And the Best Actor Is? : Tyrin Turner Says He Will Take Home the Award, If Not the Oscar

When Tyrin Turner announces that he “gave the best performance of 1993,” he’s so confident it’s hard to disagree with him. While he doesn’t have to compete head to head with the likes of Tom Hanks or Anthony Hopkins--at least not this year--he does face serious competition in Jeff Bridges and Matthew Modine for the Independent Spirit Awards’ best actor trophy. Nonetheless, Turner, star of “Menace II Society,” insists he’ll take home the award--the Oscar of independent films--Saturday at the Hollywood Palladium, two days before the Academy Awards.

Turner has chosen to be interviewed at his manager’s Underworld Productions’ office--a fitting name, since “Menace” received critical acclaim for its gritty, uncompromising view of South Central’s gangster community. Turner’s Caine was the movie’s pivotal character. Audiences were gripped as they watched his twisting descent from observer to hardened murderer.

Allen Hughes, who with his twin, Albert, directed “Menace,” says, “He was Caine before the screenplay (by Tyger Williams) was written. I saw him in Janet Jackson’s ‘Rhythm Nation’ video and on ‘America’s Most Wanted’ (in a re-enactment) where he played a Blood, and I was blown away. There was something about him I can’t describe. But he was just it , what we wanted for our movie. People could identify with him.”

Likewise, Turner, 21, could identify with Caine. The South Central native says he “never participated in drug dealing or gang banging, but I knew people like that. I could relate to him. Growing up in that environment helped me out (playing him).”

Yet Hughes says: “Tyrin is the only guy I know in the industry who doesn’t do drugs, doesn’t drink alcohol, doesn’t shoot. He’s from that neighborhood and has run with those people. He’s fought, but he’s real clean-cut and somewhat naive. I don’t know how he lasted that long (and stayed so straight).”

The 21-year-old Turner always wanted to act. “I was always putting on a show. I was funny as a child. I would watch TV and say, ‘I can do that,’ but I just didn’t know how.”

At 15, his aspirations led him to a workshop where his talent and confidence paid off. His acting teacher discovered he was a natural. “She fell in love with me right there,” he says, “She said ‘this kid’s got potential.’ I got my agent from a showcase there.”

TV appearances followed, with guest roles on “Jake and the Fat Man,” “In Living Color” and “Hangin’ With Mr. Cooper.”

He returns to the small screen playing Lark Voohries’ (“Saved by the Bell”) boyfriend in the “CBS Schoolbreak Special: What About Your Friends?,” which will air in the fall. This time around, in a departure from Caine, he plays a nice guy. But television isn’t where his real interests lie.

“That’s not me,” Turner says emphatically. “I’m spoiled. I’ve been on the big screen, seen my face there wide. But I’m not sure I won’t be doing some guest-starring. I don’t want to be contradicting myself when you see me in a TV show.”

In the aftermath of critics’ adoring responses to Turner’s “Menace” turn--Roger Ebert said, “His performance was filled with life and conviction”--his agent, Chuck James, insists that big things are about to happen for him: “Nothing official on paper yet, though.”

With only the “CBS Schoolbreak Special” as a definite, Turner remains cavalier. “I just want to do a variety of stuff,” he says. “Right now I’m not just trying to stick to the ‘black thing,’ which is cool because I still want to do the work for my people, but . . . I want to show my range.”

Hughes offers another explanation: “It’s been hard for him to get work after ‘Menace.’ I think other black filmmakers don’t want to use leads who other black directors have used. It’s been a tradition among black filmmakers. I’m not sure what the problem has been with white filmmakers. He’s real good at doing physical acting--crying, bloodletting--he can do all that at the drop of a hat.”

“He has real raw talent,” Hughes insists. “It’s a star quality. I don’t like to say that, normally it’s b.s., but people will see what I’m talking about.”

For now, though, Turner is focused on Saturday. “I deserve this,” he says of the Spirit Award. “I didn’t get nominated for an Oscar. I didn’t get nominated for an Image award. I was overlooked.” Despite his certainty that he’ll win, he hasn’t prepared an acceptance speech. “I just want to go up there and whatever comes out, I’m gonna say it.”