Controlled chaos

“GO, Moj. Go get him, Moj. Do your job.”

Kurt Russell is lounging outside the lush Malibu home he shares with longtime companion Goldie Hawn, watching his 3-year-old English bulldog, Mojo, bark as he runs after any birds that dare land near the beach property.

It’s hard to believe that Russell, a still-youthful 54, is a 45-year veteran of show business. The son of late actor Bing Russell, he began his career at 11 playing an obnoxious kid who kicks Elvis Presley in 1963’s “It Happened at the World’s Fair.” He went on to play the King 16 years later in the acclaimed TV movie “Elvis.”

Russell’s gone from a tweener heartthrob in such Disney movies as “Follow Me, Boys!” and “The Barefoot Executive” to one of Hollywood’s most durable, dependable leading men. And between acting gigs in the early ‘70s, he even played minor league baseball.

He may not be on the receiving end of acting awards, but it’s rare that he doesn’t deliver a solid performance. And over the years, he’s worked with such directors as John Carpenter (“Elvis,” “Escape From New York,” “The Thing”), Mike Nichols (“Silkwood”) and Ron Howard (“Backdraft”).

His latest project, “Dreamer,” which opened Friday, casts Russell as Ben Crane, an embittered, down-on-his-luck Kentucky horse trainer who, with the help of young daughter Cale (Dakota Fanning), nurses a thoroughbred back to health from a devastating injury to see it race in the Breeders’ Cup.

So you are currently filming the remake of “The Poseidon Adventure.”

I think of it as a Wolfgang Petersen movie [rather than a remake]. I think the experience of watching the movie will be different, but I don’t think there is a big difference in what it’s about. It was an opportunity to work with someone like that -- he has a great eye.

Are you playing the Gene Hackman part?

Well, we never could figure out if it was Gene Hackman or Shelley Winters!

The first movie I ever saw you in was “Follow Me, Boys!” in 1966. You were the child star, and Fred MacMurray was the seasoned veteran. Now here you are in “Dreamer,” the established actor working with Dakota, who started acting at a tender age.

We have a similar look at this whole picture world. It was fun to spend time with Dakota, and I still remain close with her. I never talked with any child actor or any young actor about my past, but I did with Dakota because we look at acting in the same way.

And which way is that?

It’s a visceral experience, and you sort of get in there and do it.

Was it your choice to go into acting?

We knew I was going to play baseball. We knew that from a fairly early age on. Acting was something I could do that I enjoyed. I was never in the position where I felt I had to do anything or behave a certain way or do certain things. I despised publicity from a very early age because it had nothing to do with the work. When you are a young person, you don’t want to go talk about yourself. You want to make the movie part. I can remember hiding up in the catwalks. I used to love to go up there and see the whole set, but most of all it would get me away from the publicist.

How many horses played the lead in “Dreamer”?

We had quite a few -- they just all rotated. I have been around horses all my life, quarter horses and ranch horses, every since I was 9, working with horses in movies. But I had never been involved with thoroughbred racers in the racehorse environment. They know what they are doing. They know why they are there. They are an extremely arrogant animal. I have been around athletes all my life, and when they are good and they know it, they carry that stink on them. And these horses do too. They are not easy to work with. When they don’t care to be there anymore, that’s it.

Your character, Ben, in “Dreamer” is a complicated, angry guy who has a hard time relating to his young daughter. But then, most of the characters you play seem to have a lot of baggage.

I do think I have a tendency to try to find and infuse in a character conflict, because that is what makes people interesting to look at. I have been fortunate in my life that I read and have done things for me on a personal level that were interesting, funny, dramatic, whatever. I thought I could do something with the characters and play things in the person, a behavior, that made the story more interesting and more worth watching, and therefore hopefully more entertaining.

It wasn’t easy turning things down. After I did “Elvis,” they wanted me to do more Elvis things. After I did “Escape From New York,” they wanted me to be an action star -- period. I got scripts for, like, 40 action pictures -- some big movies that you saw, I turned down.

I defy you to come up with any actor who has played as many roles as I have -- the same guy who did “Elvis” did Rudy Russo in “Used Cars,” did “Escape From New York.” My career has been what I wanted to do. I have done it, and I am going to continue to do it. Somebody once said, “You know, your career looks like a drunken driver has handled it.” I laughed and said, “You’re right.” I won’t deny that. My career has been handled by a drunken driver -- me. I was a drunken driver out there, being reckless and having fun.