Flash Actionscript 3.0 drawString equivalent [Update]

textSprite = new Sprite();
 
//automatically shows a hand as mouse cursor when the mouse hovers 
//over the text field
textSprite.buttonMode = true;
 
addChild(textSprite);
var labelType : TextField = new TextField();
labelType.text = "Text in a line.";
labelType.autoSize = TextFieldAutoSize.LEFT;
labelType.wordWrap = true;
 
//copy TextField into a bitmap
var typeTextBitmap : BitmapData = new BitmapData(labelType.width, 
                                labelType.height,true,0x00000000);
typeTextBitmap.draw(labelType);
 
//calculate center of TextField
var typeTextTranslationX:Number = -0.5*labelType.width;
var typeTextTranslationY:Number = -0.5*labelType.height;
 
//create Matrix which moves the TextField to the center
var matrix:Matrix = new Matrix();
matrix.translate(typeTextTranslationX, typeTextTranslationY);
 
//draw invisible rect in the background that will serve as click area
textSprite.graphics.beginFill(0xfff0000,0);
textSprite.graphics.drawRect(-0.5*labelType.width,-0.5*labelType.height, 
                                labelType.width, labelType.height);
textSprite.graphics.endFill();
 
//actually draw the text on the stage (with no-repeat and anti-aliasing)
textSprite.graphics.beginBitmapFill(typeTextBitmap,matrix,false,true);
textSprite.graphics.drawRect(typeTextTranslationX, typeTextTranslationY, 
                                labelType.width, labelType.height);
textSprite.graphics.endFill();
//...