a horse was the primary reason for its cancellation. The three filmed episodes were re-edited and released later in 2000 as the direct-to-video film Cruel Intentions 2. Despite a negative critical reception, Nathan Rabin of The A.V. Club wrote that Adams plays her "alpha-bitch role with vicious glee largely missing from Sarah Michelle Gellar's sterile take on the character". Adams next had a supporting role as the teenage nemesis of a movie star (played by Kimberly Davies) in Psycho Beach Party (2000), a horror parody of beach party and slasher films. She played the part as a homage to actress Ann-Margret. From 2000 to 2002, Adams appeared in guest roles in several television series, including That '70s Show, Charmed, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Smallville, and The West Wing. Following brief roles in three small-scale features of 2002The Slaughter Rule, Pumpkin, and Serving SaraAdams got her first high-profile part in Steven Spielberg's comedy-drama Catch Me If You Can. She played Brenda Strong, a nurse with whom Frank Abagnale Jr. (played by Leonardo DiCaprio) falls in love. The film raised her confidence. Despite the film's success and praise for her "warm presence" from Variety critic Todd McCarthy, it failed to boost her career. She was unemployed for a year after its release, leading her to almost quit film acting. Adams instead enrolled in acting classes, realizing that she had "a lot to learn and a lot of self-growth to work through". Her career prospects seemingly improved a year later when she received a lucrative offer to star as a regular in the CBS television drama Dr. Vegas, but she was dropped after a few episodes. In film, she only had a minor role in the Fred Savage-starring The Last Run (2004). Breakthrough with Junebug and Enchanted (2005–2007) Disillusioned by her firing from Dr. Vegas, Adams, aged 30, considered quitting acting altogether after completing work on the independent comedy-drama Junebug, which had a production budget of under $1 million. Directed by Phil Morrison, the film featured her as Ashley Johnsten, a perky and talkative pregnant woman. Morrison was impressed with Adams's ability to not question her character's inherently good motives. She connected with Johnsten's faith in God and spent time with Morrison in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, where the film is set, attending church. She described making the film as "the summer I grew into myself", and after dyeing her hair red for the