Noah Wyle, best known to TV viewers as a hapless and big-hearted surgical resident on the hospital series "ER," would have you believe that he's "much more comfortable as an actor than as a star."

Now, at the risk of sounding jaded, it must be pointed out that the only people who use this contrived line are long-forgotten sit-com wannabes and cigarette-smoking artistes who are sick of being stalked by tabloid paparazzi. This guy Wyle falls into neither category. And on this occasion, a low-key meeting to discuss the actor's role as executive producer and co-star of the independent drama The Myth Of Fingerprints, it must be noted that the old "actor vs. star" comment sounds undeniably genuine--even to a hardened cynic.

Wyle is a Los Angeles native and one-time latchkey kid who grew up within walking distance of the famous Mann's Chinese Theater on Hollywood Boulevard. It was here that he cultivated an affinity for acting--not stardom--and as he grew to love such films as Return Of The Secaucus Seven and Judgment At Nuremberg, he gravitated toward the filmmakers on the vanguard: Alan Rudolph, John Sayles, John Cassevetes.

"I'm a movie-a-holic," the actor says, reflecting on his first role as a "wonderful troll" in a nursery school production of the Billy Goats Gruff. "My fascination with movies as escapism, therapy and entertainment began very early on."

Myth's... September release covers all of those bases. The low-budget movie, which Wyle describes as "funnier than Ordinary People and not as funny as Home For The Holidays" tracks one Thanksgiving weekend in a family that has never quite clicked. Parents Roy Scheider and Blythe Danner have raised a brood of troubled offspring who harbor secrets and resentments that cathartically rise to the surface during this traditional holiday get-together. Wyle is the painfully sad and shy Warren, a young man desperate for his father's affection and fearful to disrupt the status quo. He even is willing to sacrifice a relationship with a woman he clearly loves in order to maintain family harmony and avoid risking his father's ire.

Shot for $2.5 million and set in a 200-year-old colonial home in small-town Maine, the ensemble piece, written and directed by first-timer Bart Freundlich, offered Wyle an opportunity to hang up his surgical scrubs and take a risk with his acting career. But unlike his "ER" co-star Batman--er George Clooney--Wyle chose to follow a subtle route to the big screen.

"Right now I'm in a precarious position," the actor admits, "and what I do coming off the show will determine my career. This film is a no-lose situation. It's not like I'm coming out in a movie where I'm the out-and-out lead, where there's a huge budget, and where the studio is relying on me to get a hit. I feel much more comfortable as an actor than a star, and if that were ever going to change, I would want a serious body of work behind me, so if I'm in a movie that's a hit, the critics wouldn't say I'm a fluke, and if it's a bomb, they wouldn't say I'm a flash in the pan."

Wyle was attracted to the Myth script for the realistic and often sparse dialogue penned by Freundlich. As the son of divorced parents whose subsequent marriages created an extended family of seven children, Wyle says he recognized some classic characters and universal plot points in the film. Early on, he assumed the role of executive producer on the project in an effort to lend his TV-star clout to Freundlich's efforts. Wyle's cachet did help: In addition to industry stalwarts Scheider and Danner, Freundlich inked the chameleon-like Julianne Moore to take on the role of Warren's bitter, angry sister.

And though the independent film, set for release from Sony Pictures Classics, is clearly helped by a "name" cast, Wyle is confident that its simple and archetypal themes will be the draw for audiences.

"I've always been a big fan of family dramas--it's a subject that I don't think you can ever do too many films about," the actor says. "Every family is a little bit different, and every family is the same, too. I know in my own family, our upbringing manifested itself in very different ways with my brothers and sisters; it's led them in completely different directions than it did me."

Shooting the movie in an actual home, as opposed to a soundstage, created a familial essence on the set that played itself out during the production, Wyle recalls. The cast dined on homemade food prepared by a local caterer. Cast members often sat in the same seat at the table during mealtimes, and their behavior sometimes mimicked that of real-life relatives.

"There was an air of realism in the script that really reflected how a family works," Wyle reflects. "You're not always screaming. Sometimes you're talking about mustard and you're really talking about what's wrong with the family. It's like the truth is hidden in these mundane subjects--you're talking about everything as you're talking about absolutely nothing."

In terms of his own career, Wyle enjoyed the opportunity to escape the grind of weekly TV production and luxuriate in the rehearsal process. The accelerated pace of television often detracts from one's performance, he notes, and he was pleased to workshop the film before going in front of the cameras. Plus, it was a challenge to leave Dr. John Carter back at the "ER" soundstage and explore some new emotional territory, he says.

"An actor's favorite food is variety," says Wyle. "Anybody who's on TV battles the paranoia of being recognized for one piece of work to the point of people refusing to allow you to try anything different. Even on 'ER,' when the writers come up with twists and turns for my character, people react quite vehemently."

But Wyle, the actor, is not one to look a gift-horse in the mouth. He is quick to point out that "ER" has in fact made him a star and though he "took the show for the money" and never expected it to last a full season, he is eternally grateful to the program for the opportunities its profile can afford him.

"A movie like this would never have come down the road for me if it were not for the show," he points out. "And as an actor, I really appreciate that."