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People who prefer their Art to blur with Real-Life might intitially find 22-year-old Lauren Ambrose something of a faint disappointment. As Claire, the teenage daughter of Six Feet Under's Fisher dynasty, she's managed to condense America's favourite gesture, the one-finger-salute, into a whole persona: suitably surly, like totally unimpressed by most things, but never averse to trying out new - and, where possible, illegal - experiences.

In real life, however, the flame-haired toe-sucking renegade is a far gentler figure. Less aggressive than her onscreen character, she's happily occupying the post-hype plateau of someone who's landed that career-sealing role but - as befits a former East Coast girl - isn't about to have any truck with LA's ever-present, "You're just so cool!" ass-kissing machine.

"I always knew this was where I was headed," says Ambrose, after a moment's quiet reflection, "and I was warned about how risky this business is. It may not be a traditional education," she shrugs, "but it's sure an interesting one." She has a point. When your opening scene shows you taking your first hit of crstal meth, it's fairly clear that we're not gearing up for some Party Of Five tableau here. "Actually, I was kind of nervous back then," admits Ambrose. "While we were shooting the pilot, and I was dealing with my father's death whilst being high on crystal meth, and the tension of what would happen with this show, and whether it would be picked up… that was really hard for me. I became really protective of the show. But as soon as we started making the series I let all that go."

Ambrose's CV to date features some well-regarded roles in small-budget films (we'll gloss over Psycho Beach Party), the usual drama series guest-roles, all garnering glowing praise, but never quite allowing Ambrose to register on the public's star-radar. "And then Six Feet Under came along," she grins. "I read the script for the pilot, and I just thought it was a great read, wonderful characters, so well crafted, and such an interesting world, I just wanted to be a part of it."

Her confidence isn't without basis, of course. Six Feet Under is currently filming its third season in Hollywood, and our meeting, just off Sunset Boulevard, is monitored, Big-Brother-like, by an eight-storey poster of Claire and family, peering down at us. "That kind of thing is so weird," she giggles uncomfortably, looking up at the poster. "I mean, they're kind of used to it in LA, I guess, but we were shooting a driving scene near here the other day, and that's nothing extraordinary to the people here, but the moment they see that green hearse they immediately know which show it is."

And the response to the Girl With The Green Hearse? "They were screaming out 'Claire! We love you!'" grins Ambrose, before adding "We have a very classy audience - they're an intelligent bunch." As far as identification markers go, to the hearse, we can certainly add the severed foot which recently found its way into the locker of Claire's errant on-off boyfriend. "I was at a gig the other week," recalls Ambrose, "and this guy about two rows in front of me kept turning round and looking. It was beginning to feel creepy, and then all of a sudden he yells out 'Hey! That's the girl who stole the foot!'"

All part and parcel of the public's long-standing tradition of confusing the actor with the role, of course, although it makes you wonder how they approach the girl who - in the very first epsiode of the show - was informed of her father's untimely death just as she'd had her first hit of crystal meth. Surely Joe Public wouldn't be so stupid as to think he could now score off Lauren Ambrose? She seems utterly horrified when I suggest this. And not in a good way. "Erm… you realise I have a husband," she starts to explain, before the transatlantic penny drops. "Oh," she gasps, "You mean score drugs off me?" Reassuringly, she almost falls out of her chair laughing. "I thought you meant 'score' as in getting laid! No no no. No on both counts, actually," she smiles, "the public haven't made that mistake yet."

That crystal meth scene, though, set a kind of moral tone for the show, though, that tone being one of ambiguity. You generally expect any drug-user in an American drama to be forced to suffer the consequences, those consequences generally being doled out by The Authorities, mmkay? "That's what's wonderful about working with HBO," confirms Ambrose. "The lack of restrictions. It's such a strange way to introduce a character, isn't it? I think in all fairness, that Claire punishes herself for taking the crystal, but she never actually gets into trouble for it."

For now, Ambrose is still keeping that ass-kissing machine at bay with a barely-disguised disdain for the periforal elements associated with her career. "You're expected to drive the right car, wear the right clothes and say the right things, aren't you?" she grimaces. "I came to LA to work and become a better actress, not to be a star. The fun is in the work, believe me. This is one good gig."

• HBO
• Seven - http://www.seven-mag.com/