Katharine McPhee is living proof that American Idol can turn you into a star in more ways than one. After wowing Idol fans with her vocals, McPhee has now spread her wings into the acting world in the same manner as ex-Idol Jennifer Hudson. Although McPhee hasn't gotten the big acting break like Hudson did with DreamGirls, Katharine has landed a role as a lost sorority mate in the recently released girl-comedy The House Bunny, next to Anna Faris, Emma Stone, Rumer Willis, Dana Goodman and Kat Dennings.

At the film's press junket in L.A., McPhee spoke to journalists about bridging the gap between a career in music and becoming an actress.

Having gotten your start on American Idol, I’d hate to compare you to Jennifer Hudson.

KATHARINE MCPHEE: [laughs] No, I will not be winning an Academy Award.

Do you have aspirations to get more into feature films or theater?

MCPHEE: Yeah, I am definitely taking each step - I am trying to make the smart decisions and I definitely want to do more film and theater. I feel like I’ll do it at some point. It’s not my main focus right now, but I start shooting a movie in August with Wes Bentley so I’m just taking my time. This movie was so great because I really, you know, it’s not like I was carrying the movie on my shoulder. But, yes, I get to do press junkets. I’ve done a lot of press events, but what’s a press junket? So I’ve gotten to learn a lot of things and work with like great people like Anna and Emma and Rumer. And Rumer, this was kind of one of her first big movies so it just felt good to be in a group with professionals and people who were just starting. And, yes, to answer your question, I’d love to do more of this kind of stuff.

Have you ever been in a position where you felt like an outsider and do you recall any specific instances and how did you deal with it?

MCPHEE: That’s kind of the question of the day. It’s a good question. I’m not going to say I was a dork in high school, but I definitely had - I struggled with weight in high school. I had times where I didn’t really want to hang out with the cool kids. I was kind of like being a librarian and keeping to myself. So, I think, everybody has a moment in their life where they feel not so comfortable in their skin or connected to what we call the popular group or whatever. That was my extent of feeling like an outsider.

What made you come out of your shell?

MCPHEE: Well, I was involved in a theater group, theater parts in high school, so that sort of kept me really busy and then swim team. So I’m not going to call myself a dork, I had friends and stuff, but I was friends with a lot of different people in high school. So, I guess that was my outlet, but it was always kind of my outlet growing up, being playing and acting, stuff like that.

Can you talk about wearing that fake belly, and does that make you want to get pregnant soon?

MCPHEE: Well, guys, I have great news [laughs] Well, I had two different bellies. One that was prosthetic and one that was like a pregnant pad, which I showed very graphically how it connects at the bottom. It was very uncomfortable in the dead of summer, so I wore that one more often than the actual prosthetic, because the prosthetic is really just specifically when there is a sheer T-shirt, where you can see the belly button and all that kind of stuff. Before I actually got married I was like I wanted to have kids right away and all this stuff. And then I got married and totally changed and was like, ‘No.’ And I think that has to do with wearing a pregnant pad for two months, so thank you House Bunny.

When you are singing karaoke you are playing someone who doesn’t sing all the time. Was it hard to not be you, but still be okay?

MCPHEE: My first instinct was to honestly not - like that would be random if she just suddenly sings well. That just would not make any sense. Like, 'Oh, there’s Katharine McPhee singing a good song.' So, no, my instinct was obviously to not sing it good. But I for some reason went to the director, maybe because he’s the director, and I was like, 'I shouldn’t sing this good, right?' He’s like, 'No, you should sing it good.' I was like, 'No, I don’t think she would sing this good.' He’s like, 'Oh, I understand what you mean. No, you shouldn’t sing this good.' I had to double check, so I was a little confused for a second. But that was one of the... remember how hot it was when we shot that? That was a real highlight, that whole scene. So thank you, I did a good job I guess. I sounded bad.

In hindsight what do you think you learned the most from the whole Idol experience? Did you expect to be doing now what you are doing as an actor?

MCPHEE: [laughs] It was all part of my master plan. Oh goodness, I guess what I’ve learned probably from all of that is sort of that there is trial and error and there also is patience. I always knew that there would be an opportunity to not only have a singing career, but also to actually... because I had representation at the time, I had to cut all my contracts with my agents and stuff and I had known that that would probably help get a better agent and better management and have more doors opened. That’s how I looked at it, as an opportunity. Not because I expected to come off the show and be able to book any movie I wanted or make as many records as I wanted. I knew that it would open doors and I would have to do the work from there. So it just kind of gave me a leap, a little bit bigger of a leap than I would have had.