WILLIAM H. MACY / ACTOR

You know his hangdog expression from “Fargo� and “Boogie Nights.� Now you’re learning William H. Macy’s name via “Pleasantville� and “Psycho.� Next up, he’s paired with John Travolta in “A Civil Action� which opens Friday. The Chicago native, 48, started in theater with college pal David Mamet and would love to be a guest on ABC’s “Sports Night,� which features Felicity Huffman, his wife.

FACING FACTS: “I wouldn’t mind being the guy. Wouldn’t mind getting the girl. But I’ve got to face reality--I’m a 48-year-old man, I’m a character guy. I feel like Tom Cruise, but I look like Howdy Doody.�

PLAYING TO TYPE: “I’m completely hooked into the imploding WASP role. Even in New York stage I did that a lot. I think there’s a great part of me that’s actually an imploding WASP.�

ONE SMALL STEP: “Luckily in ‘Psycho’ I get to step out a bit. I’m the guy who gets the goods on these people. I don’t get put upon, although I do get killed. In ‘A Civil Action,’ I’m Mr. Reality--get to give Travolta what-for. Felt really good.�

WHATTA GUY: “We love [Travolta]. He’s funny, lighthearted. Got it in his contract that he shoots a short day. Who could ask for more of a movie star? But John’s a brave actor. Simple. Looks you right in the eye, tells the truth. And that’s what people cheer.�

BLASPHEMY: “I’m one of the only guys in this who can say I’m not a huge Hitchcock fan. Common knowledge that he hated actors, and it shows in his films. He’d have his star, who was always good. But the rest of it . . . I’m just not as big a fan as other people.�

WRITE OVER MIGHT: “I’ll take a good script over anything else. I’ll take a lesser role for a better script. I did one called ‘Happy, Texas,’ written by Ed Stone, a little indie. . . . I can’t remember what I turned down to do it, but it cost me a lot of money. And I’m doing one called ‘Panic.’ Same deal.�

ONE THAT GOT AWAY: “David Kelley wrote something originally called ‘The Game,’ a hockey movie [now called “Mystery, Alaska�]. I desperately wanted to do it.�

BUSY BEE: “I’ve got a lot of work. After ‘Panic,’ there’s Paul Thomas Anderson’s new film, a script about synchronicity that’s still being written. Tom Cruise is signed on to star--he’s a pal, too. Great to work with. Then with [longtime partner] Steve Schachter, we wrote a movie for TNT called ‘Travesty.’ I’ll star.