Heart & Sewell

As for Sewell's own psychological depths, ''I used to say [my acting] was all about children who didn't like me when I was 6, and I said it so many times it became a good story,'' he says. But in truth, Sewell's childhood was not picture-perfect. His mother is Welsh; his father was an Australian animator who created the ''Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds'' sequence for Yellow Submarine (''That was my claim to grooviness when I was growing up''). When Sewell was 10 his father died of a heart attack (his parents were separated at the time); six years later, his mother returned to Wales for good. Sewell, living hand-to-mouth, stayed in London to study art, and later, drama. ''The focal point of my life was my lack of money. Anyone will tell you that the primary thing they remember about me was that I always wanted a bite of their sandwich, or to borrow 20 p or whatever.''

Those lean years behind him, Sewell now lives with his girlfriend, fashion journalist Yasmin Abdallah, in north London. ''I live in a house, I've got a big telly, things like that,'' he says. He has just finished At Sachem Farm, with Minnie Driver and Nigel Hawthorne, and will also be seen this fall as a spoiled ex-child star in Miramax's comedy Martha Meet Frank, Daniel and Laurence. As for the spoils of his own impending stardom, he says, ''I'll be offered things like Street Fighter in Space 4.'' And if L.A. demands his presence more often? ''The reason most British actors slag off Los Angeles is because they're susceptible. I don't want to name names,'' he says of his expat colleagues, ''but you see them playing villains in silly films to pay their swimming pool cleaner.'' Even something as innocuous as a photo shoot can alarm the actor. ''Having to do madcap things rather than have anyone use the D-word about you--now, I'd rather be called difficult. I've seen [those shoots] in magazines, and they may look very cool, but under my breath, I always mutter 'D---head, if you do that, then you ask for everything you get.'''

Then he catches himself. ''I'm very, very scared of saying that things are going well. Yes, I've got lots of things coming out, but I've been slapped on the back before and told, 'This is going to be the big one, sonny.''' He's ready, though. ''I could easily spin you something quite humble and well-balanced,'' he says, ''but I'm not sure if that's my attitude.''