That's "the handsome" Roy Dupuis, the smoldering Canadian actor who has played Michael, Nikita's mentor and sometime lover, since the series debuted in 1997. No newcomer to adulation, Dupuis, 37, has been a supernova in French-Canadian films, TV and theater for years. "He's a huge star in Quebec," says Nikita producer Jamie Paul Rock. "Probably the biggest star in his age range."

Despite having conquered roles in his native country, however, Dupuis describes Michael as "One of the toughest characters I've had to play. He's close to perfection, so it takes a lot of concentration." As does the English-language script. Though much improved since he took the role, Dupuis admits, "My English doesn't possess all the subtleties and musicality of my French."

Still, Dupuis' colleagues have found that he meets his challenges admirably. "I call him Royal," Wilson says with a laugh. "He's very strong, very dominant. There have been a couple of times when I couldn't deal with things, and he'd take my hand, look straight in my eyes and ground me again."

Dupuis' strength was forged in the northern reaches of French-speaking Quebec and Ontario. The second of three children of Ryna, a piano teacher, and Roy, a meat company salesman, he moved to Montreal with his mother at 14, when his parents separated. It was there that a movie about the French playwright Moliere changed the would-be scientist's career direction: Dupuis dropped a physics class for one in theater.

A few years later, the novice actor won a place at the prestigious National Theatre School of Canada, and by 1994, he had been cast in his first important English-language role as the Dionne quintuplets' hapless father in the CBS miniseries "Million Dollar Babies". After a few minor American film roles, he took the part in "La Femme Nikita", the success of which has increased Dupuis' fan base exponentially. But while co-workers say he's always gracious, the actor is uncomfortable with all the attention. "I don't think he sees himself as a sex symbol," says producer Rock. "I think he sees himself as an actor. And he's really proud of his art, and he's really good at it."

To escape the spotlight, Dupuis spends weekends at his 1840 farmhouse near Montreal, where he lives with his girlfriend of five years, a Canadian actress he declines to name. Although marriage (of which he says, "It's a lie--'I'll always love you'--how can you know?") is not in their future, children probably are. For now, though, Dupuis is taking the summer off and reading scripts. He is eager to do more movies.

And as for the question of whether his cult appeal can cross the border in a major way, former executive producer Joel Surnow, who cast Dupuis in Nikita, had no doubts. "Roy is an unusual blend of male action machismo and a vulnerable romantic," he says. "Hollywood will come to him because very few people can do what he does. He wants to stay in Quebec, but he'll leave soon. He'll have no choice."