Sarah Michelle Gellar, Keri Russell, Katie Holmes, Alyson Hannigan -- the list goes on.

While Kristin Kreuk has accepted the possibility that she'll become another brightly shining teen starlet born of The WB Network, thanks to her role as Lana Lang on the promising rookie drama "Smallville" (The WB, 9 p.m. ET, Tuesdays), she thinks she'll distinguish herself from the pack.

"I haven't really thought about the comparison thing," says the actress at a media schmooze-fest where she's too young to drink the alcohol being served.

"I think that I'm different from other actresses on WB. Partly because of my Asian side -- my look -- I don't think I come across like Katie Holmes does on-screen."

Canadian-born Kreuk, whose only other television work is ABC Family's (formerly Fox Family Channel) "Edgemont" has a self-deprecating sense of humor and a sincerity that distinguishes her from actresses who have gotten caught up, as Kreuk describes it, in "this 'look-what's-happening-to-me,' magazine-spread thing."

Both her roles have been of a young girl who seems to transcend the typical teen trappings.

"I would never say that I was more mature than anybody else," Kreuk offers as a disclaimer. "You know what people say about teen-agers -- everything in their lives is so important, every little thing matters. I never was like that."

"It was always about finding out about myself, and finding about who I am, and how to be happy and peaceful and find balance," she says. "I guess that comes across in the characters I play."

Whether she'll find peace in the eye of an upcoming hurricane of fame remains to be seen.

Hometown: Vancouver, BC. "I've been so lucky because every show I've worked on has shot in Vancouver. I get to stay at home, live with my parents -- I'm planning on moving," she says, laughing.

Heritage: "I'm half-Chinese, half-Dutch." But born in Canada.

Hobbies: "I'm a home-body. I love reading a book at the beach, or going swimming."

Heroes: "I admire Sarah Polley -- both her acting and her ability to step away from Hollywood. She's so intelligent, and it's great that there's someone out there like that who's young."

Hangs out with: "All my friends are thinkers. Nothing particular in life has forced me to mature, just little things. My parents both worked, so I was independent from an early age."