It's an "enjoy it while you can" kind of world for actor Billy
Crudup, who can still walk down any street in America without
being recognized.
Sure, women may pause momentarily to check out Crudup's
All-American good looks, but the 30-year-old performer is still a
traffic jam waiting to happen.

Sadly for Crudup, that sense of privileged anonymity - the calm
before the celebrity storm - may finally start to crumble Friday,
when the film "Without Limits" opens.

In what is usually termed a "star-making performance," Crudup
plays Steve Prefontaine, an emotionally complex American track
star who set all sorts of distance records before dying in a car
crash in 1975 at age 24.

Crudup does more than just act the part, he becomes
Prefontaine — an arrogant, willful person with rock star
charisma, whom Crudup admits is not the first person
he'd choose as a role model.

"He's not the sort of [sports] figure that normally would have
inspired me," he says.
"I think of people like Cal Ripken, the guys who bust their ass but
don't make excuses, don't flaunt it. They don't call attention to
themselves. And [Prefontaine] was the antithesis of that."

In fact, many people in the insular world of track and field see the
man-child known as Pre as nothing more than a talented jerk: An
athlete who battled with coaches, teammates and the amateur
track federation. Who refused to consider running tactical races
because they demeaned him. A front-runner. And sometimes, a
loser.

"It was a question of ripping his guts out every time," says Crudup
of Pre's philosophy. "He wanted to prove to people that the simple
act of running around a track could expose what kind of person
you are. Could expose how important life is, the levels to which
humans can rise. I think he knew it. And I just think that's really
ballsy."

That's a word that could also be used to describe Crudup, who
does not shy away from tough roles.

Precocious Talent

Born in New York, raised in Texas and Florida, Crudup attended
the University of North Carolina - he's a sports fan who still
bleeds Tar Heel blue - then began acting on the New York stage.

Success came almost immediately: In 1995, Crudup won the
Outer Circle Critics Award as outstanding newcomer for his work
in Tom Stoppard's "Arcadia."
He's also appeared in a Broadway revival of "Bus Stop" and in
Chekhov's "Three Sisters." Film roles have included "Sleepers,"
"Inventing the Abbotts" and Woody Allen's "Everyone Says I
Love You."

Despite his looks and talent, Crudup wasn't driven to be an actor.
He's outgoing and funny, a voluble sort who was something of a
class clown during his high school days.
But ask him why he took the thespian route, and Crudup
responds, "I don't know what else to do. It drives me, makes me
feel like I have something to add in the world. And if enough
people encourage you over a period of time, you begin to think,
'That's what I must do.' I had a lot of encouragement from friends
and family, teachers and mentors."

Arts and Craft

Crudup is still learning his craft, seeing where it takes him, and
that's part of the excitement of being on the cusp of big things.

"To me acting is process," says Crudup, "and I'm continually
learning and forgetting things, making choices that work and
fail."

One of those choices Crudup will have to make is how he deals
with impending stardom. This fall and winter, in fact, he'll be
more visible than ever: starring on Broadway with Oscar-winner
Frances McDormand in "Oedipus," a new play based on
the classic Greek legend. And he's got at least two more films
coming, "Monument Avenue" and "The Hi-Lo Country."

Crudup says he isn't buying into the star machinery yet.
And it's true he's not pursuing roles in mega-budgeted flicks like
"Armageddon." But Crudup does have a personal publicist, and
has not shied away from the occasional high-profile magazine
piece. In other words, when it comes to fame, Crudup is
conflicted.
"There are times when you want [it]," he says.
"But I've never wanted it so much for so long that I thought I'll do
films that have that sort of potential. I feel like my job is to
convince people that I'm someone else. And if you begin to
cultivate stardom, I feel like people lose the sense that you could
be someone else. They won't take that leap of faith."

Sure, we've heard this kind of yadda-yadda before, the old "I'm an
actor, not a star" line. But Matt Damon isn't doing "Oedipus";
Billy Crudup is.

And when Crudup is asked to name the actors whose work he
most admires, he first mentions Paul Giamatti, a classically
trained performer who's done everything from Chekhov to
"Private Parts" (he's the unforgettable Pig Vomit), then adds
actor-not-star types like Jeremy Irons and Daniel Day-Lewis. So
maybe there's hope for Crudup's future.

If nothing else, Crudup is not buying into at least one piece of
Hollywood conventional wisdom - that you need to star in the
mega-flicks in order to finance a career as an artiste.
"That's a crock," sniffs Crudup, his dander visibly rising. "People
begin to live lives that necessitate big paychecks. They have to do
it to pay their mortgage on their 15,000-square-foot house with
pool. I think that's a load of crap, and I don't believe anybody who
says it."