April 24, 1996

By LOUIS B. HOBSON -- Gone is the silver spoon from Chris Penn's mouth.

It's taken 15 years and more than a few life lessons but Penn is finally putting his house in order.

Penn, 33, is the son of director Leo Penn and actress Eileen Ryan and younger brother of actor-director Sean Penn.

Chris made his acting debut at 16 in Francis Ford Coppola's Rumble Fish, starred opposite his brother and mother in At Close Range, opposite Kevin Bacon in Footloose and Tom Cruise in All The Right Moves.

While his contemporaries were making all those right career moves, Penn wasn't.

"Because of my family, everything was handed to me on a silver platter. I was a good actor but I wasn't a committed actor," admits Penn.

"For me, acting was the fun alternative to actually working. The fun ended when I couldn't get a job for about three years," recalls Penn.

In the midst of his career slump, Penn read the script for Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs.

"I knew if I could get a role in Reservoir Dogs, I'd be back in the mix. With that script I could prove myself as an actor.

"It happened exactly as I'd hoped. Reservoir Dogs revitalized my career and now I'm flourishing instead of floundering."

Reservoir Dogs led to roles in Short Cuts, True Romance, Beethoven's 2nd, To Wong Foo, Thanks For Everything! Julie Newmar and Mulholland Falls, which opens Friday.

In Mulholland Falls, Penn plays a partner in an elite Los Angeles police unit in the 1950s.

The four partners stumble on a plot which involves murder and a government coverup over nuclear testing in the Nevada desert.

Penn's onscreen cohorts are played by Nick Nolte, Chazz Palminteri and Michael Madsen. Melanie Griffith and Jennifer Connelly are the femme fatales and John Malkovich and Treat Williams the villains.

The film, directed by New Zealand director Lee (Once Were Warriors) Tamahori, is being compared to Roman Polanski's classic noir thriller Chinatown.

"They're both set in Los Angeles in the same era and they're both detective thrillers so there's bound to be comparisons.

"I think it's the feel of the films rather than their subject matter that is drawing the comparisons. What's really great is that they are such favorable comparisons," says Penn.

During his forced hiatus from acting, Penn resumed his kick-boxing career.

"I started kick-boxing in about 1983. I was the sparring partner for American kick-boxing champion Don Wilson.

"I really got into it and had a couple of amateur fights and then a couple of professional bouts."

The closest Penn has come to parlaying his kick-boxing onto the silver screen was the 1989 film Best of the Best which was a karate version of Rocky.

"I'm too heavy for the Hollywood version of a kick boxer but I could take on any of their guys," insists Penn.

Even Jean-Claude Van Damme?

"In a Hollywood heartbeat. He wouldn't stand a chance."

Penn has been living with model Stefianna Dela-Cruz for the past two years. He's quick to point out she "has just been made the Asian Budweiser girl. Now guys all over the world can see what a lucky guy I am."

Penn says there are no wedding bells for he and Dela-Cruz in the near future. As for the rumors that his brother Sean will re-wed Robin Wright, the mother of his two children, Penn will only say "I'm Sean's brother, not his manager."

Next up for Penn is Abel Ferrara's gangster saga The Funeral and The Florentine, a male bonding film which he'll produce as well as star in.

As for following in his father and brother Sean's footsteps and directing, Penn says "I don't know enough yet.

"I'd love to direct but I still have way too much to learn about acting before I tackle directing. I will one day, though.

"It's definitely in my blood."


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