ALMOST REALLY FAMOUS VAL KILMER, PLAYING A PORN LEGEND IN 'WONDERLAND,' KEEPS DEFYING HOLLYWOOD'S CONVENTIONAL WISDOM.

Byline: Evan Henerson Staff Writer

Val Kilmer's cell phone rings. In fact, it rarely stops ringing. And each time, the Valley-raised actor takes the call, even if it means interrupting an observation about the nature of fame.

Especially if it means interrupting an observation on the nature of fame.

``I love being this popular,'' Kilmer offers apologetically, and you get the feeling he's only half joking.

``There's nobody famous that doesn't want to be, and there's no one famous who stays famous that doesn't work at it,'' he says after the cell phone call is completed. ``I really respect those people. I don't know how they do it.''

He's talking about present-day Hollywood, but the words may apply just as easily to legendary porn star John Holmes, whom Kilmer plays in ``Wonderland,'' which opens in limited release this weekend.

The film, directed and co-written by James Cox, was inspired by one of the most notorious multiple homicides in L.A. history - the 1981 Wonderland Avenue murders in Laurel Canyon. Holmes knew and partied with all of the group that dealt drugs out of the Wonderland house. Exploring the same story from the perspectives of several characters, ``Wonderland'' examines Holmes' connection to the murders of Ron Launius, Joy Miller, Barbara Richardson and Billy Deverell. (A jury acquitted Holmes of any involvement in the crime.)

The film opens with a strung-out and washed-up Holmes trying to manage teenage girlfriend Dawn Schiller (played by Kate Bosworth), an estranged but loyal wife (Lisa Kudrow) and - he hopes - one last score. The shaggy-haired Holmes, who made some 2,000 X-rated movies before his death in 1988, still has some semblance of star quality.

``He wasn't a good actor, but he was a world-class hustler,'' says Kilmer. ``The difference between being a hustler and just being a thief is that a thief just steals. A hustler takes some money, but gives you something. You have some sense of satisfaction from the experience. What's required is some keen sense of what it is you want, and they give you the impression that you have it.

``I think he was one of the first guys that Andy Warhol prophesied when he said that everybody will be famous for 15 minutes,'' Kilmer continues.

Kilmer's fame has lasted considerably longer, although the 42-year-old actor says he doesn't always put in the work to maintain it. After attending Chatsworth High School, he graduated from Juilliard and is a veteran of the Public Theatre in New York City. Kilmer has played his share of high-profile types, including Elvis (in ``True Romance''), Jim Morrison (``The Doors''), Doc Holliday (``Tombstone'') and the Caped Crusader (``Batman Forever''). He has worked with such major directors as Oliver Stone, Tony Scott, Michael Mann, Michael Apted and Ron Howard.

Of late, he has been as apt to take small roles in low-budget or low- profile films as he is to join a potential blockbuster. He's got a full plate for 2004, including reteaming with ``Doors'' director Stone in ``Alexander'' with Angelina Jolie and Colin Farrell, David Mamet's `'Spartan,'' and Howard's ``The Missing'' with Cate Blanchett and Tommy Lee Jones.

But, for every ``Alexander,'' there's a low-profile or personal project like ``Wonderland'' or ``The Salton Sea.''

Career path?

``The only time I really concentrate on it is when I do interviews, because I just don't think like that,'' he says. ``Tom Cruise and I, we started at the same time. Tom Hanks. Johnny Depp. These guys have done like three more movies a year than me, and they have also really cultivated fame. It would be nice to be so famous that you have a better chance of telling a good story because of the clout.''

His slate of high-profile projects notwithstanding, Kilmer says he has deliberately ``stepped away'' from some of the larger projects.

``The hits dictate the enthusiasm, and being a good actor doesn't,'' he says. ``It's not as fun to the community as big numbers, and it's a business. I'm so lucky that I've been able to continue to find, not just the roles that interest me, but the kind of movie that does.''

His renown for disappearing into roles is counterbalanced with a tendency toward perfectionism and being difficult to work with.

``He's got a bad reputation,'' agrees first-time director Cox, who pursued Kilmer because of the actor's sense of inner chaos and madness in his roles.

``Whether or not that once had some validity, I've definitely found a guy who is very different from his reputation. He can be intimidating, and he fights and fights and fights for his opinions. In our case, it happened to all work out for the best. I consider him to be one of the finest actors of our time.

``And in front of the camera, he's a tremendously generous actor with the people around him,'' Cox adds. ``With Kate, you'd be watching some of the things he'd be doing off screen. It was all to make the person he's working with awesome, and that's really inspiring.''

Kudrow, who helped lobby Kilmer to take the role, agrees.

``He was so completely devoted and committed,'' Kudrow says of Kilmer. ``Reading the script, you really felt this guy was not pure evil. He was just consumed by this addiction and it really takes away your humanity. To me, the trick is how do you show that.''

During an interview at a Beverly Hills publicity office, the bearded Kilmer wears green cargo pants, a black T-shirt, flip-flops. The actor is pleasant, forthcoming and often given to elliptical bits of philosophy. He's generous in his praise of co-stars both past and present. He's clearly pleased with ``Wonderland'' and particularly with a photo scrapbook and art exhibition that came out of the project.

``It's been very satisfying,'' says Kilmer, who intends to do another screenplay scrapbook of ``Alexander.'' ``Writing is such a personal thing. I just didn't want to have that be corrupted because I'm an actor. I didn't use another name, which I could have done. I just did it.''

The real Dawn Schiller and Sharon Holmes made themselves available as consultants to the cast and filmmaker. Kilmer also spent time with some of the people who worked on Holmes' films. The hard-core legend, he says, was actually a shy man who hated pornography.

``I think it drove him mad,'' says Kilmer. ``He was a very sensitive guy, and part of that sensitivity was that he had nothing built up in his personal history to handle the impact of so many broken lives. There was so much tragic circumstance coming into his life, and being truly exposed all day long. He made lots of movies, and so he started drinking. That was probably from the shyness as well.''

Evan Henerson, [phone]

evan.henerson(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

4 photos

Photo:

(1 -- cover -- color) For Val Kilmer, seamy characters provide an actor's Wonderland.

Hans Gutknecht/Staff Photographer

(2 -- 3) Val Kilmer, left, plays adult-film actor John Holmes in ``Wonderland,'' a film inspired by the infamous 1981 murders at a house in Laurel Canyon frequented by the porn star. Below, the real Holmes appears in court that same year.

Daily News

(4) ``He was so completely devoted and committed. Reading the script, you really felt this guy was not pure evil. He was just consumed by this addiction and it really takes away your humanity. To me, the trick is how do you show that.''

- Lisa Kudrow on Val Kilmer portraying John Holmes