By Ethan Aames in New York City

Our own Thomas Chau first declared his love for pop/R&B singer Christina Milian when in November 2003, he was quoted in the national trade ads for “Love Don’t Cost a Thing” as saying “Milian and Cannon are awesome together.” Well, truth is, he wanted to say “Milian and Chau are awesome together” but I think the first quote would’ve sold more tickets.

The beauty from Jersey City, New Jersey joins a stellar cast in “Be Cool,” the sequel to 1995’s “Get Shorty” in which John Travolta reprises his role as Chilli Palmer, a former shark loan who decides to leave his past and become a Hollywood producer. And while Chilli spent his time learning the ropes behind the camera in the first film, he finds himself jumping into the music business when he meets a young singing protégé, Linda Moon (Milian). But as he quickly finds out, the music business can be even crazier than he ever expected.

Below, Christina speaks about her own singing career and working with the cast and crew of “Be Cool.”

Q: Can you tell us who your character is and what she’s about?

CHRISTINA: Well, she’s an aspiring singer/songwriter who comes to Hollywood to pursue her career and dream. Unfortunately, she gets stuck in a really bad record deal by a company run by Vince Vaughn and Harvey Keitel. They’re really sleezy. She signed with them and she’s also in a really bad girl group called the Chicks International ala Spice Girls. It seems like there’s no hope or no way getting out of it. They won’t let her get out of her deal and she doesn’t do the music she loves to do. Really, she’s the voice of the group. But she hears about Chilli Palmer, a movie producer, and he sees the talent in the girl and finds out how humble she is – that she’s a real girl, a church girl. She has a dream but she can’t get out of her situation. He becomes inspired so that’s how he gets into the music business: to help this girl.

Q: How was working with an acting icon such as John Travolta?

CHRISTINA: It was an amazing experience actually. I was learning a lot. The whole time I was taking in the whole situation because never in my life did I ever imagine working with him. I’ve been watching him my whole entire life and he’s an A+ actor so I was extremely nervous. My first couple of days actually my hands were sweaty and my legs were shaking. To this day, if I sit next to him, it’s the same thing. Still, it was really sweet. It’s nice to be around people who’ve been around for so long, to be so humble, and see that Hollywood hasn’t affected them. They’re good at what they do. I was watching to see how he got in his character and prepare for the future.

Q: How tough was it to keep a straight face around Vince Vaughn?

CHRISTINA: [Laughs] Very tough. Vince Vaughn, the character he plays, is hilarious. He stays in character on and off the camera! In the movie, he’s yelling at me all the time. In the middle of lunch, all of a sudden, he’s like, “Linda! Linda!” And for anyone who doesn’t know he’s in character, they’re looking at him like, “Yo, what’s up?” The first time he did it to me, I was like “Do I stay in character? We’re not at camera!” So I started to get into it because I thought it would help him out. It was good to watch him so maybe later on, when I do a character like that, I will just stay in character and do that and focus on the character. But that guy was hilarious. F. Gary Gray, the director, he couldn’t help himself but laugh so we had to do a couple of takes over and over again.

Q: You have a great scene where you duet with Steven Tyler and Aerosmith on stage. Were you nervous?

CHRISTINA: Performing with Aerosmith, really, I was speechless. We actually shot this scene live. It was at an Aerosmith concert in Boston. There were 30,000 fans and we were singing one of their songs, “Cryin.” I was really nervous because it’s their song, the fans were there to see them, and they didn’t know who I was and I didn’t want to mess-up the song. I’ve been watching Aerosmith forever and singing with Steven Tyler was a whole new experience. I was a little shaky but the moment I got up there in stage, I think my confidence went through the sky because having the band there and the audience screaming. It was amazing. I think we had an automatic connection. The chemistry was great on stage and we shot it live three times on stage. I had a beautiful time with him. I felt like I was a part of the band by them.

Q: How are things with Nick [Cannon]? Did you do anything fun for Valentine’s Day?

CHRISTINA: Well everything’s going well with Nick. As you guys know, we’re dating. We’re best friends. Everything’s going wonderful. For Valentine’s Day, actually, we had the premiere of “Be Cool.” We’ve been so busy lately but really I don’t need anything. I’m happy just spending time with him.

Q: How was performing in the movie as an actress different from performing as a singer?

CHRISTINA: Performing throughout the movie, it was different for me. When I got the role of Linda Moon, I knew for me, I put a lot of pressure for me. I heard hundreds of girls had auditioned for the role. There were R&B girls, there were rap girls, all of them, they all wanted the role. I didn’t expect to get it at all. Even when I auditioned for it, I just wanted to meet F. Gary Gray. I thought that this was the best opportunity for me because honestly, in my career, it’s been a long haul. It’s been a nice climb and I knew having this would make a lot of things happen for me. When I went into the studio to record some of the songs, I really pushed myself. I didn’t want people to just see Christina Milian the performer, but her as Linda Moon. I had to learn how to play the piano again for this movie so I’m glad I got to showcase different talents in the movie.

Q: So how exactly does one “dip it low”?

CHRISTINA: [Laughs] You haven’t seen the video? You give a little booty and definitely it’s a little dig I like to do. [Laughs]

"Be Cool" opens in theaters March 4th.