Endangered Species

Amazing, isn’t it, just how quickly the pantheon of male movie idols changes its pecking order?

Just a couple of years ago, you could barely turn without seeing a photograph of one of the big three: Tom Cruise, his heir apparent, Brad Pitt, and, closing quickly on the outside rail, Matthew McConaughey. (And whatever happened to the great Antonio Banderas boomlet of 1995?)

But young movie heartthrobs come and, quicker than you can say, “Abracadabra Andrewmcmarthy,” they’re gone. They may still be movie stars but, in the hearts of moviegoing teen and preteen females, they’ve been replaced by this year’s model: in this case, the now holy triumvirate of Leo, Matt and Ben.

For the uninitiated, that’s Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. All three already have used the springboard of their Christmas ’97 hits, “Titanic” and “Good Will Hunting,” to good advantage. Damon and Affleck both bounced back into the spotlight with roles in summer blockbusters: Damon in Steven Spielberg’s “Saving Private Ryan,” Affleck in “Armageddon.” DiCaprio has gone them one better by spending the summer in the headlines (will he take $20 million-plus for “American Psycho”?) without actually making a movie.

Eventually, the mantle of idol-hood will be passed on to some kid who, at this moment, is 17 and bagging groceries in Kansas City. And do these three have the goods to hang on as actors, once the little girls start swooning over someone else? Let’s look at the range they’ve revealed so far.

How old is he?

Affleck: Born in 1972.

Damon: Born in 1970.

DiCaprio: Born in 1974.

Which of the old movie stars is he a throwback to?

Affleck: He’s a young Paul Newman, perhaps, with his blend of sunnily sardonic wise-cracking and emotional vulnerability.

Damon: Would you believe the youthful Jimmy Cagney? He combines swagger, Irish charm and down-to-earth humor.

DiCaprio: There’s a reason he was a longtime front-runner to play James Dean, the patron saint of tortured young actors.

How long between the time he started acting and his breakthrough role?

Affleck: First TV role at 9. First movie role: “School Ties,” 1992. Breakthrough role: “Chasing Amy,” 1997.

Damon: First movie role: “Mystic Pizza,” 1988. Breakthrough role: “Courage Under Fire,” 1996.

DiCaprio: First TV role at 16. First movie role: “Critters 3,” 1991. Breakthrough roles: “This Boy’s Life” and “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape” (Oscar nomination), both 1993.

Can he play sensitive?

Affleck: He finds the would-be hepcat artist within as ‘50s seeker in “Going All the Way.”

Damon: How much more sensitive can you get than crying and hugging Robin Williams in “Good Will Hunting”?

DiCaprio: The winner and still champion: He’s played two--count ‘em, two--rebel poets, in “The Basketball Diaries” and “Total Eclipse.” And that’s not to mention Romeo.

Can he play it smart?

Affleck: Well, in a fashion. He’s the theory-spouting comic-book artist in “Chasing Amy.”

Damon: Beside genius Will Hunting, he was cagey enough to beat a big insurance company in court in “The Rainmaker.”

DiCaprio: Would you accept quick-witted for his Jack Dawson in “Titanic”?

Is he convincing in period films?

Affleck: We’ll find out in forthcoming Elizabethan romance “Shakespeare in Love.”

Damon: Seemed both too urban and too modern in “Geronimo.”

DiCaprio: Played Rimbaud as pouty West Coast nihilist in “Total Eclipse.” Critics had some problems with him as young hustler Jack in “Titanic,” but clearly audiences had no such doubts.

Yes, but can he play a drug addict?

Affleck: Not so far.

Damon: Convincingly, right down to the matchstick arms, as morphine-jonesing Desert Stormveteran in “Courage Under Fire.”

DiCaprio: Check out the scene in “Basketball Diaries” in which he howls outside his mother’s door, crying for money to buy heroin.

How’s his choice of material?

