In the film “Kick-Ass 2,” the villainess Brooke is subject to a comeuppance so repulsive that it might forever stain your view of the actress portraying her.
But West Lafayette native Claudia Lee, who plays the role, is confident enough in her beauty and style to laugh off a gross-out sequence on par with the dress-fitting scene in “Bridesmaids” or the pie-eating contest in “Stand By Me.”
“It was lots of fun filming it,” Lee said during a phone interview. “All I can say is it took one take.”
The 17-year-old will make her feature-film debut in “Kick-Ass 2,” which arrives in theaters on Friday.
TV viewers have seen Lee as a recurring character on two seasons of the CW series “Hart of Dixie,” and she’s been hired as a regular cast member of “Surviving Jack” — a sitcom set to premiere on Fox for the 2013-14 season.
With blond starlet looks in the tradition of Grace Kelly (then) and Taylor Swift (now), Lee is a newly minted target of Hollywood paparazzi.
“I don’t choose to be photographed, but they certainly do find me,” said Lee, who’s lived in Los Angeles since January 2010. “I guess maybe I should find some new hiding places.”
It’s unlikely that street shooters will ever catch fashionable Lee looking anything other than photo-ready.
She modeled gowns by Canadian designer Dalia MacPhee for an underwater photo shoot in March, and Lee wears the work of Armani, Isabel Marant and AllSaints during red-carpet appearances.
On July 31, Lee was a guest of designer Max Azria when he previewed an upcoming collection at a poolside party.
“I’m the type of person who always loves dressing up,” she said. “My friends know that. I’ll be the person who takes a cute dress and some heels over jeans and a sweatshirt any day.”
On Lee’s Twitter and Instagram profiles (more than 110,000 and 11,000 followers, respectively), she frequently adds the hashtag #BusyBeingChic to posts related to day-to-day activities.
“‘Chic’ means pure elegance, so it’s something we all kind of live by — to be elegant and classy and top of the line,” Lee said.
Lee, the daughter of Purdue University alumni Klaudius and Denise Mirkowski, has had her sights on stardom since age 7.
“I would bombard my parents with these questions: Why am I not on TV? Why am I not in Hollywood? Why don’t I have an agent,” Lee told The Star in 2011. “I think it was a red flag. They put me in dance classes to calm me down.”
The Mirkowskis eventually enrolled Claudia at a School of Cinema and Performing Arts camp in Vermont in 2009.
The teenager’s big break arrived when the family of a fellow camper had enough Hollywood ties to introduce Lee to high-profile talent agent Harry Abrams. The Abrams Artists Agency helped Lee secure auditions, which led to a Comcast TV commercial and a recurring role on Disney XD sitcom “Zeke and Luther.”
In Los Angeles, one of Lee’s close friends is Garrett Clayton, star of the Disney Channel’s current hit “Teen Beach Movie.” The made-for-cable film is Disney’s biggest hit since “High School Musical,” and Clayton bears more than a passing resemblance to “HSM’s” breakout star, Zac Efron.
Lee declined to confirm or deny if she and Clayton are romantically linked.
“I enjoy the time I’ve been spending with Garrett,” she said. “I think he’s a lovely person and a wonderful human being.”
Lee’s “Kick-Ass 2” character wouldn’t be characterized as lovely on the inside.
Brooke is the high-school nemesis of Mindy Macready (portrayed by Chloe Grace Moretz), who fights crime away from study hall as the vigilante Hit-Girl.
“(Brooke) is hardcore, cutthroat,” Lee said. “She’s very blunt, manipulative and insecure. Her insecurities enhance all those qualities that make her even more of a mean girl.”
“Kick-Ass 2” already is being framed as a violent thrill ride in the tradition of “Kill Bill,” “Goodfellas” and “A Clockwork Orange.”
The Motion Picture Association of America has given an R rating to “Kick-Ass 2,” noting its “strong violence, pervasive language, crude and sexual content and brief nudity.”
In June, Jim Carrey distanced himself from “Kick-Ass 2” because of its violent content. Carrey, who portrays Colonel Stars and Stripes, tweeted that the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting caused him to have “a change (of) heart.”
Lee said she’s not apprehensive about negative publicity surrounding the movie.
“The first film was controversial, but it pushed the limits in all the right ways,” Lee said. “This film pushes the same limits, but a little bit more forcefully. But, you know, with the second movie you want to make sure there’s more fighting and more action and more comedy.”
Lee said she spends her free time attending concerts, trying out restaurants and playing laser tag. With a parallel career as a singer-songwriter, she’s working on a follow-up to her 2012 album “Here Right Now.”
She performed an excerpt of her song “Take My Hand” on an episode of “Hart of Dixie,” where her Magnolia Breeland character has Tim Matheson as her onscreen father.
On “Surviving Jack,” Lee portrays Rachel Dunlevy, onscreen daughter of lead actor Christopher Meloni (known for his work on 12 seasons of “Law & Order SVU”).
Set in the early 1990s, “Surviving Jack” centers on a headstrong doctor who’s a full-time parent for the first time.
“Our characters are two very similar people because they’re cut from the same cloth,” Lee said. “Rachel gives it back to her dad as much as he gives it to her. It’s a really fun kind of jousting and playfulness.”
On the strength of her Hollywood looks, glamorous lifestyle and memorable roles, Lee is busy turning a childhood dream into chic reality.
Contact Star reporter David Lindquist at (317) 444-6404 or @317lindquist on Twitter.
