``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?''
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.''
