Pinning down "American Idol" Fantasia Barrino is like catching up with any actress in demand or a superstar athlete: It's tough. A flurry of requests, a lot of waiting around, and then — finally — an interview.

But you can hardly blame her; Barrino's life is a whirlwind. She juggles a schedule crammed with all-night recording sessions and other projects, most recently starring in a Lifetime film about her rise from a hardscrabble existence in North Carolina to the top of the Billboard charts.

The third-season winner of "Idol" quickly discovered that portraying herself was more difficult than she had thought.

"Going back all those years, remembering things that happened and reliving those times ... it's definitely harder than it looks," she said.

Initially Barrino had expected to see someone else in the role. "I think Kimberly Elise would have been great," she said.

But she was picked to star in her own story, along with Loretta Devine, Viola Davis and Kadeem Hardison.

The film follows Barrino's journey, much of which was told in her best-selling 2005 memoir, "Life Is Not a Fairy Tale." It recounts her early years in High Point, N.C., as the youngest of three children in a musical family. Barrino, who began singing in her grandmother's church at age 5, toured with her parents, JoJo and Diane, and brothers Rico and Tiny.

A high school dropout, Barrino gave birth at 17 to daughter Zion. At 19, when she was an abuse victim and struggling to support her child, Barrino was intrigued when a friend suggested that she try out for "Idol," she said.

Her success on the Fox talent show led to a Grammy-nominated album, cameo roles on TV programs such as "American Dreams," and a tour with Kanye West.

Debbie Allen directed the Lifetime film, and Barrino described Allen as patient and understanding with a novice actress.

"The hardest part is that you have to keep that same spot for 10 takes, for different angles, for whatever they want," Barrino said. "If you're in a crying scene, you gotta cry those same tears, the same way, every time."

Barrino said she would enjoy doing more TV projects, although right now, with the album in progress, "I have so much going on. But I'm having a lot of fun and I'm at that place where I can be myself — 22, sexy, hot and nice."