NEW YORK -- At 34, Sam Rockwell is finally coming into his own as a character actor who has the acting chops and yet can carry a plot in a major movie as a bona fide star.

Rockwell, the California-born son of two little-known actors, earned acclaim late in 2002 for playing game-show host and self-styled U.S. spy Chuck Barris in George Clooney's directorial debut, Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind. The edgy, funny and compelling film has just been re-released in New York and Los Angeles to try to find the audience it deserves, and to launch the forthcoming DVD release.

Meanwhile, in Ridley Scott's Matchstick Men -- which just played as a gala in the Toronto International Film Festival and is slated for theatrical release Friday -- Rockwell holds his own with co-stars Nicolas Cage and Alison Lohman. Each of the three actors is crucial to the success of this hybrid con thriller and quirky relationship drama. The Sun sat down with the ebullient Rockwell for two Q&A answer sessions, one with a group of reporters, the other a Sun one-on-one. Here is what we talked about:

You are known as a chameleon actor but how much fame and star power do you want now that you have gone from support roles in The Green Mile, Galaxy Quest and Charlie's Angels into full starring roles?

"I kind of want a little bit of both -- that'll be my downfall. It's a fine line. But I don't think I have those traditional good looks that a personality would have to be a classic movie star. So I will never get into those traps or have those kinds of limitations that those actors get. So I am fortunate in that I have sort of a malleable face."

But hasn't that held you back in your 15-year career?

"For years, they didn't know quite what to do with me. I wasn't the Ugly Guy and I wasn't the Handsome Guy. I was sort of somewhere in between. And what do you do with that? They want to constantly label you because it makes it easier for them. But the problem with that (being labelled) is that you don't have any longevity as an actor and you constantly have to fight against that."

How are you seen now in Hollywood?

"People have different perceptions. Warners (which produced Matchstick Men) may have a different perception than Miramax (Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind) does. Some people think I'm a comedian. Some people think I play sleazy guys. Some people have seen me kiss the girl. Sometimes it does confuse me: 'Well, what's my path?' I don't know. So you sort of choose your own path because,

if you let people choose it for you, then, you know, typecasting is a disease. It's a dangerous line."

Do you like playing quirky and even sleazy characters, such as con man Frank in Matchstick Men?

"I like Frank. He's a fun guy. He's kind of a party guy, you know. He's actually like The Green Mile guy, Wild Bill. Frank's a little sleazy around the ears."

Is this a genre piece or something else?

"Before the ending, it really is a Paper Moon kind of story. It is not really a con movie, actually. It is more a relationship story, mainly Alison and Nic, the father-and-daughter thing. That's real. That's the strength of the film, that relationship. Really, that's it. Alison: Wow! She's amazing.

What impresses you so much about her, besides convincingly playing a 14-year-old even though she is 23?

"You mean, where did she get actor chops like that? I think she was in Vietnam or something and she got tortured. I don't know where she gets that really dark stuff that makes her such an interesting and exciting and unpredictable actress. I don't know where she gets that. But she has nice parents and they're still together and she seems like she's had a pretty normal childhood. But she has got something going on. She's got the goods. She's the real deal."

If viewers figure out the con plot early, why is the film still so interesting?

"That is a tribute to Allison, I think. Her performance is so authentic. I mean, she is so authentically his daughter and so emotionally tied to him. Because, you're right, if you figure it out, you're still moved by this relationship between the two of them."

If Alison Lohman is unusual, isn't Nicolas Cage even more so?

"He's an eccentric. He's a guy who colours outside the lines. He's not a linear person. He's eccentric in a sweet way and I think he's gone through different phases in his life and he is now just about doing good work. He shows up on time. He knows all his lines but he likes to play. He likes people to kind of bring it to him. He wants surprises. He wants to put people a little off balance -- and that's how I like to work."

Matchstick Men is unusual for director Ridley Scott, who is best known for big productions such as Alien, Gladiator and Black Hawk Down. What was it like working with him?

"I keep saying: He's like a master chef making scrambled eggs with this film. It's, like, really good scrambled eggs. He works with gladiators, aliens and spaceships and he is always doing these extravaganzas and I think this was a really great departure for him. He could really relax and just work on a character piece. He had so much fun with the comedy. He loved the comedy. He got so much joy out it. He's really funny. He's very parental. I want to hug him every time I see him."

With the limited re-release of Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind, do you look back and think it was overlooked the first time around?

"Yeah, I do -- and that happens. But I think that film will last. I think years from now people will look at that film, because it's a really interesting film."

Why should people go to see Matchstick Men now?

"Because it'll make you laugh, make you cry and you get to eat popcorn -- and Alison is a cutie-pie!"


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