If Peta Wilson had her way, all actors would be required to perform naked.

"I think, as an actor, you have a responsibility to expose yourself," she says. "You must take your clotes off."

Now get your minds out of the gutter, people. The star of La Femme Nikita, a darkly stylish series that is part conspiracy thriller, part romantic melodrama, advocates widespread exhibitionism only in the abstract.

Wilson, a husky-voiced, 5-foot-10 blonde from Austrailia, believes that actors unwilling to bare their souls do themselves, their characters and their audiences an enormous disservice.

"It's about being vulnerable," she says. "It's about being as real as you possibly can be. As an actor, you've got to tell the truth about another human being."

You will never catch Wilson going through the motions in La Femme Nikita. In fact, Wilson does nothing halfway. Her life is filled with goals, dreams, growth, purpose.

"I know there aren't many like me out there, if there are any like me at all." she says. "I don't know that I'm the acrtress who can be in the Adam Sandler films, for example. I sometimes wish I COULD be like that."

Instead, she's a bohemian who tries to create art in a business hungry for power and profit.

"I have to maintain the integrity of this character." Wilson say determinedly. "I don't fight the writers because they do the best they can. But sometimes my job is hard when the script goes against everything I know my character to be."

"In those situations, the real story is going on in my silent moments, which are not writable. The dialogue might say one thing, but my actions give it a completely opposite meaning."

That's part makes La Femme Nikita simultaneously real and surreal. Amid the flashy MTV-style visuals and arch melodrama, Wilson's performance at the center is always genuine.

Wilson's character, Nikita, is a trained killer. Her bosses at Section One, the top-secret anti-terriost organization, are as monstrous as the villains they combat. Nikita came into this life unwillingly. She grew up on the mean streets, was wrongly accused of murder, then was given a no-win choice: allow herself to be made over into a killing machine or face execution. Through it all, Nikita held on to her conscience.

The show was supposed to wrap last May. But in the wake of overwhelming fan support (including more than 25,000 e-mails and letters demanding more Nikita, USA negotiated the show's return for eight more hour-long episodes, beginning Jan 7.

Away from La Femme Nikita, Wilson, 30, dreams of establishing a performance arts school for disadvanted and troubled youths.

"These are all Nikita kids, like what my character was." she says. "Just imagine the possibilities if they find an avenue of expression. One nudge in a different direction and they could be the next Marlon Brandos."

Determined to make this a reality, Wilson has already started meeting with educators, administrators and therapists to develop the ideal program and environment for the school. She also has taken it upon herself to hustle up major corporate funding.

"I could wait and do this when I'm 40 or something, but it needs to be done now." she says. "It's a big ambition. I'm not an expert. I'm not anything, just a little actress with a big dream. But that's they way I live my life: Reach for the starts and, even if you don't get there, you might touch a comet along the way."