CATCHING DERMOT-ITIS

With a string of hits and a hit on the strings (he's a cellist), actor Dermot Mulroney makes his mark in Hollywood.

Dermot Mulroney radiates the sort of shy charm that makes him irresistible to legions of female fans. His dark good looks are barely marred by a crewcut from hell which gives him the appearance of a punk rocker whose barber just made a grave mistake.

Dermot runs his fingers apologetically through what's left of his hair and flashes a winning smile."

In fact, Mulroney has shorn his lush locks for Box of Moonlight, starring his wife Catherine Keener and John Turturro. Mulroney makes a cameo appearance as a man who was disfigured when he was badly burned as a child. "My big moment is a fist fight with Turturro," he says with a chuckle.

Seen recently in How the Make an American Quilt and in Copycat opposite Holly Hunter and Sigourney Weaver, Mulroney has since costarred in Kansas City, Robert Altman's new period gangster flick, and the suspense-thriller Trigger Effect with Kyle MacLachlin and Elisabeth Shue.

In spite of his impressive roster of big-screen appearances, Mulroney would rather talk about his music than his acting. He's a regular performer on cello, mandolin and lap steel guitar with The Low and Sweet Orchestra, which is about to release its first album in March.

"It's a little hard to classify our sound," he says. "We do songs that are easily country and songs that are easily rock and roll. I've been calling it punk-folk music. We're a legitimate band. Zander Schloss, the guitar player, was with the Circle Jerks. Mike Mart, our songwriter and lead singer, was with The Pogues for eleven years, and my brother, Kieran, plays the violin."

Mulroney was playing music even before he started acting. As a child growing up in Alexandria, Virginia, his parents encouraged him to take up the cello. "I didn't ever loathe practicing like some kids do," he recalls, "but I also can't say I liked it much. What I loved was playing in a symphony orchestra - that's a glorious feeling.

"I actually got to combine my cello and acting in a couple of films," he goes on. "I played a little in The Thing Called Love, which was about Nashville songwriters, and in Samantha I was actually cast as a cellist."

While The Low and Sweet Orchestra may not perform the classical music that Mulroney studied, he wants to make it clear that he takes it very seriously. "I play great and so do the other guys," he says. "This is not some movie star's band. In fact, they keep me way over on the side playing my cello and mandolin. They never let me near a microphone."

Mulroney does admit that performing for a rock audience has its drawbacks, mainly when he's trying to protect his vintage cello. "It's extremely valuable," he says. "It's over a hundred years old and at one concert it was getting spit on. Some Circle Jerks fan was getting into our music and she was spitting on the stage and it was landing on my cello. So I went up to Zander and said, 'Tell your Circle Jerk groupie to lay off my instrument.' He leaned into the microphone and yelled, 'Hey, just because we call ourselves an orchestra doesn't mean we won't come down there and kick your ass.' That ended the spitting real quick."

When he isn't performing with The Low and Sweet Orchestra or acting, Mulroney is at home in Los Angeles with his wife, actress Catherine Keener, whom he met on a movie set. "We have a showbiz marriage that, knock on wood, seems to be working," he says. "We're not really competitive with each other. The first time we worked together was last year when we did Living in Oblivion, Tom DiCillo's low-budget feature, which I helped fund. We got a big kick out of it.

"We critique each other's performances mercilessly," he adds with a laugh, "and we also help each other get ready for auditions. But it's really hard to tell someone how to act, whether you're in front of a camera or in real life."

As for his image as a sex symbol, Mulroney insists he and Catherine take it lightly. "It's all right," he says, "but I don't give it a lot of thought. If people want to see me that way, I'm all for it, but I don't choose roles based on sex appeal. Those kinds of characters don't interest me." He adds, "I'm certainly not the kind of guy who gets mobbed by fans. It sort of happened to me recently in an airport and I got very uncomfortable. It was like one person said, 'Hey, I saw you in a movie,' and then a little crowd began gethering. That's the kind of thing that makes my palms sweat. But I have to admit I'm flattered by the attention. But the main thing for me is not being a celebrity, it's acting.