TATE DONOVAN / ACTOR-MUSICIAN

With the title role in Disney’s “Hercules,” Tate Donovan, 33, is in for recognition--or at least his voice is. His face, seen recently in “Murder at 1600” and last year on Fox-TV’s “Partners,” may have to wait for greater fame; “Home Made,” an NBC sitcom he was to star in was not picked up by the network. But you can see him play in the Irish folk band the McGuffins at Molly Malone’s on Thursdays.

HAPPIEST TOON ON EARTH: “When you’re working for Disney, you feel like you’re on the Chicago Bulls. All you do when you’re making it is hope it isn’t their one failure. Just my luck, I’ll be the one bogus one.”

TEAM PLAYING: “When they said James Woods and Rip Torn were also in ‘Hercules,’ I was like, ‘Yeah! Partying with Rip Torn.’ But it was just the opposite, sitting in a booth alone with an assistant meekly feeding you the lines. Never met Rip Torn. They said, ‘You’ll meet him at the premiere.’ ”

HERC VS. BATMAN: “I kind of know George Clooney, and talking about his deal with ‘Batman & Robin,’ he was very gracious: ‘Hey man, you and I are the big deal this summer.’ But there are 4,000 products with Batman and he gets one of every one, plus a percentage of the royalties. Actors in animation don’t get a lot of dough.”

THE HOT SCRIPT IN TOWN: “ ‘Permanent Midnight,’ a great story about this television writer, Jerry Stahl, who was a heroin addict. Ben Stiller’s going to star in it and everyone wants to get in on that.”

CELTOPHILE: “Celtic music is at the highest it’s ever been. Every movie there’s some scene with uillean pipes playing in the background. New bands like Solas and [musician] Eileen Ivers are brilliant, and with ‘Riverdance’ being so popular.”

EMBARRASSMENT OF RICHES: “I remember when I first got a series, they inundate you with Nike and Reebok and all kinds of things--the first time in my life I can afford all this stuff, I’m given it. Fortunately, I have a big family and they’re all poor, so I give it to them.”

TEED OFF: “Golf is ridiculous with actors. I’ve lost my best friend to golf. They sit around going, ‘Golf, golf, golf.’ I lived next to a golf course in New Jersey as a kid and caddied from 12 to 19, so I can’t stand golf.”

EATS: “I love Mishima, a Japanese noodle place. I took Jennifer [Aniston] there on our first date and she pretended she liked it, but she hated it. Every time she’s out of town, I rush over there. “