which won her a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress.

Looking radiant and blonde (her true hair colour), she displayed no hint of regret taking on the role of Brendan Fraser's onscreen brunette wife, Evelyn O'Connell, who was played by Weisz in two prequels - The Mummy (1999) and The Mummy Returns (2001).

'I could never have filled Rachel's shoes,' said Bello, 41. 'She's beautiful and brilliant, and I love what she did.

'But director Rob Cohen has created a whole new character that's like a Katherine Hepburn at 40. So we created our own shoes, and I hope she likes what I did with the character.'

Perhaps the American actress is naturally effusive or she might just be in a cheery mood that day, but there was a casual charm about her that put everyone at ease - whether bantering with a journalist about quitting smoking or gushing over the dress she was planning to wear to the Moscow premiere.

After appearing in television drama ER and the 2000 film, Coyote Ugly, Bello became better known for serious roles in The Cooler (2003) and A History Of Violence (2005), which won her a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress.

But she claimed she would much rather be in action movies, which she enjoyed watching while growing up in a blue-collar family in Norristown, Pennsylvania, with an Italian-American contractor father and a Polish-American mother who was a teacher.

'I've never been a cinephile and I don't know who Truffaut is,' she quipped. 'I got to be known as this dramatic actress through some weird events, but I've wanted to be an action hero my whole life.

'So if you asked me what roles I want to play, I won't say Medea, but instead, Indiana Jones.'

In Tomb Of The Dragon Emperor, Bello fights a Chinese 'mummy' (Jet Li) with her explorer husband and a grown-up son (Luke Ford).

In real life, she has a seven- year-old son from a previous relationship, but is now engaged to 28-year-old musician Bryn Mooser.

Aside from being addicted to nicotine and (as a self-proclaimed romantic) notions of love, she admitted to also being hooked on reality TV shows (she loves watching Deadliest Catch) and self-help guides (her recent craze is cards based on Wayne Dyer's The Power Of Intention).

And as an adventure junkie, Bello cited a trip to Tanzania where she drove in an open-top jeep, hunting alongside loin-clothed tribesmen with poison arrows, as the perfect vacation.

So it was no wonder that she has already signed on for the next instalment of The Mummy, which (as hinted in the third film) may be set in Peru.

'My perfect career is to do one action movie and one dramatic role a year,' she said. 'Action movies let me get all my angst out onscreen, so that I don't have it in real life.'

This article was first published in The Straits Times on Aug 4, 2008.