‘Lethal’s’ New Weapon

What’s Mel Gibson really like?

Patsy Kensit, who plays his girlfriend in “Lethal Weapon 2,” answers rapturously:

“I was captivated by him. He’s quite lovely to look at.”

The men in the tea room of that Beverly Hills Hotel could have said the same thing about her. Some were openly leering at Kensit, a 21-year-old knockout. Obviously used to such attention, the stares didn’t even phase her.

Kensit, a very proper Englishwoman who talks a mile-a-minute, was more interested in focusing on her problem: how to manage two careers. In addition to acting, she is also the lead vocalist in Eighth Wonder, a pop/dance-music group. She has been in the band, which includes her brother, guitarist Jamie, since she was 14. Eighth Wonder’s first album, “Fearless,” is on WTG/CBS Records.

So far, the band’s primary audience is in Europe. “Our goal is to become a force in the American market,” says Kensit.

That might just happen. The best song on the album, “I’m Not Scared,”--written and produced by the Pet Shop Boys--is included on the film’s sound track and has just been released as a single.

“Lethal Weapon 2” is by far the biggest movie of her film career, which started in 1974 when she played Mia Farrow’s young daughter in “The Great Gatsby.” Until now, her most prestigious film credit was a starring role in “Absolute Beginners,” the 1986 cult movie musical featuring David Bowie.

Trying out for a part in “Batman”--which she didn’t get--led to the “Lethal Weapon” role. “The casting director remembered me and called me up for the ‘Lethal Weapon’ part,” she says. “I read some scenes with Mel and got the part right then.”

Her film career is heating up. She has finished “A Course of Disapproval,” with Jeremy Irons, and will soon starting shooting “Chicago Joe and the Showgirl.”

Kensit quips: “If my film career really gets going maybe people will be asking those trite questions about me--like: ‘What’s she really like.’ ”