When Renee Faia learned that open casting calls were being held for the female lead in ABC's And the Beat Goes On: The Sonny and Cher Story (Feb. 22), the actress imagined a mob of out-landishly coiffed women in freaky outfits. "I didn't push any of that Cher stuff," Faia recalls of her audition last October. "I went in there in jeans, a black T-shirt and no makeup. And sure enough, there was a room full of people who looked and dressed like Cher with the hair and the makeup. I thought, 'What am I doing here?' But I felt like I had enough of the Cher vibe going."

And a good vibe it was. Faia, 30, got the part, babe, by beating out more than 2,000 Chers and Cher-alikes auditioned by executive producer Larry Thompson. He cast her opposite Jay Underwood, 30, who portrays Cher's psychedelic sidekick and husband, Sonny Bono. "We weren't looking for an impersonator," says Thompson, the couple's former lawyer, adding, "I saw more transvestite Chers than I ever wanted to see."

With acting skills she picked up while working as a set and costume designer (A Few Good Men, Boys on the Side), Faia, the daughter of an Ohio plumbing inspector and his hairstylist wife, immersed herself in all things Cher, whom she portrays from age 17 to 40. Even now, Faia, who is single and lives in L.A., can't quite put the role behind her. "Sometimes I'll hear a little of Cher in my voice, and I'll go, 'Oh, my God, it's back! Cher's invaded me once again.' "