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Move over Mel Gibson and Tom Cruise! "La Femme Nikita's" Roy Dupuis can do it all . . . and better.

This 37-year-old French-Canadian actor has spent the last four years on the show, burning up our television screens. He's the real reason for the show's success, but don't anyone tell Peta Wilson. His characterization of Michael, Nikita's trainer and sometimes-lover, is understated and sublime. Michael makes no unnecessary movements, nor does he waste words. "No," "Yes," and "Of course," are his stock-in-trade answers. Were it not for Dupuis's eyes and subtle use of body language, the viewer might be lulled into thinking this actor didn't have a very taxing role.

Au contraire! Dupuis's action sequences demonstrate his superb athleticism and grace as he runs, leaps, and kills the terrorist enemies of Section One. But as gifted as he is in action scenes, it's his sensual and tender love scenes with the lovely star of the show which have set hearts to fluttering all over the world.

Don't be fooled though. Roy Dupuis is no television actor looking to break into the world of film. He's classically trained, graduated from the Theater School of Canada, and has a successful stage, movie and television career in Quebec under his belt. Finding examples of Dupuis's earlier work, almost entirely in French, takes some effort, but it's worth it--whether one understands a single syllable of French or not. Hearing Dupuis speak his native language is akin to a sensual auditory treat and should not be missed, and while some of his films are subtitled, some are dubbed by the actor himself.

The following is merely a sampling of some of his better-known work.

Dupuis first hit the screen in the 1990 television adaptation of Arlette Cousture's novel "Les Filles des Caleb," or "Emilie," as the English version was titled. The young Dupuis plays Ovila Provenost, the absentee husband of Emilie Bordeleau. His portrayal of the transition from a young teen to a broken, alcoholic man in his thirties has to be seen to be believed. Sensitive and two years younger than his schoolmistress Emilie (Marina Orsini), Ovila idolizes her and falls in love. The power of his performance, his sweet sensitivity, his tortured yearning for life, his inability to stay at home with the ten children he fathers, and his abiding passion for his Emilie are the ingredients for this grand tragedy. Dupuis became an overnight sensation in Canada with the airing of "Les Filles des Caleb," when roughly eighty-five percent of the Quebec population tuned in to watch the eighteen-hour mini-series.

One of Dupuis' earliest films, the critically acclaimed 1992 feature "Being At Home With Claude," directed by Jean Beaudin, is the movie he says he is the most proud of. Originally a French play, it's the story of Yves, a gay hustler, who murders his lover Claude. Be warned, the first five to seven minutes of the picture are graphic and not for the faint of heart, while the remainder of the movie consists of an agonizing interrogation. It primarily is a two-man show between Yves and the detective who berates him for hours on end. At the end of the film, Dupuis delivers a brilliant twenty-six minute soliloquy that is heart-breaking and transcending. One cannot help but sympathize with the tortured Yves, who finally accepts and admits to the murder.

Immediately after completing "Being At Home With Claude," Dupuis started work on "Scoop," a French-Canadian television show, playing rookie reporter Michel Gagne, who falls in love with his colleague Stephanie Rousseau, who just happens to be the daughter of the publishing magnate who owns the newspaper. "Scoop" ran for four seasons and was an extremely well written show with a wonderful ensemble cast. The on-screen chemistry between Dupuis and Macha Grenon (Stephanie) is explosive, to say the least. Their on-again, off-again relationship produces a son, and when Michel leaves Stephanie at the end, it is said that hearts broke all over Quebec.

Next up for Dupuis was the 1993 picture "Cap Tourmente," available only in French with no subtitles. It is a lushly photographed picture and Dupuis is bursting with energy and passion, even if directed in all the wrong directions. It is the story of emotionally tortured and twisted Alex O'Neil (Dupuis), who returns to his mother's home, a bed and breakfast in the countryside, that is about to go to the creditors. It's difficult to follow due to the language barrier, but it is an artistic film that was presented at the Cannes Film Festival. It's a magnificent performance, even if one doesn't always understand what the heck is going on.

Dupuis followed this with a role in "Entangled" as an American photographer in Paris, who speaks little French. I wonder who did peculiar bit of casting? The movie has little to recommend it except Dupuis, who certainly seems to enjoy his small role as the womanizing and motorcycle-riding Max to the fullest. Judd Nelson and Pierce Brosnan are the stars, but once Max leaves the scene, the interest level plummets. "Entangled" is a twisted story of revenge told in flashback, but by the time it's over, who cares?

Also in 1993, Dupuis reprised his role of Ovila Provenost in a follow-up mini-series, "Blanche." While only in four scenes, he dominates the screen and rekindles, although briefly, the passion he has for his wife Emilie. The mini-series centers around Blanche, one of his daughters, who survives an impoverished childhood to become a nurse in the 1920's. When another one of his daughters gets married, Ovila attends the wedding and sees his estranged wife for the first time in years. They share a night of passion, but the next morning Emilie tells Ovila she never wants to see him again. Ovila never troubles her again, keeping his promise until her death.

