westerneventsandweddings.com

Walk with Jenna Elfman down a crowded street and you’re likely to hear people whisper, “Isn’t that Dharma?” As the poster child for ABC’s hit sitcom “Dharma & Greg,” the 27-year-old actress is used to being mistaken for her New Age alter ego.

That could change soon. With a leading role opposite Matthew McConaughey in the new film “EDtv,” opening March 26, Elfman is positioned to leap from small-screen yoga instructor to big-screen sensation. She’s also set to appear this fall in “Town & Country,” a film starring Warren Beatty, Goldie Hawn and Diane Keaton.

In the following audio interview, Elfman sounds off about her career, social life (or lack thereof) and affinity for cheap chocolate.

What happens when an average guy signs up to have his life filmed for a 24-hour cable station? For one thing, his relationship hits rocky times. In “EDtv,” Elfman plays the average guy’s camera-shy girlfriend. Thrown into the public eye without a chance to change out of her brown UPS outfit, Shari is the one character in the film that isn’t bowled over by her newfound fame.

While Elizabeth Hurley plays a model who swoops in to co-opt Shari’s boyfriend, Elfman’s character is intentionally glamourless. “She’s a working-class girl,” Elfman says, adding that it took time to perfect Shari’s “everyday woman” look. “I didn’t want to be some chichi actress trying to look pretty and not being true to the role,” she says.

Molly Ringwald fans may remember Elfman from her role in the short-lived 1996 sitcom “Townies.” The rest of the world knows her as Dharma Finkelstein, a yoga teacher who impulsively marries a corporate lawyer on their first date. The couple’s ying-yang relationship has fueled two hit seasons, and garnered Elfman a Golden Globe and an Emmy nomination for Best Actress.

To top it off, Elfman swears the job is fun. “It doesn’t even feel like I’m going to work,” she says. “I feel like I’m going to hang out at a friend’s house.”

Unlike her “EDtv” persona Shari, who’s thrust into the limelight overnight, Elfman’s turn as a celebrity came after years of acting in commercials and playing small roles. “I worked hard for it, so I don’t feel like it just landed in my lap,” she says. “But I continue to work really hard, and I don’t ever want to rest on my laurels and get comfy.”

How does Elfman balance her thriving acting career and her personal life? “I’m not some big party chick, so it’s not like I have to keep up my big social life,” she says. Her biggest priorities are spending time with her husband, actor Bodhi Elfman (who appeared in “Armageddon” and “Enemy of the State”), and keeping up with her drum playing and painting. “I keep it simple so I can stay focused,” Elfman says.

As for guilty pleasures, the decidedly lithe actress claims to have a sweet tooth. “I don’t like rich, Godiva chocolate,” she says. “I like cheap white trash in the little foil, in the little mesh bag, chocolate. You know, like the chocolate coins? Yeah, I love that stuff.”