LIN SHAYE / ACTOR

People who know Lin Shaye insist she’s a very nice person. Yet, thanks to the Farrelly brothers casting her in nearly every movie from “Dumb and Dumber� to the upcoming “Me, Myself and Irene,� she’s become known for playing comically unpleasant people. The latest for Shaye, 55, whose older brother is New Line Cinema Chairman Robert Shaye, is the KISS-hating mom in “Detroit Rock City.�

FACING UP: “I may be the only actress in Hollywood who won’t need a face lift, because when I take off my makeup, I look so great compared to my characters!�

ANONYMOUS: “As big as ‘There’s Something About Mary’ was, when I go to a restaurant, no one knows who I am, which is great. But the joy I get from people when they find out I was in that movie, it’s like I’m meeting old friends.�

LOW TAR: “In ‘Irene’ I play a very funny character, the Cigarette Lady. I can’t get away from smokers; every character I play smokes. I don’t really smoke and never would. Thank God I found these herbal cigarettes I can handle.�

CHEAP KNOCKOFFS: “The Farrellys have started almost a new film genre. I see lots of scripts that they’ve influenced, and most don’t work--people just sticking things in to be crude.�

AH, YOUTH: “We went to see the ‘There’s Something About Mary’ premiere in Providence, R.I., and before it I said to my 10-year-old son, Lee J: ‘OK, there’s this kind of stuff in it.’ We sit in the theater, and in a very loud voice, Lee J says, ‘When’s the part where she gets sperm in her hair?’ �

NEXT UP: “I’m doing a role in an independent called ‘Spanish Moss,’ shooting in Florida, playing a mom dying of lung cancer, a story about forgiveness. Jay Thomas plays my husband. And another called ‘Wish You Were Dead,’ which Valerie McCaffrey, who is head of casting at New Line, is directing for her first time.�

MARRIAGE ENCOUNTER: “My husband is Clayton Landey, who was a regular on ‘Knots Landing’ and has been doing a lot of guest TV stuff. He’ll also be in ‘Wish You Were Dead,’ the first time we will have done a movie together. I don’t know if I want to actually work with him in a scene.