Miller's Crossing

SPOTLIGHT

Some actors play the same character over and over. Others enjoy cutting back sharply against our perceptions, like experienced drivers turning their wheels into a skid. Penelope Ann Miller, who co-stars with Alec Baldwin in this summer's The Shadow, digs making skid marks. She's already played a Mafia don's daughter and Pee-wee Herman's love interest.

Miller was initially typed as the wholesome girl next door, largely because of her fine work in the stage and film productions of Our Town and Biloxi Blues. That all changed with her role in Carlito's Way. "Playing a stripper will do that," she says. So will getting involved with your co-star. At the time, Al Pacino was mum on Miller, but she was more forthcoming. (Maybe omerta—the code of silence—comes more naturally if you've done a few Godfather movies.) Does she regret that talk of the affair overwhelmed news of her Golden Globe nomination?

"Well, I didn't just consider it an affair," she corrects. "It was a significant relationship. It seemed silly to say we were just good friends. If you're going out with someone, you're going out with someone."

The Shadow, based on the old pulp serial ("Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men?"), gives Miller a chance to essay idols such as Myrna Loy and Carole Lombard. Plus, there are those satin gowns. "You can't wear undergarments with these clothes, 'cause they hug your body so tightly," she says. It doesn't necessarily sound like a complaint.

GEORGE KALOGERAKIS