From Box Office to Books: Salenger Off Camera

Even when a star is born, she still needs an education. And for Meredith Dawn Salenger, Harvard was the obvious choice.

Like Brooke Shields and Jodie Foster, teen idol Salenger has replaced Hollywood scripts with Ivy League textbooks.

"I'm really excited about education," says Salenger, who is a freshman. "I have always wanted to learn about everything."

Best known for her role as River Phoenix's mistreated girlfriend in the 1986 comedy A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon, the Mower Hall resident has been called one of Hollywood's brightest and busiest new stars.

She has performed in five feature films, including the newly released thriller, The Kiss." Her newest film--Dream a Little Dream, co-starring Jason Robards, Corey Feldman and Corey Haim--is slated for release next month. And she says Paramount Pictures has agreed to produce a script she is writing.

But for now, Salenger is between acts.

While she says she plans to make movies during summer vacations--she has five offers for this June--during the school year education will be her priority.

"I'd take a semester off if an amazing part came along that I couldn't pass up," says Salenger, who won the 1984 Youth in Films award for Best Actress for her role as the title character in The Journey of Natty Gann.

"But I definitely want to graduate, if it takes me four years or 12."

The 18-year-old says she came to Harvard even though the school does not offer a concentration in drama.

"I know there's more I can learn about acting, but I think I've pretty much got the basics," Salenger says.

Instead, the Los Angeles native says she plans to concentrate in psychology because the field's emphasis on human nature will help her with acting, scriptwriting and directing--activities she says she hopes to pursue.

While Salenger says she is thrilled by the idea of four years at Harvard, her agent is less enthusiastic.

Jeff Krask says his client's decision to postpone her acting career is "okay."

"I don't know if it will be a problem," Krask says. "Her priority right now is school."

And Krask says he doubts her College stint will bar her from Hollywood's golden gates.

"I have no idea what she'll want after four years of school. But if she wants to, she can be a star," Krask says.

Her publicist, Jim Dobson, is even more optimistic.

"She's a brilliant actress," Dobson says, adding, "She's so natural, she really can make people laugh and cry."

And, he gushes, "Eventually, she'll be making Academy-Award winning films."

So when Playboy asked her to pose nude, Salenger and her advisors agreed she should pose for nothing more revealing than a fashion layout.

"She wants to be respected for her talent," Dobson says. "She loves to be considered a beautiful, sexy young actress, but she's not a big-breasted Hollywood bimbo."

But Salenger, who turned down a producer's request that she bare more than her soul in Jimmy Reardon, does not rule out the possibility of someday eliminating no-nudity clauses from her film contracts--if she thinks it "necessary."

Salenger says her theatrical career began accidentally. She was on location at the set of Annie watching her sister rehearse a dance routine when a girl playing a background orphan became ill. A producer saw her and decided she was right for the part. At age 10, her career was underway. Four years later, Salenger landed her first starring role in Natty Gann. Since that time, she says she has maintained a whirlwind schedule.

That schedule left little time for studying, but Salenger says having "kind of a photographic memory" helped her "learn six months of school in a weekend."

"Yeah, people say it's not a normal childhood," she says. "But I've maintained the same friends since seventh grade. I do normal things. I've just done less of them."

All About `Mer'

"Fame has never gone to her head," says Salenger's mother, Dottie Lewis, a Los Angeles interior decorator. "I told her I'd never let her act if she ever stopped being nice, but she is, she's really a nice girl. She deserves success--she's worked hard for it."

Salenger's roommate, Tanya S.J. Selvaratnam '92, says the performer is easy to live with.

"She's a normal person who happens to be a movie star," Selvaratnam says. "Everyone expects her to be a glitzy bitch, but she makes everyone feel so comfortable. She's a warm, considerate person with a lot of energy."

Salenger's best friend, Natasha Gregson Wagner, says, "Meredith may be a little egotistical, but not to the point where it's become a problem. She's a great friend. She's bouncy, perky and fun to be with."

Wagner, who is the daughter of Robert Wagner and Natalie Wood, adds that few of Salenger's fellow performers envy her education.

"I don't think too many of them are smart enough to realize how admirable what she's doing is," Wagner says.

Salenger says she has plans for the future. After graduation, she hopes to attend the University of Southern California's film school to learn directing. She will also continue scriptwriting. And of course, she plans to keep up her acting career.

"I'd like to keep playing diverse roles with depth," Salenger says. "I like playing strong-willed characters that go through a metamorphosis, like my character in The Kiss."

Salenger says she also hopes to work on the Broadway stage, but a slight problem has prevented her from auditioning yet.

"Believe it or not, I have stage fright," Salenger says. "Ever since I began with camera work, I've been terrified in front of an audience. But I'll deal with that later."

Salenger says she is presently making costumes for the all-male Hasty Pudding Theatricals production, but she doesn't plan to audition for Harvard productions.

"I'll check the Common Casting [brochure] to see if anything really interests me, but I doubt it," she said before the start of this semester. "I'm probably just afraid of rejection."

But her mother does not see rejection in the tea leaves.

"I think Meredith feels, 'Oh my God, is Hollywood going to open its doors when I come back? Lewis says. But, she adds, "I think the industry will respect her for pursuing an education."

And Salenger says she feels the same way.

"People ask me how I do it all. If you just do it it will happen. I'm going to work hard to get the best education I can and be the best actress I can be. I think with hard work and optimism, people can achieve whatever they want," she says. "What I've done is really nothing special."