ASSANTE HAS ROLES AS GAUGUIN AND POE ON HIS HORIZON.

Byline: Marilyn Beck & Stacy Jenel Smith

Armand Assante could soon be settling down for a while in the South Pacific - to star in the life story of Paul Gauguin.

Assante reports that ``M. Butterfly'' writer David Henry Wang is developing a biopic about the 19th-century French artist as a starring vehicle for him, and says, ``I spent the month of February in Tahiti and neighboring islands researching Gauguin's story.''

Assante also has an Edgar Allen Poe biopic in development in which he would serve as producer and star. The project he's worked on for a few years, won't, he says, ``deal with the sensationalistic devices that have been exhumed, or the horror of Poe's stories, but will tell the story of the man himself. Poe was a very dark person and in a lot of ways was somewhat misunderstood. He had overwhelming tragedies in succession. He lost every woman that was near and dear to him - starting with his mother at a very young age.''

Assante, who earned a 1997 Emmy for ``Gotti,'' and co-stars with Donald Sutherland in TNT's ``The Hunley,'' which airs July 11, says he'd rather wait for one of the projects he's helping develop than sign on for something of lesser worth.

``I don't want to do TV unless it has social relevance, and I don't want to do a movie that just represents a lateral move for me. And, believe me, the average script is, well, nothing. I plow through them all year long. Most scripts are works in progress. `The Odyssey,' for instance, was constantly being worked on all through production. `The Hunley' was one of the best finished scripts I'd read in years.'' Not only that, says the actor, but the TNT drama - about the first submersible vessel, created by the Confederates in the war-ravaged South of 1864 - ``is rare in terms of its social and historical significance.''

Copped out

Forget reports that Jimmy Smits will play a detective in the Chuck Russell thriller ``Bless the Child.'' The fact is, Jimmy's had it with cop roles for a while - after years on ``NYPD Blue,'' which is currently rerunning his final episodes on the series.

He sends word that he will be playing an investigator in ``Bless the Child,'' one who specializes in the supernatural phenomenon, and helps Kim Basinger's character - the guardian of a child with special powers.

Hello, again

Terence Trent D'Arby appears to be working his way back up the ladder of success. The rock 'n' soul singer's 1987 debut album, ``Introducing the Hardline According to Terence Trent D'Arby,'' became an international hit and garnered D'Arby a best new artist Grammy nomination. However, his subsequent albums failed to muster much interest. Now, reports superproducer Glen Ballard, D'Arby has a CD due out on Ballard's Java Records label.

``He's never sung better,'' Ballard says of D'Arby. ``He's been burning down the house with his vocals.''

Ballard, the music man behind Alanis Morissette's ``Jagged Little Pill,'' says D'Arby's written all the music on the disc, which is expected to hit record stores before the end of the year.

The simple life

Rocker Jon Bon Jovi, who had his hair cut to 1940s military length for Universal's recently completed ``U-571'' submarine film, was able to make forays from the set without being recognized. It was all the easier for him to travel incognito because he wasn't accompanied by an entourage and did without the usual perks - limos and what not - that are part of a rock star's life.

With reports by Stephanie DuBois. The Celebrities column appears Monday through Friday.

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2 Photos

PHOTO (1) ASSANTE

(2) D'ARBY