Heather Graham recalls being labeled ‘nerdy’ before ‘License to Drive’ role

Before Hollywood came calling, Heather Graham said, she was dismissed as a “nerdy” teenager.

The actress recalled being underestimated in high school before landing the popular cheerleader role in “License to Drive,” a turning point she described as a “huge moment” that launched her independence and her career.

“I was nerdy. … You know, I was smart, and I was just, like, nobody thought I was that pretty,” Graham recalled during an episode of “Dinner’s on Me with Jesse Tyler Ferguson.” 

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“So, I got this job as, like, the popular, pretty cheerleader, and I had very bad style and bad hair and makeup. Like, I did not know how to, like, do that. And then people were like, ‘Oh?’

“[The movie] came out right as I was graduating,” Graham added. “And I think people were like, ‘Well, maybe we should have paid attention to her.'”

Graham revealed landing the iconic role as Mercedes Lane in “License to Drive” was a “huge moment” for her at 17.

“It was huge for me. Like, that was a huge moment,” she explained. “I got to make money. I was independent. I had a bank account, you know, and I could live on my own.”

Graham began her career with small roles in commercials and TV before landing teen films such as “Drugstore Cowboy” and “Swingers.”

She got her breakthrough with “Boogie Nights,” “Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me” and “Bowfinger.”

Graham landed a role in the blockbuster film “The Hangover” in 2009. She has since continued acting in films and TV while also expanding into writing and directing projects.

Her latest film, “They Will Kill You,” hit theaters March 27.

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The 56-year-old actress shared some of her beauty secrets in a recent interview with Us Weekly.

Graham claimed she’s “never had an actual operation where they’re cutting my face open.” But she said she has tried a series of other methods, including “microneedling, Botox … and a bunch of lasery things.”

“Some of those laser treatments are torture,” she said. “Like, an hour and a half of your face getting blasted.”

The movie star’s goal is to stay away from invasive plastic surgery because she doesn’t “want to look freaky,” and her “goal is to look natural.”

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“I feel like some people get facelifts and they just kind of end up looking like … I mean, there are people that get it, and it’s good. But I just don’t want to be one of those people that got it and look freaky,” she said. “But I don’t know if [when] I got older, I wouldn’t completely rule out. Who knows, in the future.”

Graham also tries to maintain a balanced diet and get 10 to 11 hours of sleep. She said she uses yoga as a way to stay in shape and manage stress, calling it “so cathartic.”