By MILAN PAURICH

By MILAN PAURICH
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
CLEVELAND -- Not all movie stars live in Beverly Hills or Manhattan. Monica Potter, the vivacious actress (and Maxim cover girl) who shares top billing with Morgan Freeman in the upcoming "Along Came a Spider," lives right here in Northeast Ohio.
Potter, a Cleveland native, moved back to the area a year and a half ago because, as she said in a recent interview, "This is a great place to raise kids. For one thing, the school system is a lot better here than it is in Los Angeles." And if there's one thing Potter, 29, takes more seriously than her fast-rising movie career, it's being a full-time mom to sons Danny, 10, and Liam, 6.
Of course, there's a downside, too. "In LA, kids that have parents in the industry blend in a little better than they do here. You have to be very careful. ... it's a little different than I expected."
The Euclid High graduate, who began modeling at age 12 for such Cleveland-area department stores as Higbee's and the May Company, likes to keep it simple -- which makes her a bit of an anomaly in Tinseltown.
"I don't want anyone to view me as a 'celebrity' because it cheapens everything I do; that's why I won't go to premieres," she said. "If you're true to your craft, that's a lot more interesting to me, anyway."
Career: Potter has made seven films in the past three years, including such blockbusters as "Con Air" (playing Nicolas Cage's wife) and "Patch Adams" (she was the med student who gets killed). But Potter prefers to alternate between big-ticket studio movies and smaller independent projects like the upcoming "I'm With Lucy," which begins shooting in two weeks.
"I actually laughed out loud while reading the script -- which is pretty rare," Potter said. The film will also give her the chance to work alongside one of her icons, screen legend Julie Christie, who plays her mother. "I'm very close to Robert Towne" -- the writer and director of Potter's 1998 debut, "Without Limits" -- "and he always told me that I reminded him of Julie. Now I get the chance to work with her!"
Potter, who bears a striking resemblance physically and vocally to a certain Oscar-winning "Erin Brockovich" star, acknowledged that she's frequently mistaken for someone else. "It's always 'Julia'-something: Julia Roberts, Juliette Lewis, Juliette Binoche," she said with a laugh.
Recognition: No wonder it was such a treat to her when a group of Japanese exchange students recognized Potter at the Cleveland airport recently and professed to being big fans of her little-seen "The Very Thought of You," a 1999 British romantic comedy that co-starred Joseph Fiennes of "Shakespeare in Love."
"I get tons of letters about that one," she commented. "Sometimes, it's the little movies that fall through the cracks that have the biggest followings."
Working alongside the esteemed Freeman in Paramount Pictures' "Spider" was a big thrill. "Morgan exudes this very knowing quality -- he's unbelievable!" Potter said.
The film's grueling shoot was "very intense" for Potter, who admitted having difficulties with New Zealand-born director Lee Tamahori ("The Edge") on the set. "He was a little tentative at first, but after the first week of production, we came to an understanding, and he actually started giving me direction."
Her role as a Secret Service agent in the film initially intimidated her, but Potter did extensive research for her part and even learned to fire a gun. "This is a real stretch, but I always seem to pick characters that are nothing like me."