Dark Angel’s Michael Weatherly reveals his past-and his passion for co-star Jessica Alba.

It doesn’t take 20/20 vision to see that Eyes Only is nervous. It’s obvious from the way he greets his lunch date at a West Hollywood cafe on a late January afternoon. “I have almost a phobia about (interviews),” begins Michael Weatherly, who plays Dark Angel’s underground cyber crusader Logan Cale.

“I get all paranoid and freaked out. I’ll lie in bed tonight going, ‘Why did I say that?’” He laughs awkwardly, running a hand over his unshaven jaw before reaching for the recorder next to his plate of chicken
stir-fry. “In fact, I want this tape,” he says, only half jokingly. “I want a do-over!”

Forgive Weatherly if he is uncomfortable with the fame game. When Fox’s Dark Angel (Tuesdays, 9 P.M./E.T.) took wing last October, initial buzz focused on the sci-fi serial killer’s sexy pedigree- it was co created by genre giant James Cameron (”The Terminator”), and it stars Jessica Alba, who
kicks butt as the show’s bioengineered bike messenger, Max. But if breathy chat rooms and Angel’s increase in women viewers in any indication, Weatherly’s days of flying under most people’s radar are over. “Michael’s
not exactly hard on the eyes,” Cameron says of the 32-year-old actor, who had a recurring role on the Christina Applegate comedy, Jesse. “But more than that, he has an unmistakable chemistry with Jessica.”

Said chemistry has fans rooting for Logan and Max, who have embarked on one of TV’s more unconventional romances (he may or may not be permanently paralyzed). According to Cameron’s producing partner Charles Eglee, the spark ignited the moment the actors met during Weatherly’s screen test. “When Michael walked in, the camera just happened to be resting on Jessica,” he says. “She couldn’t take her eyes off the guy. It was like, ‘Oh, that’s interesting. She’s fascinated.”

Talk of an off-screen fascination persists, though Weatherly is reluctant to discuss it, at least initially. “I was given this great piece of advice: “The less you say, the better,” he says coyly. “Besides, I don’t really want to be famous for dating someone famous.”

He’s been there, done that. In fact, part of Weatherly’s press wariness comes from the negative publicity surrounding his relationship two years ago with model-turned-actress Rachel Hunter. Tabloids labeled the actor a home-wrecker after the two were spotted together within weeks of her separation from rocker hubby Rod Stewart. “They made my life sound like some bad Dynasty episode,” Weatherly says. “The truth is much less interesting than that.”

Weatherly claims he and Hunter met in November 1998 but only began dating after she left Stewart two months later (Hunter has always contended the same). “She was going through a difficult (time). We dated for a couple of months. But how titillating is that?” Not nearly as intriguing as details of privileged upbringing and stormy
former marriage, both of which became fair game during Hunter season. The son of Michael Weatherly Sr., who made millions as the North American importer of the Swiss Army Knife, and Patricia, a hospital
administrator, Weatherly, who has a brother, Will, grew up attending posh private schools in Connecticut. He logged time after four different colleges-a period he characterizes as “the halcyon years, the drug years”- before dropping out to pursue acting. That decision reportedly led Weatherly Sr. to cut his son off from the family fortune, though Weatherly claims the situation has been blown out of proportion. “My family wasn’t thrilled,” concedes the actor, “but I get along well with both of my parents now.”

Regardless, Weatherly admits he made his own way when he moved to New York City 10 years ago. “I sold shoes, delivered pizzas, dabbled in songwriting,” he says. At 24, he landed his first break, a plum role on the
now defunct soap Loving; within a year, he fell for costar Amelia Heinle. The pair wed after Heinle became pregnant in 1995, but Weatherly moved out shortly after son August was born. “We married to see if we could give
married parents to our child,” says actor, who shares custody with Heinle. “It became evident we would be better parents separately.”

Interest in Weatherly’s personal life has flared up rumors of a romance with 19-year old Alba. “I’ve already said more than I ever planned on saying to anybody with a recorder,” he says before proceeding to discuss Alba for 10 minutes, speaking publicly about their relationship for the first time. “(At the audition), I looked at Jessica and realized I had bigger problems than (impressing) Jim Cameron. I had to try really hard not to break into a cold sweat. She’s kinda pretty, if you haven’t noticed.”

“I know it sounds like rhetorical bull, but I’ve never met anyone like her,” he continues. “I’m always curious about what she has to say. That’s exciting to me. Yeah, she’s pretty, but after working 300 hours of staring at pretty, that can get kind of boring if there’s nothing interesting coming out of her mouth. But Jessica is large and in charge. She knows what she wants- from the scene, from the show, and from the people in her life.”

Suddenly he stops cold. “It’s obvious I’m crazy about her, isn’t it?” he asks sheepishly. Then he mentions that Alba has encouraged him to write music again. “The songs had always been like my own little personal diary,” he says quietly. “Some titles are dead give-aways, like ‘What Was I Thinking?’ and ‘It’s a Good Thing Your Pretty, Baby.’”

“But the newest stuff is much more positive. I just wrote one called, ‘Look What I Found’. It’s like, love is blossoming, and I’m having a great time.” And that’s nothing to be nervous about.

Source: Eyes Only