Americans may remember the handsome actor from the 1994 television mini-series "Million Dollar Babies." His role of Oliva Dionne, father of the Dionne quintuplets is memorable, along with that of his convincing co-star Celine Bonnier as his wife and the babies' mother. Dionne's fierce determination to have his five little girls returned to their family is admirable, but it is the steel-eyed manipulator he becomes at the end of the series which presages the true tragedy of the babies who become a commodity first for the Canadian government, then for their father.

The same year, Dupuis starred in "Chili's Blues," an atmospheric piece which takes place in a Montreal railroad station. The trains are not running due to the severe weather, and mild-mannered Pierre-Paul, a vacuum cleaner salesman, discovers a teenage girl in a school uniform in the men's room with the barrel of a gun in her mouth. He runs for help, but when they return, she's disappeared. He annoys most of the people in the station trying to discover which girl was about to commit suicide, his task made more difficult by the fact that the train station is filled with girls wearing the same uniform. Pierre-Paul makes the acquaintance of one of the girls, Chili. She convinces him that she is the girl with the gun, then says she isn't. Slowly they open up to each other and make love in an empty train car. Well, the French-Canadian film community certainly knows how to film a love scene, and Dupuis is earnest and appealing in this uncharacteristic role. Like ships (or trains) crossing in the night, he and Chili go their separate ways, but in the end Chili still has the gun.

Dupuis' entry into the American movie market is marked by the 1995 sci-fi horror flick "Screamers." His character struts, plays with knives, quotes Shakespeare (Dupuis's idea), and makes star Peter Weller appear very small in stature, which apparently he is. One can't help wondering what would have happened if the roles had been reversed.

In 1996 Dupuis had a cameo role in the comedy "L'homme Ideal." His five minutes of screen time are memorable and without a doubt the best throw away line in the entire movie. Dupuis, who appears in the beginning of the movie as the heroine's one-night stand, reappears toward the end of the film, standing in line at a fertility clinic. The heroine asks him what he's doing there, and he replies, "Waiting for my turn to come."

Then came "Waiting For Michelangelo" a bit of romantic fluff, with Dupuis at his sweetest and most endearing. He portrays a Swiss art dealer who falls in love with a Canadian anchor woman and moves part of his business to Toronto. But alas, Thomas (Dupuis) has competition. It seems he didn't move fast enough to suit the insecure anchor woman - she has entered into another relationship. Since the movie clearly is a romance though, she makes the right decision in the end - as if any woman in her right mind would choose the other guy if she could be with Dupuis' Thomas.

Dupuis once said in an interview that he only did one movie for the money and my money is on "Hemoglobin" or "Bleeders" for that one. A 1997 horror film, "Hemoglobin" is the story of John Strauss (Dupuis), who is dying of an unknown genetic disease. He comes to a sea side village to trace his family roots. Unfortunately those roots turn out to be underground creatures who feed on the dead. This movie does not have a happy ending, in case anyone is still interested. It is, however, notable for the love scene between John and his wife. It is very realistic and once again proves Dupuis is no slouch in the on-screen love-making department.

Much better is the comedy "J'en Suis," which demonstrates Dupuis perfect comedic timing. He plays the gender-confused Dominique Samson, a nearly bankrupt architect who pretends to be homosexual in order to be employed by an antique dealer, as he is told he has to be "one of them." When Dominique's wife Maude (Charlotte Laurier) returns from vacation and finds his new wardrobe from The Body Gay, she kicks him out of the house. The French Canadians also know how to do a sexy farce, and this one is top of the line. Dupuis doesn't miss a beat from the minute he decides to pose as a gay antique dealer until the moment his heterosexual hormones go 'click' and he's back on track again.

Next Dupuis did "Passages des Hommes Libre," familiarly known as "Aire Libre," which was filmed in Venezuela. It is the story of naturalist Dr. Amie Bonpland (Dupuis) who along with his friend Baron Von Humboldt (Christian Vadim) go to the New World in the late 1800's on a voyage of discovery. It's beautifully filmed, although a trifle slow at times, but worth watching just to see Dupuis in a loin cloth. And there is the added bonus of hearing him speak Spanish as well as his native French. In this movie, the character Dr. Bonpland is more interested in scientific discovery than in love-making, but luckily (for the viewers) he manages to accomplish both.

"Aire Libre," back in 1997, is the last film Dupuis has done. Filming on "La Femme Nikita," which began airing he same year, has left only the months of June through September free for this magnificent actor. Now that the show is almost over, his fans hope for something big and splashy in the near future.

Hey Hollywood, take note. Roy Dupuis can do it all, action, romance, comedy. So get with the program and make thousands of women happy!