ALL JUICED UP TO PLAY O.J. PART.

Byline: Keith Marder Daily News Staff Writer

Stephen Wayne Eskridge avoided anything having to do with O.J. Simpson's criminal trial.

It was easier that way. He looks just like the Juice, so people thought he'd be a good guy to talk with about the trial. He had to plead ignorance to get people to leave him alone.

Now, his resemblance to Simpson is what has him poring over anything he can find having to do with Simpson's civil trial. Now he can't wait till Simpson testifies. He wants to be Simpson.

At least for an hour a day. When Simpson talks, Eskridge is the one whose lips will be moving. He has the lead role in the trial re-enactments on E! Entertainment Television.

He's 6-foot-2 with his weight spread around just about like Simpson's, and he's a few years younger than the 49-year-old (he won't say how many), but his hair starts at almost the same spot on the top of his head.

He has a much higher voice than Simpson, but the trained musician knows how to go down a couple of octaves. He tried out his Simpson voice recently during taping of a ``statement'' he gave to Los Angeles police detectives ``Tom Lange'' and ``Philip Vannatter.''

``I've got to tell you, I was the right guy to play this part. I feel it. It's a connection,'' Eskridge said.

``When I saw `Vannatter' and `Lange' sitting in the green room, I felt the tension. I felt like I was going to talk to the police at Parker Center.''

Eskridge would not comment on his personal opinion about Simpson's guilt or innocence, but he said that when he has his game face on - all it takes is a little bit of makeup - he feels innocent.

``We had him come in to read three or four times,'' said executive producer Richard Camp. ``The scene was from his deposition and Petrocelli asks him, `Do you believe you're innocent?' He said, `I don't believe nothing. I am innocent.' I got goose bumps. That sounded like something he would say.''

At first, Eskridge was concerned about taking the role. What, he wondered, would the Hollywood backlash be? But the actor in him couldn't say no. And work is work.

Now many of his gigs as a singer-saxophonist are being put on hold. Recently, he did a couple of sets at a Century City club, before the O.J. hype really got started. A few hours after the gig, he was back at E! preparing for another day of testimony.

``It's neat playing a character like this,'' he said. ``Usually the character you play is fictitious or dead; this is happening now. It's surreal. This is my character, I'm totally involved in this thing.

``I'm chomping at the bit,'' Eskridge said. ``By the time I get on the stand, it's going to be spooky. The great thing is the words are real.''

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Photo: Stephen Wayne Eskridge, shown performing at Lunaria in Century City, is putting music on hold to play O.J. Simpson for E!

Tina Gerson/Daily News