Sibling Rivalry Pays Off

Kevin Dillon says he doesn’t really mind being thought of as Matt Dillon’s younger brother.

“I expected it from the start,” says the 23-year-old actor with an air of laid-back good grace. “I’m proud to be Matt’s brother. I think he’s a great actor.”

Besides, “Wanting to get out from under that makes me fight to work even harder.”

Dillon’s fight to work (“I’m still an auditioner”) has put him squarely in front of the public in recent weeks, with the back-to-back film releases “War Party” and “Immediate Family”--in addition to his role as a sympathetic friend in “When He’s Not a Stranger,” a date-rape TV movie airing Monday night at 9 on CBS.

He is especially proud of “Immediate Family,” in which he plays the teen father of Mary Stuart Masterson’s baby, scrutinizing potential adoptive parents Glenn Close and James Woods.

“I have friends who’ve been in situations like that--getting a girl pregnant--so I used some of what these guys went through. It’s a very tough thing,” says Dillon, who won critical praise for his performance.

Making the movie also taught the single actor that “I myself am not ready for fatherhood. Some day, but not now.

“It’s just the way they cry all the time,” he complains with a laugh. “He ruined some of my best takes, that baby!”