Carvey Follows Cohorts’ Movie Path but Isn’t Splitting SNL Yet

Dana Carvey, who makes his film debut in “Opportunity Knocks,” is being interviewed as a movie star, not as a member of the comic ensemble of “Saturday Night Live.” But old habits are hard to break. You ask him if he plans to leave the venerable late-night show in pursuit of Hollywood, and suddenly George Bush is answering.

“Not gonna do it. Wouldn’t be prudent.”

And how does he feel audiences will react to his character in “Opportunity Knocks”? The voice that answers belongs to Garth, Carvey’s “nerdy surfer dude and loyal sidekick” in the new SNL segment, “Wayne’s World.”

“Excellent! He shoots! He scores!” says Carvey/Garth.

Between unprompted mini-skits, the impish-looking Carvey will tell you that he is, in fact, marveling at his success.

The telephone at his Encino home never seems to stop ringing, with requests for his zany presence on such shows as “Today,” where he made an appearance Tuesday, and “The Tonight Show,” where he showed up Thursday. But, it wasn’t always this way for the “Saturday Night Live” star.

“I was just dismissed a lot,’ Carvey said. “I looked so innocent and boyish that no one thought of casting me as a comedian.”

In the years since then, no wrinkles or gray hairs appear to have set in, but Carvey is no longer being offered the innocent, boy-next-door roles. After playing a colorless character in the short-lived TV series, “One of the Boys,” with Mickey Rooney, a mime waiter in the rock movie spoof, “This is Spinal Tap,” and being edited out of the Sean Penn movie “Racing Against the Moon,” Carvey is ready for some recognition.

Known best for his quirky SNL characters--the priggish Church Lady and the arrogant Teutonic bodybuilder Hans, Carvey has embarked on the same crossover journey undertaken by a host of SNL comedians before him.

“It’s entry-level movie stardom,” Carvey says.

His starring vehicle is a fairly ambitious role. In “Opportunity Knocks,” which opens today, Carvey plays likable con man Eddie Farrell, a two-bit hood from the south side of Chicago. Farrell pulls off the ultimate “con” by convincing a wealthy Chicago family that he really is a Harvard-educated whiz kid and wooing the family’s daughter.

Unlike SNL predecessors Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd, who have ventured into dramatic roles, Carvey wants to concentrate on what he does best: comedy.

Carvey said he plans to stay on SNL for as long as it’ll have him, or at least for another season, when his five-year contract runs out.

“You look back on people that have done three, four, five seasons there, and they have a legacy that they can be proud of,” Carvey says.

“I feel like I would just love to be connected to that whole legacy. And hopefully next year will be my best year.”