DARING DORFF WORKING WITH THE BIG BOYS : YOUNG ACTOR INSPIRED BY FILM VETS.

Byline: Bob Strauss Daily News Film Writer

Not every 23-year-old actor can hold up his end of the screen against such overpowering legends as Jack Nicholson and Harvey Keitel.

Especially when they're determined to kill him.

But Stephen Dorff is handling the task admirably. In ``Blood & Wine,'' Dorff plays the resentful stepson of Nicholson's philandering jewel thief - they end up trying to murder each other on, and with, a boat.

And in the new crime caper ``City of Industry,'' Dorff's an amoral young criminal who actually gets a charge out of playing cat-and-mouse with Keitel's vengeful, veteran crook.

``Harvey's such a great actor ...'' Dorff acknowledges, ``going from Jack up against him is pretty amazing. The two of them are so talented, but so different. Harvey is a very intense but sweet, lovely guy. Jack was, like, `Glad you're on board, kid.' He was just this kind of immediately normal person. I mean, he is such a movie star; who'd know what he'd be like?''

Who is this guy?

The same question can be asked about Dorff. His chameleonlike screen performances offer few clues about his real personality. For example, unlike Stuart Sutcliffe, the doomed fifth Beatle he played in the movie ``Backbeat,'' Dorff actually can play music (a gift inherited from his Grammy-winning father, Steve, who has composed numerous songs for films and recording artists). Nor is the exuberant, fun-loving Dorff anything like the angry grunge rat he portrayed in ``S.F.W.''

And Dorff bears absolutely no resemblance to his most startling role, the dedicated transvestite Candy Darling in last year's ``I Shot Andy Warhol.'' With chest hair that has grown back like a forest thicket, the actor's personal feminine side does not appear to extend beyond his interest in dating starlets and supermodels.

``I'm pretty much into playing parts that aren't the obvious choice,'' admits Dorff, who grew up in Laurel Canyon and was educated at San Fernando Valley private schools. ``I get all the offers to play what the press makes me look like: the young, hip guy or whatever. But that's not what I'm really interested in doing, acting-wise; I'd rather play characters like Candy Darling, disguise myself.

``Especially while I'm young, I want to do many different kinds of things. And in doing that, I haven't really trapped myself in a specific genre.''

Trapped in noir nightmares

While both ``Blood & Wine'' and ``City of Industry'' fall loosely under the umbrella of neo noir - dark crime thrillers that emphasize pathological characters and relationships - Dorff plays two young men in them who could hardly be less alike.

``What I liked about Jason was the kind of monstrous responsibility he has,'' Dorff says of the ``Blood'' son. ``He comes home to such dysfunction; his mother's addicted to Prozac and his stepfather is just an evil son of a b----. This kid doesn't really have a chance to do anything for himself, but part of him really wants to have his own life. Those complexities are pretty great to play.''

Nothing complex about ``Industry's'' Skip Kovich. The guy sees what he wants and grabs for it, and doesn't care who gets hurt when he does.

``I was stumped,'' Dorff confesses. ``I usually play characters who, no matter how different they are from each other, are at least human beings. There's always the sense of a soul, some emotion or something. This guy had nothing like that.

`I didn't want to pinpoint him as a drug addict; I thought that would be passe,'' Dorff says of Kovich. ``I didn't want to characterize him as a sociopath or a guy with some other disorder, either. But, for myself, I had to have some idea how a young man becomes that way. How can you not have a conscience? He's able to smile, but he's just as capable of killing a waiter if he brings you the wrong sandwich.

``Then I thought, there is a thing when an infant has no kind of bonding. A child that wasn't held, that wasn't talked to; not even a child that was abused, because that would have caused a reaction. But a child that had nothing, almost, and those do exist, could grow up into someone who has no soul connection.''

Wading into the mainstream

Both ``Blood'' - which has had a very rocky box-office reception - and ``Industry'' are low-budget, independent productions, as have been most of Dorff's films since he made his debut, at age 11, in the horror movie ``The Gate.'' This has meant that unless you spend a lot of time examining hip magazine covers, you might not be very aware of the actor's impressive accomplishments.

Case in point: ``Space Truckers,'' an independently produced sci-fi comedy that Dorff shot in Ireland with Dennis Hopper. Plagued by financing difficulties and lawsuits, that film may never make it to American theaters.

``Ultimately, I want people to see my movies,'' Dorff says. ``Sometimes, I get frustrated with the smaller films because they don't get out there enough. But I'll always want to make movies like `I Shot Andy Warhol,' too, little gems. The best movies are independent movies.

``But I'm not against doing the mainstream thing, either,'' adds Dorff, who's now doing it in a big way. He's co-starring in the currently filming ``Blade'' with Wesley Snipes. Based on the Marvel Comics series about a modern-day vampire hunter, it's a large-scale action fantasy that Dorff, who plays the piece's lead villain, feels won't compromise his standards.

``It has all the big things those movies have - the sets are 8,000 stories high, the trailers, like everything, are bigger,'' he says of ``Blade,'' ``but I think there's room to act in it, as well. Besides, I've always wanted to play a vampire.''

Truth be told, Dorff would like to play lots of stuff.

``I'm interested in doing light things, too,'' he says. ``I want to do a comedy, a romantic love story - something that doesn't involve killing my mother. I want to just play a nice guy with a nice girlfriend in a beautiful situation.''

One thing that Dorff is not interested in playing - in public, anyway - is his music; even though he's probably more qualified to do so than most young actors who've started their own bands.

``Playing the guitar or the piano is like a form of meditation to me,'' he reveals. ``I'm sure if I went to a label right now, I could probably get a deal. But I hesitate to do that because it becomes a little cartoony and isn't taken seriously.

``Also, my little brother Andrew is coming out with a record this year,'' Dorff adds. ``He's incredibly talented, and I kind of want to support him. I don't want us to become like the Bee Gees or something. Besides, what I really do is make movies.''

And now that he can count seasoned veterans Keitel and Nicholson as friends and mentors, Dorff is confident that he'll be making movies for a very long time to come.

``The fact that these guys are so nice and so grounded is refreshing to see,'' Dorff says. ``It really teaches me a lot. To be around as long as they have and remained good people ... Sometimes I feel like, wow, I'm young, I've got all these pressures, how am I ever going to last?

``It's like, there is a way to survive and look at it in a positive way. These guys have shown me that.''

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Photo

Photo: In the new crime caper ``City of Industry,'' Stephen Dorff plays Skip Kovich, an ambitious, violent character without a conscience.