He certainly proved it in his most infamous role as the telepathic albino in Powder. ("I looked like an androgynous mosquito-larva chemo patient," he says.)

Rave reviews and critical acclaim followed, but instead of grooming himself as the next big thing, he decided to go the indie route with its predilection for character work. Eschewing the hot-young-thing category for idiosyncratic performances, he's made a career out of quirky character roles like a cult-busting rockster in Raging Angels, a misfit in Zack and Reba, a rich brat in the neo-Tarantinoesque Suicide Kings, a student with a Graduate complex in Eden, and an eccentric Southern boy in an adaptation of Truman Capote's The Grass Harp. Not bad for a kid from Houston who only joined the acting game in college after spotting a bodacious babe sauntering out of the drama department: "She made me want to take up acting. So I dumped English class, took up theater, and fell in love with it."

After less than a year in L.A., he landed the choice role Harrison Ford originated in Indiana Jones and honed his acting chomps with a slew of directors and locations. Thirty-three countries later, he had the battle scars of a seasoned actor.

Until now, Flanery has been content to hide behind his indie oeuvre. But this month's big-budget Hollywood romantic comedy should change all that. In Simply Irresistible he plays a department store exec who falls for a girl's (Sarah Michele Gellar) culinary conjuring. His steamy love scenes (if they don't get edited out before release) were tasty enough. "We have this one scene where I start to eat her food and it's like a sexual experiences. Next thing you know, we're naked and lip-locked."

Did dropping his drawers in front of a room full of strangers bother him? "I don't have a problem with being naked. A body is a body. I'm very secure with my body. I'm more insecure about recreating an emotion. That's scary."

As for their chemistry: "I don't think you can manufacture that between two people, so there has to be a part of you that goes 'Wow'. Sarah is a very sexy girl. I didn't have to work too hard at it." He'll also serenade Drew Barrymore ("She's so sexy and down to earth") in Best Men, in which he plays a bard-spounting bank robber.

Spending his formative years in rural Texas, Flanery never really thought that much about acting. The son of a salesman dad and a real estate broker mom, Flanery seemed nonplussed about their divorce when he was a teenager. "I understood where they were coming from," he offers. Although dyslexic, he felt he was smarter than most of his peers, and with his mother's blessing he'd often skip school to go surfing-not an easy thing to do in Houston. He credits his sangfroid to his mother, "She'd drive a pop-up trailer down to the Gulf beaches of Texas and we'd hunt starfish. Then she'd sit in her car and read her Danielle Steele novels while I surfed all day. I thought that was awesome. It wasn't Cannes, but for me it was better."

Nowadays, when he's not riding waves, he tools around town in a classic '65 turquoise Caddie that he bought from a transsexual who once appeared on the Sally Jessey Raphael show. "I didn't realize she was really a he until after I bought the car. It's not like she advertised it in the paper." He also amateur races with his buddies. "I love the concentration of racing." Does the danger excite him? "The chances of getting hurt are less than on the freeway. I don't do it for the danger. I do it to outstrategize myself. When that flag goes down, it's like being a fighter pilot."

Having pocketed a couple of large paychecks, he's looking for a new house in Los Feliz. His next luxury projects are Boondock Saints, in which he'll rid the world of evil, and Jello Shots, an acrimonious sex comedy directed by Michael (Gia) Christopher, an auteur not known for light comedy. "It's like In The Company of Men with a woman's perspective," he tells me, "The script in great. It has a documentary feel about it." Flanery used the role to try to comprehend the alternatives between the two species. "Men and women are such innately different creatures that we can never truly knows one another. There's always this endless separation, rules that nobody discloses to the opposite sex. We definitely have sex for such different reasons. Our secrets can never be told." But some secrets can.

The best advice his mother ever gave him:
She told me that a smile was the best form of currency in the world.

On the difference between Los Angeles and Texas:
The obvious difference is how people act. People are more friendly in Texas. L.A. is so transient. If you smile at someone in the street, they'll look like they're gonna kill you. In Texas, you'll have the same neighbor for 30 years. You have to be friendly in L.A., someone could be in your life five minutes or five years.

Most memorable travel destination:
Phukett, Thailand. It's beautiful there. It can be quite unsettling, but the physical geography is so beautiful. It's like a living postcard.

His favorite place for nightlife:
Prague. At night, the way it's lit up like something out of a movie. The people are killer. The parties wild. It has such a great energy. You stay up all night going from bar to party. It's amazing!

Song that makes him feel like he's just popped a hit of ecstacy:
The soundtrack to The Double Life of Veronique. It's awesome. The vibrations to that music change my whole perception. It's like I'm high!

His favorite word:
Velvet. It's such an onomatopoeia. It's just one of those words. The way it sounds. The way it feels. I love everything about it.

Two adjectives he'd use to describe himself:
Concentrated and disciplined

Special thanks to Elena and her friend Simone Cromer for providing this interview