HOLLYWOOD -- Ben Chaplin enjoys feeling out of place in a town where most actors desperately need to fit in.

In fact, the London-based Chaplin considers the disassociation a badge of honor, although he admits to coming across more hick than hipster on occasion.

For instance, the co-star of the comedy The Truth About Cats & Dogs recalls his first "big invite" to one of those swanky Beverly Hills networking movie industry parties "where you get to meet people who can make a difference."

Chaplin graciously accepted by note -- a curious bit of etiquette here since most actors feel obliged to show or not to show on unannounced look-who-it-is whim.

Chaplin, however, is a polite, likeable and generous lad, unaware of the games Hollywood people play. He is also steeped in the tradition of British theatre, and still painfully familiar with budget-conscious starving London actor shindigs.

So, as part of his Beverly Hills pre-party drill, he naturally stopped off at a local shop to pick up some libations.

"I arrived at the door of this mansion thing," he says, "with my bag of beer.

"The door opened to this palatial party with chatting people, waiters, and bartenders behind this huge stocked bar. I quietly walked over to the bar, placed my bag at the far end and went to hide."

No doubt some hungry agent tracked him down. Chaplin, despite his modest career, is in big demand.

Chaplin cringes at the thought -- of being in demand and being in Hollywood. "When I tell people here, 'Yeah, that's where I live -- in London with my cat' they look at me like either I'm insane or I'm speaking a foreign language."

For now, London is where he'll stay, and London is where he is known, not as a pretty face but a hard-working actor. He was notably praised for the much admired London-stage production of The Glass Menagerie opposite Zoe Wanamaker. It won for him the prestigious Olivier Award nomination. He also has nine major BBC-TV efforts to his credit after graduating from the Guildhall School Of Music and Drama in the early '90s.

Yet he is not shy about working anywhere and that includes Hollywood. He even admits to a silly kind of thrill when he's almost recognized around town.

More often than Chaplin cares to remember, he hears, "Aren't you somebody?" What they mean is, says Chaplin, "Aren't you the guy who played Anthony Hopkins footman in The Remains Of The Day?"

Guilty as charged. "But I never know if they mean it as a compliment," says the self-deprecating actor, referring to the occasional fan encounter of the strange kind.

Some might say his days as a nearly familiar face are over now that he's featured in Michael Lehmann's mainstream comedy, Cats & Dogs.

He plays a photographer who gets caught up in an oddball love triangle with Uma Thurman's ditzy model and Janeane Garofalo's radio talk show host. The role was never intended for an Englishman, but when Chaplin read for the part Lehmann says that the filmmakers changed their minds quickly.

"He had the charisma we needed," says the director. Others might say "sex appeal." But the slim Chaplin says: "God forbid that I'm known as a hunk.

"If I am it's probably for ladies of the Third World," he says, ppointing to his lean frame.

Cute -- and he BYOB's too.


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