Bruce Greenwood, center, fought for the role as Dennis Wilson in ABC's special, 'The Story of the Beach Boys: Summer Dreams"

BEACH BOYS: THE DARKER SIDE OF THE LIMELIGHT GREENWOOD'S ROLE HIS SHINING HOUR? by Ron Miller Mercury News Television Editor

When he was 7 or 8 years old in his native Vancouver, Bruce Greenwood would put on a colossal pair of headphones and get crazy listening to the surfin' sounds of the Beach Boys.

Today, more than 25 years later, the same sounds are still ringing in Greenwood's ears after playing band member Dennis Wilson in "The Story of the Beach Boys: Summer Dreams," a new TV movie premiering Sunday night at 9 pm on ABC (CH. 7, 11, 13).

Greenwood also got more than a little crazy reliving Wilson's tortured life, which the film portrays as a desperate plunge into hell, through a haze of drugs, booze and indiscriminate sex. His journey includes a near-fatal involvement with the murderous Manson "family" and ends with Wilson's drowning death in the same waters the Beach Boys made an international focus of teen-age fantasy in the 1960s.

His wickedly realistic performance as the dissipated, self-destructive Wilson is so arresting that an Emmy nomination seems almost guaranteed for the Canadian actor who, with this single stroke, may have trashed his image as one for TV's more promising "pretty boys."

"I don't know what people will think," Greenwood mused over lunch. "Maybe they'll think it was OK or maybe they'll think I went over the top. I really don't expect anything to happen, but I wish it would."

Now 33, Greenwood has spent the past seven years in Hollywood, trying to find the one role that would lift him from obscurity and make him a "bankable" star. The closest he's come until now is the role of the self-absorbed, manipulative and corrupt Dr. Seth Griffin on NBC's former hit series "St. Elsewhere."

"When 'St. Elsewhere' was on, I was recognized every day," he said. "That made me feel good. I thought: Here it is. I'm in the mainstream. I've arrived."

But the cancellation of "St. Elsewhere" two season ago diverted the waters of the mainstream for Greenwood and put him back into the swarm of little fish trying to make it in the big pond.

"I learned the train only stops for a very brief time," he said. "You stick your head out the window and get recognized by the crowd. Then the train pulls out of the station."

Now it may be reaching the next big stop on the line. Greenwood has the biggest, most dramatic role in the Beach Boys movie, ABC's opening attraction for the important May ratings "sweeps." He also has a featured role in the much-talked about new Mickey Rourke film, "Wild Orchid," which opens Friday, and co-stars in the pilot for a new TV series about investigative reporters that NBC is considering for its fall lineup.

Getting what could be an image-breaking role as Dennis Wilson may have been essential for Greenwood to make casting directors take him seriously after many years as callow, shallow young lady killers. After "St. Elsewhere," he decided he had to give up the dubious "security" of his matinee idol looks and try to convince people he could play character leads.

"It was a really hard thing for me to do," he said. "There's not a lot of security in it. But I'm only going to get leading-man offers for so long, so I thought I'd take a stab at it."

When he learned ABC planned to film an unauthorized biography of the Beach Boys, he went after the Dennis Wilson role with a vengeance. Before his trial reading for producers, he studied two books about the band, screened film of Wilson on stage and analyzed the screenplay to get the proper attitude.

"Physically, he was quite a bit different from me," he said. "He had a big jaw and his head was shaped differently. but he had abundant energy and a real cockiness that somehow you could forgive."

Greenwood won the part, but nobody hollered "Eureka!" after his reading. Nobody signed him to a long-term contract. He modestly explains that "they finally winnowed it down to me."

Nevertheless, the conviction Greenwood brought to the part soon had network people buzzing as he began to flesh out the character screenwriter Charles Rosin had developed from Steven Gaines' mud-stirring biography, "Heroes and Villains: The True Story of the Beach Boys."

The movie portrays Wilson as a rebel who sought the love and respect of his tyrannical father, but was constantly pushed aside for his more creative brother, Brian. When the band they formed became a pop phenomenon, Dennis was overshadowed even more, resorting to ever more bizarre anti-social behavior to secure his own identity.

"He was a free spirit, a real orangutan," said Greenwood. "He didn't have that regular set of socially conventional limits the rest of us have."

The movie also makes a lot of Dennis' supposed lack of musicianship. The band often toured with a backup drummer to replace the quirky Dennis and he frequently was omitted from recording sessions. But the movie also hints he may have had deep reservoirs of untapped musical talent.

"He had a lot of creativity," said Greenwood, who talked with many musicians who worked with Wilson. "He came out with his own solo album, which was quite well regarded. That ticked off the other Beach Boys to no end because he was supposed to be this gadfly who was just along for the ride."

Unlike most of the other actors who play the band members, Greenwood actually is a musician and has performed with bands. He plays guitar and even has his own small recording studio. However, Wilson was a drummer and pianist, not a guitarist.

"If you look closely, you'll see I play as if I were from the Mike Tyson school of Piano," Greenwood said.

Greenwood doesn't think of Wilson as a villain, despite his prolonged financial support of Charles Manson and his "family" before the Sharon Tate massacre, and despite the damage he did to his family and the women in his life.

"He was definitely a rogue," said Greenwood. "He was misguided and made some tragic choices. I think a lot of it was trying to make up for the lack of love from his father and the need for recognition of his music."

For Greenwood, the key to Wilson's character was something his mother once said about him: Even as a little boy, he used to stand at the screen door of the Wilson home and endlessly stare at the world outside. That told him Dennis ws the exact opposite of Brian, his inwardly turned brother. In that household, it also meant he was destined for pain.

'Many feel the story of the Beach Boys is a metaphoric indictment of the "fun, fun, fun" lifestyle expressed in their songs. Without the sudden riches and fame, some believe Dennis Wilson might not have lived that kind of life -- nor died from it.

Greenwood isn't so sure. He pointed out Wilson was the only member of the band who actually was a surfer, living wild and free before the Beach Boys hit big. He thinks the seeds of destruction were planted in him early.

"I don't know if he would have crashed and burned in such a great ball of fire if he hadn't had all that money at his disposal," said Greenwood. "I think his spirit was just the kind that burns bright and fast."

Summer Dreams: the story of the Beach Boys

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