I’m glad Emma’s playing me... but this broken little girl’s change from Hermione

FOR a fame junkie so obsessed with celebs that she helped ransack their homes, it might seem the ultimate dream — being played on the big screen by A-lister Emma Watson.

But these days, former Hollywood wildchild and convicted thief Alexis Neiers is far more wary of the world of glamour and stardom.
She says of being portrayed by the Harry Potter actress in The Bling Ring, about a group of real-life teens who stole £2million of clothes, cash and accessories from stars: “I’m really happy Emma is playing me.
“I think she is a very talented actress and this will be a big change for her as I am definitely nothing like Hermione Granger. So it will be interesting.

“But if I do have any concerns, it’s that I hope Emma ‘gets’ me. I hope she realises what a troubled, broken little girl she is portraying and how that girl needs help.

Alexis, now 21, served a jail term for her part in stealing £350,000 of bling from the Hollywood mansion shared by British actor Orlando Bloom and his now-wife, model Miranda Kerr, in July 2009.
The haul included a stash of Rolex watches, Louis Vuitton bags, clothing and artworks.
Other celebrities targeted by the group between October 2008 and August 2009 were Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, Audrina Patridge from reality hit The Hills, The OC’s Rachel Bilson and model/actress Megan Fox and her ex-Beverly Hills 90210 star husband Brian Austin Green.

The film, directed by Sofia Coppola, portrays the young thieves — mostly, like Alexis, from privileged backgrounds — as stealing from the famous out of an obsession for possessing their wardrobes and lifestyles.

Emma Watson, 23, has said: “It wasn’t so much about the stealing — it was more that they wanted to pretend for two hours that they were Paris Hilton, that they were living that lifestyle for real.”
Coppola was so worried about giving the thieves what they craved — fame — that she changed the names of all the characters in her film. Alexis’s character is called Nicki.

Alexis — a former pole-dancing instructor — has previously admitted that she was in the thrall of celebrity worship, saying: “It’s an escape.”

Mugshot ... Alexis Neiers in 2009

And, ironically, when she was arrested in October 2009 Alexis had just begun filming her own reality series, Pretty Wild — which was meant to follow the out-of-control brattish partying of herself and adopted sister Tess Taylor in Hollywood’s clubs.

Instead the series ended up charting her arrest saga and court appearances. Film crews were even on hand the day a police search of her house uncovered a Marc Jacobs handbag allegedly owned by Rachel Bilson and a Chanel necklace that allegedly belonged to Lindsay Lohan.
But what the series, broadcast on the E! network in the US in 2010, did not show was the darker reality — drugs.

Alexis, whose dad Mikel was the director of photography on Friends and whose mum Andrea was a former Playboy model, says: “I was so out of my mind on drugs I had no idea what was happening. I first tried prescription drugs after I had surgery when I was 14. I got hooked on doing tranquillisers like Xanax and Valium.
“I could snort two or three, one-milligram tablets of Xanax in a single day.
“And I first tried heroin when I was 16. Before long I was shooting up three or four grams a day.
“But I was doing all sorts of drugs on top of that.
“I would do coke to bring me up so I could go out to a nightclub and drink loads of shots. Then I would do heroin or Xanax to bring me down again. I could never get enough drugs.
“When everyone else had finished partying, I would just keep going for days and days. By the end I was drinking about half a bottle of Jack Daniels a day, lying in my hotel room with needles sticking out of my arms and vials of drugs all around me.”


She adds: “Drugs were my best frien
d and my lover — they were the only thing that seemed to understand me.”
It was during these blurry days that, through Tess, Alexis met troubled high school pals Nick Prugo and Rachel Lee. Their whole lives revolved around following celebrities on gossip websites and social media — and dreaming of living like their idols.

Soon Rachel cooked up the idea of using the web to find out where stars lived and when they would be away from home — then burgling them.
Police say there were seven youngsters involved in the ring — including Alexis. But she claims she was only ever present for one burglary — at Orlando Bloom’s home — and never actually set foot in his house.

Magic ... Harry Potter star Emma Watson as Hermione

Warner Bros

She says: “I stayed in the car while they went into the house. But they were taking really long so, after a while, I got out to see what they were up to. I walked on to the property and saw some very sketchy behaviour.

“But I was absolutely hammered. Before I knew what was happening I peed in the bushes — then I vomited.”
The group was finally caught when some members were spotted on a surveillance camera breaking into Lindsay Lohan’s house.
Alexis pleaded “no contest” to burgling Bloom’s home but insists: “I decided that I had no choice.
“After all, who were the jury going to believe — the famous celebrity or me, the hopeless drug addict?”
She was sentenced to 180 days in jail but ended up only serving 30.
When she was freed in July 2010 she checked into a seedy hotel and set about begging for cash for drugs.
But a 12-day stint back in jail for missing a probation hearing finally made her turn around her life. She then spent 12 months in rehab.

Life really changed when she met Canadian businessman Evan Haines, 36, at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting. The coupled married in April last year and last month Alexis gave birth to their daughter Harper.
She is also a qualified drug and alcohol counsellor — and all in all her life now could not be less like the one portrayed by Emma Watson.
Alexis admits: “When I saw the film trailer I felt very disappointed as it all seemed so sensationalised — and did not reflect the person I am now.

“But I know I was absolutely ridiculous back then.
“I’ll withhold judgement until I see the entire movie. But one thing is for sure, I wish Emma Watson had taken pole dancing lessons from me!”

Read more Here