Actor metamorphoses **

Jeremy Northam makes the stretch from Austen's 'Emma' to sci-fi flick 'Mimic' You might think that, after playing Hamlet at the Olivier Theatre, English actor Jeremy Northam couldn't be daunted by any other role. But he was a bit nervous about taking on the part of Dr. Peter Mann, deputy director of New York's Center for Disease Control, in the science fiction thriller "Mimic," which opens Friday. "There's pressure in anything one does, mostly exerted by oneself," says Mr. Northam, who appears gentlemanly, despite being rumpled and unshaven, following a flight from London. "In 'Mimic,' I had the opportunity to try a new genre, to play a mainstream American and to shape the character in a way that runs counter to convention. That involves risk." Mr. Northam is best known for portraying the elegant Mr. Knightley in the recent movie version of Jane Austen's "Emma" and the devilish Jack Devlin in "The Net." In "Mimic," the refined actor co-stars with not only Mira Sorvino, Josh Brolin, Charles S. Dutton and Giancarlo Giannini but also a mob of horrifying, gigantic insects. In the nightmarish tale, Mr. Northam and Ms. Sorvino use genetic engineering to eradicate an epidemic that's killing countless children. Three years later, nature takes its bizarre revenge. Murderous bugs have been seen on screen before, usually in B pictures. But Mr. Northam believed director Guillermo Del Toro, who helmed the imaginative "Cronos," would elevate the film to lofty levels of artistry. "Every project you undertake, you undertake with a good dose of faith," Mr. Northam says. "The gap between the page and the screen is a huge one. When you sign up for a movie like this with Guillermo, you sign up for an adventure. "I was just bowled over by his creativity, his enthusiasm and his endless curiosity. He has an incredible fund of references -- literature, movies, music, art, religion. All of that is thrown into the brew. He infuses the movie with odd relationships and personalities, an odd sort of poetry and an almost surrealistic tension." According to Mr. Northam, Mr. Del Toro has a way of simultaneously embracing and subverting the genre. "It's a visceral, crash, bang, wallop, give-'em-what-they want thrill ride, a monster movie, a melodrama. But, in many ways, it defies expectations. It is, from one perspective, a reflection of its time, sparking a discussion of late 20th-century malaise." Mr. Northam believes the movie mirrors man's anxiety as 2000 approaches. "It echoes the lack of confidence we have at the end of this millennium about man's position in the scheme of things," he says. "Thirty years ago, I don't think we would have imagined ourselves in 1997 being in the position that we are, seeing the reemergence of diseases like tuberculosis, certain strains of bacteria becoming resistant to penicillin, viruses like AIDS existing, other viruses mutating and changing before our eyes, the hole in the ozone layer. "We're at a crossroads in biogenetics ... we've created sheep through cloning. We're faced with an immediate moral question. How much further do we go? Man's trust in technology and science as being the gateway to a bright new future has not necessarily upheld its promise. We face the next millennium with a certain amount of doubt about our control over our environment and, ultimately, our destiny. The film absolutely taps into that ambient neurosis." The characters Mr. Northam and Ms. Sorvino play are not your typical sci-fi heroes. "Both of us portray rather cerebral characters," Mr. Northam says, "people who live by certainties long held that are shaken by the events of the movie. It's partly the characters' complacency and cockiness that we're seeing being undermined. "It was fun to investigate characters who are not conventional to this type of movie, to show the ... frailties of people who are scared and ill-equipped to handle the situation. It's not like we're going to suddenly tear our shirts off and turn into avenging angels with large weapons." Leaving the insects far behind, Mr. Northam is currently filming "The Misadventures of Margaret" in Britain with Parker Posey, Brooke Shields and Elizabeth McGovern. He accepted a small role in "Amistad," eager to be directed by Steven Spielberg. "I play a young judge who's perceived as being rather callow. The arguments in the courtroom parallel those that caused the Civil War. "Steven himself was absolutely charming and obviously still gets a huge kick out of making films. He seems to really enjoy the company of actors and likes to sit down and chew the fat, talking about movies he's seen." Mr. Northam, the son of a drama professor, didn't grow up yearning to be a movie star. "I was busy pretending to be 'The Man From U.N.C.L.E.' in the back garden or playing at being a cowboy, making my scooter a horse. Strange child, really. I suppose nothing's changed in that regard." After graduating from university, Mr. Northam attended drama school for two years and worked as a stagehand. He performed at the Royal Shakespeare Company and had small roles in "Carrington" and the '92 remake of "Wuthering Heights." But American audiences didn't get to know Mr. Northam until he exhibited dangerous charm in "The Net." "I didn't think I would ever get to play a lead role in a Hollywood thriller, filming in L.A. The whole experience was a blast. "I just lucked out," he says. "They decided to take a chance on an unknown. I'd been wary of L.A. I always felt that you shouldn't go there until you had something you could take to show them. A theater resume is not necessarily the currency in Los Angeles. Until 'The Net,' this was something I had neither sought nor seriously I dreamed of. When it happened, it was like a distant fantasy come true." Now Mr. Northam receives a steady stream of film offers. "I've been working for 11 years, feeling fortunate to go from one job to the next. But it's only in recent years that I've had the chance to be a bit more choosy. That I find more confusing and difficult sometimes." Mr. Northam simply wants to find new challenges. "It might be safe for one to sit back and endlessly replicate the performance that one's given in the past. But I just want to try a variety of roles and continue to grow and change and hopefully improve as an actor. That's the bottom line."