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How ''Lost'''s Naveen Andrews has conquered his demons | 164632__sayid_l

HASN'T 'LOST' HOPE Andrews is grateful ''people have responded to the character'' Sayid

Well received as those movies were, by the time they came out, Andrews had gained a reputation as a ''drunk,'' and top-notch directors stopped calling. ''I blew it in the '90s in England because of my habits,'' he admits. A supporting part in 1998's goofball gorilla comedy Mighty Joe Young brought him to the States, where he soon got sober and met his current girlfriend, actress Barbara Hershey, 57, his costar in 1999's straight-to-video Drowning on Dry Land. Though open about his personal life, Andrews has no patience for what he perceives as America's age-difference double standard. ''Michael Douglas can look 70 and go out with Catherine Zeta-Jones, and nobody f---ing blinks an eyelid,'' he says, exasperated.

Andrews' formerly addictive behavior may have burned a few bridges in the U.K., but Chadha (Bend It Like Beckham) cast him without hesitation. ''He's a superb actor,'' says the director, also British-Indian. ''He's not had an easy upbringing, and he doesn't hide that — it's in his eyes. That's his appeal.... Unfortunately, there aren't many roles for people that look like him.''

Which makes his part on Lost all the more remarkable. ''I thought, They're gonna have an Iraqi in the Republican Guard on prime time?! F---, no! Especially when the country is at war!'' Andrews laughs. ''They had the courage to push the envelope that far.'' Racial typecasting will always be an issue, he knows, but so far, he's found ''more opportunity'' for nonwhite actors in America than in Britain. And to some degree, he's even learned to embrace it. ''Recently, I've started thinking that most white people would give their left leg to play some of the complex, tortured parts I've gotten to play, so it can work for you,'' he reasons. ''Some white geezer can't be a 16th-century opium junkie, shagging everything in sight.''