Santa Fe dancer turned Hollywood actress Aviva had just completed her latest film, Spring Break '83, when Pasatiempo caught up with her by phone in Louisiana, where much of the comedy was shot. In it, she plays Heather, a sorority girl who is more naughty than nice (this according to Aviva). She has no memories of the year in which the film is set: "I came along in '84."

Born Aviva Farber, she made a name for herself in a strong supporting role as a good-time girl in last summer's teen-comedy hit Superbad. She returns to Santa Fe for a screening of Forgiving the Franklins, which opens the Santa Fe Film Festival. This comedy-drama, directed and written by Jay Floyd, features Aviva as a straight-laced, Christian cheerleader who can't figure out why a car accident would transform the rest of her family members from conservative churchgoers to free spirits who talk openly about sex.

Aviva recalled making her first commercial for Downy fabric softener at the age of 6. It was about that time she started studying at just about every local dance school, including Aspen Santa Fe Ballet, Charisma, Moving People Dance Theatre, and Cathy Roe. She graduated from Santa Fe High School in 2001, worked with California's Oakland Ballet for a while, and then set off in 2003 for Hollywood.

Aviva was walking with a friend on a midnight stroll when she ran into Floyd, who was looking for an actress for Forgiving the Franklins. "He was staring at me from the second we met," she recalled, offering to demonstrate just how he was staring — which just doesn't translate well over the telephone. "Five seconds later he said, 'I've got this script, and I think you're the girl.' Two weeks later we were doing a reading around a table, and next thing you know, we're at Sundance." (The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2006.)

In a phone interview, Floyd said Aviva was a delight. "When you give her a direction, it's almost like installing a software program. Just wait a moment for it to upload, and she'll get it right. She's genuinely one of the nicest people you could meet, but I suppose people might look at her and think, You'd make a great bitch! But she's not. She's like an elfin wood nymph."

Aviva described Forgiving the Franklins as controversial. "After attending some screenings and hearing the questions it's brought up, I would definitely call it thought provoking. People talk afterward. That's what a good movie is — something that inspires conversation."

Does Superbad have the same power? "That inspires a very different kind of conversation," she explained. "What I admire about Superbad is that the comedy is so honest. People really identify with the story." She had a comedy-filled seduction scene with Christopher Mintz-Plasse (who plays Fogell), and she recalled that because the actor was only 17 when they filmed the sequence, his mother stood nearby overseeing the shooting.

But, she added, "I don't think I have to worry about being stereotyped as the dumb sexpot redhead. Since then I've done one episode of [the CBS series] Cold Case in which I play a completely opposite character, an insecure girl who murders her best friend. But like they say in L.A., take it to the bank. If they want to cast me in those roles for a while, I'm happy to do them and then evolve."

There is a lot she wants to do in that evolution. Dance again. Maybe direct. Do theater in New York. Don't expect her to get on a bike, though. "I can't ride a bicycle. I was so hyperactive as a kid that my parents put me in every other activity — gymnastics, karate, dance, pottery — but they never got to the bicycle part." Otherwise she has nothing but kind words about how supportive her parents have been. "I honestly don't how people can do this without that love from home."

As for Spring Break '83, scheduled to be released next year, she said, "It's going to be hilarious. We've got all sorts of great cameos from John Goodman, Lee Majors, Downtown Julie Brown, and Joey Pants [Pantoliano] from The Sopranos. It's like a spoof of all of those great '80s movies that we all love so much: Better Off Dead, One Crazy Summer, Meatballs, Revenge of the Nerds. It was like getting paid to hang out with your friends and goof around. I got to do a Slip 'n Slide a few days ago, and there's a pie fight!"

So, in other words, she was doing antics?

"Yeah!" she said with a hearty laugh.

But what about the dropping of her surname?

"One name in this business, that's enough," she said. "It's enough
for people to try and get Aviva."

details

• Forgiving the Franklins, with Aviva in attendance
• 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 28
• Armory for the Arts Theater, 1050 Old Pecos Trail
• $10, 989-1495