Paul Mccrane Relishes Nasty Role He Plays As ''Er'' Doc

Rage on, Romano. Your nasty narcissism keeps "ER's" sexy sawbones in their place. Your arrogant anger - as we've seen - is an ongoing "ER" kick.

Indeed, playing the little dictator is what egotistical surgeon John Romano (Paul McCrane) is all about. That and putting his socially inept - and seemingly misogynistic - foot firmly in malicious mouth.

"I love that he makes these wildly inappropriate remarks - just wildly inappropriate!" McCrane, 38, says from Los Angeles, relishing Romano's majorly crass come-on to Dr. Elizabeth Corday, played by Alex Kingston.

Romano is a far cry indeed from McCrane's early turn as a good-hearted kid in the 1980 movie "Fame." Last season he stopped sponsoring ace British surgeon Corday, ostensibly because she wouldn't date him. That meant no salary. Corday had to accept a lowly internship to stay in Chicago.

McCrane: "If you want to psychoanalyze him, Romano could have grown up being told he was brilliant, thinking he was the top dog all the time - but then he got out in the real world. Obviously, he's very angry. That's what a drama needs - conflict. He's there to create tension. He's very power-hungry and likes to mess with people's minds."

Romano messes with men, too. Once he barged into the O.R. drunk while Benton was operating - ranting "Peter get your hands out of my patient" and "What the (expletive deleted) did you use to make this incision, a chainsaw?"

"At first I thought he was a character I was going to do for

just a four-show arc," McCrane says. "I had absolutely no sense of how nasty he is. The writers really seemed to relish his nasty side."

To flesh out Romano, McCrane looked to the dogs.

"I think of him as a bulldog. Most of the time Romano walks with his chest puffed out, cock of the walk, cocky.

"And he plays sometimes with the musicality of his words. If his domination is challenged he gets very tight. But when he enjoys playing the little dictator he has a slightly bombastic largess.

"But the thing that's important to me is that Romano is not simply dismissed as a bad guy. Every now and then he does something you can't just hate him for - or he keeps you guessing. It might be interesting to see an old relationship of Romano's show up some time, someone from the past.

"And he has been supportive of Corday. OK, you can look at all his different motivations. But he does recognize talent and he does want good talent to advance - under his umbrella."

A realistic portrayal of a top surgeon at a big-city hospital?

"The sad truth is I've been surprised by how many people in the medical field say you don't know how many surgeons are like that."

McCrane's early "Fame" role was a musical ton of fun for the once flame-haired Philadelphian. Now the pate is shiny but McCrane still plays guitar and is "a good social dancer and swing dancer."

Three of McCrane's siblings have done time in the theater biz, on or off stage. His dad James McCrane still acts in Philadelphia-area productions.

McCrane's passion for transforming himself has not wavered since his teenage "Fame" days. After that came numerous Broadway and regional stage roles and stints in "Robocop," "The Blob," "The Shawshank Redemption" and other films.