Naveen Andrews, Sexier than Ralph Fiennes

Name: Naveen Andrews
Age: 27
Breakout Role: As the serenely sexy bomb-defusing expert Kip in The English Patient.
Previously Seen: In the title role of The Buddha of Suburbia, which earned him Best Actor accolades at the 1994 San Remo Film Festival.
Next Up: Costars in Kama Sutra, by Mira Nair (Mississippi Masala), and in True Love and Chaos, with Noah Taylor (Shine).
Non-affirmative Acting: ''When I started,'' says the London-born actor of Indian descent, ''I thought, There is no point to this, because you're going to be typecast. Having spent your whole life dealing with racism, you've consigned yourself to a profession where that is the form.''
Career Outlook: ''He's very movie star-ish and wholly human all at once,'' gushes Patient director Anthony Minghella. ''What could possibly stop him?''