Singer Vanessa Paradis, France's most famous teenager, takes on America.

Body language is universal. So even if your grasp of French stops at haute couture, crepes Suzette, and ooh la la, you'll have no problem understanding Vanessa Paradis. Catch her on the set as she snatches a baseball cap from the photographer's assistant and plops it atop her chignon -- that tells you this nineteen-year-old Parisian is playful, flirtatious... and a little bored. After all, modeling isn't her main gig -- singing is. Haven't heard of her? Well, she's about as mega in her homeland as Madonna is here -- a major disco-pop star, with three albums and assorted smash singles under her belt. And the disc she's doing now is sure to make waves stateside, seeing how she's collaborating with a very high-profile American rock star.

"I was at my record company and we were talking about finding an American producer, and I said, 'Okay, I'd like Lenny Kravitz,'" Vanessa relates in her R-rolling purr. "But I never thought it would happen; it was just a dream. Then I got a call saying, 'Lenny Kravitz is in Paris and he'd like to meet you.' I thought it was a joke!" Well, no joke: The two met at a studio and despite the language barrier that existed at the time, they somehow managed to communicate -- and decided to work together.

With rocking-out Lenny writing the songs and doing the arrangements, the upcoming album will be a change from Vanessa's usual style. "It will be very different," she reveals. "A lot of soul, blues, funk, rock, and underground." Perfect, considering Vanessa's mixed bag of personal faves: Prince, Aretha Franklin, James Brown, Rickie Lee Jones, and The Doors.

While she's excited about the project, this slender singer has the self-possessed air of someone well-acquainted with the limelight. Which makes sense, since she's been a star for years. "I always knew I wanted to be an artist. I didn't know if I wanted to be an actress or a singer, but the idea of waking up at eight, going to the office and sitting at a desk -- no way!" Her bohemian beat was quite obvious when she came to New York to work with Lenny. Though booked into one of the city's coolest hotels, Vanessa quickly set about finding a loft in Soho -- the artsy area in Manhattan -- to stay in.

Here's how her brilliant career got its start: Her uncle introduced her to his best friend, Franck Langolff, who happened to be a creative type in the music biz. Vanessa swears she had no clue that her uncle was urging his friend to write a song for her. Finally, when Vanessa was fourteen, Franck came through. "It was like, Oh, we're going to make the little girl and give her a song," Vanessa explains, adding that when the tune, "Joe le Taxi," went to number one, "We were all surprised!"

Fortunately for Vanessa, she never had to choose just one of the different artistic forms that appealed to her. Right after she finished her second album, she landed her first movie: Noce Blanche (the English version was called White Wedding). "It's about a young girl who falls in love with her philosophy professor, who's married," Vanessa explains. "It's a tragic film because I'm dying for him at the end, dying for love."

Now, with her acting and singing in full swing, Vanessa's doing the mannequin thing -- not just for these pages but for the Chanel perfume Coco. Don't get the wrong idea, though: "I'm not a model at all! Chanel and Vanessa Paradis are working together," she says very forcefully. "It's like an association."

Not that she minds wearing the most incredible clothes on the planet. "I'm a woman -- I love clothes!" says Vanessa. "I can't say what my style is," she insists. "I could wear the clothes I wear for Chanel, but I also wear jeans, T-shirts, boots, and no makeup, and I'm like, Just leave me alone! I'm great like this! Oh, and sometimes I like to wear a sexy woman's suit... or a man's suit... or shorts -- it just depends on my mood." On the day she stopped by at our office, Vanessa was dressed neo-hippie style (the Lenny Kravitz influence, perhaps?): hair parted in the middle, black flares, a scoop-neck top, and a jean jacket that had to be a few years older than she is.

Beyond boutique-hopping, what does Vanessa do for fun? "I don't know if you'd call it fun, but I love to go see my parents and my little sister, who's eight years old and so cute!" Vanessa also enjoys hanging out with her friends, but it's got to be spontaneous. "We never plan anything. It's Friday night and we just say, 'Let's go!'"

This kind of relaxed night on the town, though, is a pretty rare thing, given all the travel her career involves. "I've always wanted to live an adventure," she says. "You discover new people, new culture, new places -- I love new things!" America definitely got her seal of approval: "I'm like reborn, because nobody knows me here. I can walk around Central Park, eat a slice of pizza. In Paris, I can't really be myself -- a hundred eyes are always looking at me."

Such is the fate of the super famous. It's also tough to be in love and live an adventure. "I don't have a boyfriend right now, but I was with a guy for three years, and it was so strong. But now it is over because my life is like this, and I've been concentrating on my music." In that vein, Vanessa's been doing some songwriting, but her originals won't appear on the new album. "I can't write in English yet. In French you can say some very nice things that would look stupid in English," she says.

Although our language may be slowing down her songwriting, Vanessa has nothing but good things to say about the USA. "People here are so open; they let you get to know them right away," she says, which is right in sync with her personal belief system: "I think you have to be the most sincere and simple you can be. Beauty is inside you, and if you're wonderful inside, that's all you need," she explains. "It's nice to see someone with the perfect nose, perfect mouth, perfect eyes -- but where is the charm? I like when a face isn't perfect," Vanessa says, parting her lips in her own very sincere, very charming gap-toothed smile.