Put on a Happy Face

Just when Liam Neeson had emerged (from baddie roles) as a gorgeous leading man type--as Diane Keaton’s scene-stealing lover in “The Good Mother”--he returns as a doomed romantic hero who’s hideously disfigured. Neeson’s set to star in “Darkman,” which horrormeister Sam M. Raimi (“Evil Dead I” and “II”) will write and direct, with shooting to begin mid-April for Universal.

Neeson will portray handsome scientist Peyton Westlake, who’s in the midst of experiments involving synthetic skin, when a fire breaks out. The woman he loves--and the rest of the world--believes he perished in the flames. Actually, he’s badly burned but alive.

To reconstruct his face--which he keeps partially masked--he undergoes a nerve-severing procedure that frees him from physical pain. Since he lacks physical sensations, his emotions intensify.

“He’s filled with rage--and undergoes uncontrolled emotional swings,” said producer Robert Tapert, who stressed that Neeson won’t develop superhero-type powers. “He’ll be a beast in the classic sense--like the beast of ‘The Phantom (of the Opera)’ or ‘The Hunchback (of Notre Dame).’ ”

Westlake will try to exact revenge against the mobster responsible for the fire, while hoping to reunite with his lady love.