BODY OF WORK 'EVENING' STAR WILSON LOOKS BEYOND THE PHYSICAL.

Byline: Evan Henerson Staff Writer

Brad Adamson, his character in last year's "Little Children" was the modern-day equivalent of a Greek God: a football-playing matinee idol and young dad referred to by the salivating suburban neighborhood hens as "The prom king."

Now, playing an idealized and swooned over young doctor in Lajos Koltai's "Evening," Patrick Wilson is once again enacting a physical embodiment of near perfection.

Short of playing against type, there's not much Wilson can do about his looks. And, yes, co-star Claire Danes says, her "Evening" mate is that hunkish in person.

"It's kind of like spooky," says Danes, quickly adding, "he's also incredibly relaxed, direct, open and warm, and he's really stable. He had also just had a baby when we were shooting, and he was utterly infatuated with that little boy."

More than a pretty face

Wilson doesn't even want to hear about "golden boy" typecasting. That's not remotely what he's after.

"I never really got the Prince Charming roles," says Wilson, 33. "The characters all have their flaws or complications."

That's mostly true. With the possible exception of "The Phantom of the Opera's" rescue-minded Raoul, the majority of Wilson's screen incarnations have had some edge, from the closeted Mormon politico in HBO's "Angels in America" (2003) to the photographer put through hell by a revenge-minded 14-year-old in "Hard Candy." (2005)

"Evening's" Harris Arden has shades as well, the actor insists.

"The things I look for are sort of the colors of the antihero," says Wilson. "So much of (Harris) was in his looks and being soft and not wearing his heart on his sleeve. I was interested in that. I like to be very earnest in roles, and I think it's nice to play someone who holds it back a little, someone who is a little more reserved."

Born in Norfolk, Va, and raised in Florida -- where his father and brother are both in TV news -- Wilson attended Carnegie Mellon University. He secured Tony nominations for playing an unemployed steel worker rallying his fellow losers to bare all in the musical adaptation of "The Full Monty" (2000) and as square-jawed cowboy Curly in Trevor Nunn's revival of "Oklahoma" (2002).

'Angels' player

After Wilson's Emmy-nominated turn amit the high powered "Angels in America" ensemble, Hollywood started to take notice.

"Everybody is curious about how in the hell I got that role," says Wilson, laughing. "A lot of young actors don't get to show off. Rarely do actors get to flex all muscles in film. That was one of those roles that got me in and enabled me to meet a lot of people I never would have met."

He was nearly 30 when he made his film debut in "The Alamo." (2004)"Phantom," "Hard Candy," "Little Children" and "Running With Scissors" followed in quick succession, and he returned to Broadway last year in a revival of Neil Simon's "Barefoot in the Park" with Amanda Peet and Jill Clayburgh.

"You could look at all the movies I've done and say they've underperformed," he says. "I've never felt like I was one of those actors who would sort of explode onto the scene. I'm just doing my thing and hopefully each job brings a broader audience and more opportunities."

"I just liked his face," says director Koltai who put himself on Wilson watch after seeing "Angels in America." "He has this very honest, nice smile and when you see him at the dock at that moment in film, he's somebody who makes you say, 'Uh huh. This is somebody. Somebody's there, even if he just came to have a good time.' "

Wilson, who is currently filming "Lakeview Terrace" for director Neil LaBute, will shoot two movies before the end of the year and then possibly look at another Broadway musical. He's especially besotted with Kalin, his 1-year-old son with his wife, actress Dagmara Dominczyk.

"Ah, man, it's the greatest," he says of fatherhood. "It's just every month, every week, something new, some new event and seeing the world through a kid's eyes. There's just nothing like it."

Evan Henerson, [phone]

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Patrick Wilson, seen with Claire Danes in "Evening," likes to play characters with flaws.