1998 Articles

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0 height="100%"><tr> <td valign="top" width=120 BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <div> <IMG SRC="4bd73c80.gif" border=0 width="115" height="200" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> </td> <td valign="top" BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <div> 1998 Articles</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>Time Out New York magazine, Mar. 26-Apr. 2 1998</B></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="2c02de20.jpg" border=0 width="301" height="226" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"><IMG SRC="2c22be00.jpg" border=0 width="299" height="224" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>Who's l'homme? </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>As La Femme Nikita's Michael, French-Canadian actor Roy Dupuis calls the shots. </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>"I wanted him to have a romantic look because I think of Michael as a modern knight," says Roy Dupuis, defending the Fabioesque mane he flaunts each week on the steamy USA series La Femme Nikita. Calling from the series' set in Toronto, Dupuis seems a man of as few words as the aloof "secret anti-terrorist operative" he plays on the show. Ever since Michael gave us everything but the full monty in the season opener--in which he and Nikita (Peta Wilson) got it on for the first time--Dupuis has become one of the most lust-inspiring yet loathed heartthrobs on TV. </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Even over the phone, Dupuis is seductive, his voice breathy and tinged with angst. And his slight accent adds to the romantic air. "Yes," he admits, "French, not English, is my first language." The 34-year-old Montreal-based actor may have only recently begun wooing American audiences, but Dupuis has long been a big name in Quebec. Since his graduation from the esteemed National Theater School of Canada, Dupuis has won several Canadian awards for his film and TV work. The proof of his celebrity in the Great White North is the legions of paparazzi who stalk him. Dupuis says his life hasn't changed significantly since he started Nikita: "Let's just say I'm used to being watched." </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Dupuis was recruited for the show after he turned down the lead in another American series "because it was based in L.A., and I'd just bought an 1840s farmhouse in Montreal. I wanted to spend some time there." (Martha Stewart would approve of Dupuis's new favorite pastime--sprucing up his house and garden.) Dupuis's main concern with taking the La Femme Nikita role was that the series stay true to the flavor of its namesake, the 1990 Luc Besson thriller that also spawned Chinese and American knockoffs. </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>So what does Dupuis think is behind the appeal of Nikita's criminals-turned-assassins premise? "I think it's the intensity of the situation. The characters are always close to death," says Dupuis. But judging from the show's dozen or so websites, the hot-and-cold relationship between Michael and Nikita also keeps people coming back for more. Dupuis agrees. "I would say the most asked question is, Does Michael really care for Nikita?" he says. "I don't know if I can or should say. Michael's gestures are clues to his feelings for her, but in the show, at any time, we could be asked to 'cancel' the people we work with. It's a rough and cold existence." </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Evidence of Dupuis's growing fan base can be found in his increased presence on the show. Viewers interested in clues to Michael's psyche were treated to last week's Dupuis-centered episode "Half Life," in which his new coworkers learn all about Michael's former career as a terrorist. But now that Dupuis has reached the giddy heights of TV celebrity, he's perfectly happy keeping his head in the clouds. As soon as the season wraps this spring, he has only one major goal: "To go to Nepal for a three-week walk in the mountains."</B></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div>          <IMG SRC="4bb1c240.jpg" border=0 width="540" height="36" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>Hollywood's Hottest Hunks #2 Magazine, 1998</B><B>                                   </B><A HREF="id82.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Hollywoods Hottest Hunks 2 Magazine, 199"><U><B><IMG SRC="1a064230.gif" border=0 width="100" height="35" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>