Degree of Difficulty

Olympic diving champ Greg Louganis is back in a bathing suit--to play lifeguard and romantic interest to Traci Lords. It’s for Abba Entertainment’s “The Object of Desire,” which just started filming in the Central American nation of Belize, with Lords as a soap opera queen on holiday, stalked by a crazed fan.

The winner of four Olympic gold medals doesn’t see any problem being teamed with a former porn star. “As far as I’m concerned, she’s an actress. And I’m an actor. And I think we work well together,” he says by phone from the Caribbean nation, adding, “She happens to be real sweet. I just had dinner with her last night.”

Now 30, Louganis has studied acting and dance, with stage experience dating back to childhood. (Last summer, he was Prince Charming in a Long Beach Civic Light Opera production of “Cinderella.”)

The role in “Object of Desire” is his biggest to date, following a bit part in a straight-to-video pic, “Dirty Laundry,” and some TV game show appearances. He’s nixed other film offers, he says, because “they wanted a body, I think, more than anything.”

But isn’t he scantily clad as a lifeguard? “Yes, but there’s more to this character than just a bathing suit. There’s a relationship here. To be frank, I’ve been ready to make a transition--from being an athlete--for a long time. But most of the general public doesn’t seem ready for me to make that transition. This is a kind of step.”

It’s not unlike learning a new dive, he says: “It’s terrifying. You’re testing unknown waters.”