Affleck: Has indie cred; part of Kevin Smith’s stock company. Still, what was he thinking of with “Phantoms”?

Damon: Can do the solidly commercial (“Rainmaker”) but smart enough to write his own ticket with “Good Will Hunting.”

DiCaprio: Hard to argue with “Titanic,” and “Romeo & Juliet” gave him some Shakespearean class. Not afraid to take tougher, less audience-friendly material.

He’s best when he’s playing:

Affleck: A happy-go-lucky sharpie with enough self-doubt to keep him honest.

Damon: A street-smart hustler whose heart is in the right place.

DiCaprio: A seeker whose quest is colored by memories of pain from his past.

Biggest mistake:

Affleck: Callow slacker in the little-seen “Glory Daze.”

Damon: Looked like city slicker astride a horse in “Geronimo.”

DiCaprio: Way over-the-top in hyperactive “The Quick and the Dead.”

Ideal remake role:

Affleck: Brick in “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.”

Damon: Sidney Falco in “Sweet Smell of Success.”

DiCaprio: Jim Stark in “Rebel Without a Cause.”

Affleck: Not so far.

Damon: Convincingly, right down to the matchstick arms, as morphine-jonesing Desert Stormveteran in “Courage Under Fire.”

DiCaprio: Check out the scene in “Basketball Diaries” in which he howls outside his mother’s door, crying for money to buy heroin.

How’s his choice of material?

Affleck: Has indie cred; part of Kevin Smith’s stock company. Still, what was he thinking of with “Phantoms”?

Damon: Can do the solidly commercial (“Rainmaker”) but smart enough to write his own ticket with “Good Will Hunting.”

DiCaprio: Hard to argue with “Titanic,” and “Romeo & Juliet” gave him some Shakespearean class. Not afraid to take tougher, less audience-friendly material.

He’s best when he’s playing:

Affleck: A happy-go-lucky sharpie with enough self-doubt to keep him honest.

Damon: A street-smart hustler whose heart is in the right place.

DiCaprio: A seeker whose quest is colored by memories of pain from his past.

Biggest mistake:

Affleck: Callow slacker in the little-seen “Glory Daze.”

Damon: Looked like city slicker astride a horse in “Geronimo.”

DiCaprio: Way over-the-top in hyperactive “The Quick and the Dead.”

Ideal remake role:

Affleck: Brick in “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.”

Damon: Sidney Falco in “Sweet Smell of Success.”

DiCaprio: Jim Stark in “Rebel Without a Cause.”

Affleck: Not so far.

Damon: Convincingly, right down to the matchstick arms, as morphine-jonesing Desert Stormveteran in “Courage Under Fire.”

DiCaprio: Check out the scene in “Basketball Diaries” in which he howls outside his mother’s door, crying for money to buy heroin.

How’s his choice of material?

Affleck: Has indie cred; part of Kevin Smith’s stock company. Still, what was he thinking of with “Phantoms”?

Damon: Can do the solidly commercial (“Rainmaker”) but smart enough to write his own ticket with “Good Will Hunting.”

DiCaprio: Hard to argue with “Titanic,” and “Romeo & Juliet” gave him some Shakespearean class. Not afraid to take tougher, less audience-friendly material.

He’s best when he’s playing:

Affleck: A happy-go-lucky sharpie with enough self-doubt to keep him honest.

Damon: A street-smart hustler whose heart is in the right place.

DiCaprio: A seeker whose quest is colored by memories of pain from his past.

Biggest mistake:

Affleck: Callow slacker in the little-seen “Glory Daze.”

Damon: Looked like city slicker astride a horse in “Geronimo.”

DiCaprio: Way over-the-top in hyperactive “The Quick and the Dead.”

Ideal remake role:

Affleck: Brick in “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.”

Damon: Sidney Falco in “Sweet Smell of Success.”

DiCaprio: Jim Stark in “Rebel Without a Cause.”