Her rise to the A-list may have come as a surprise to those who think of her as the quintessential Maxim girl in Daisy Dukes. Stinson Carter, however, reveals the smarts and talent hidden behind that sassy gal named “Joy” who millions of beer-swilling viewers know on a first-name basis. “Pass the Pinot, please.”

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“The brash side is all anybody wants to show,” says Jaime Pressly. “You know why I haven’t volunteered personal information to reporters? Because I know they don’t give a damn; they want to keep me where they have me.”

Where she is on our first interview is inside her house. It isn’t an Airstream. Jaime Pressly answers the door of her Mediterranean revival home in the North San Fernando Valley, holding an English Bulldog and a Boxer by their couture-designer collars. Her around-the-house-casual zippered jacket and drawstring pants give her the look of an off-duty model, and the heavily teased hair she sports on “My Name Is Earl” is pinned back with the easy elegance of a Hepburn, not a hardware store pin-up girl.

“Sexy sophistication” is how she describes not just her own style, but also that of her ready-to-wear clothing line J’aime, which debuted in 2005. “Having a child has completely changed everything,” she says. “Even if you look at the design of my clothing, it’s a whole new collection now. Everything about it is different because it’s more conservative, but it still has a sexy sophistication to it. Everything is that way with me since having a baby.”