Now he's feeding a Dragon for Asia 

   HE DONNED the red cape, briefs and boots of Kal-El, the visitor from Planet Krypton in
   the television series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures Of Superman. 

   But since the show ended two years ago, Dean Cain has been noticeably quiet. 

   He is now ready to talk about Angry Dragon Entertainment, the production company
   he has been nurturing for the past year. Having filmed five movies this year alone,
   the lack of a Dean Cain on-screen credit should soon be an issue no longer. 

   "For me, the name Angry Dragon signifies an aggressive company that wants to
   break from the norm. A lot of work in Hollywood and in this industry is political. It's
   frustrating and it can make you angry. "The negotiations and the politics of it make
   me angry. You lose your mind, your patience, there's all of that." 

   Cain speaks from experience. Two of the four projects he starred in were put on hold.
   Rag And Bone, a television series pilot penned by Interview With A Vampire author
   Anne Rice has still not seen the light of day. 

   The other, Best Men, was canned when production company Orion went bust. It was
   released as a video this year. 

   "That's the frustrating part of being an actor. That's why I'm here as a producer and a
   director and a writer. This way I have a lot more control over what happens," he
   says. 

   The films he and his partner, Mike Carr -- a former Princeton football player like
   himself -- want to make, look set to take him straight into the heart of this region. 

   "Well, I am Asian," explains the quarter-Japanese, "so I am inclined to those kind of
   things -- in terms of locale and content." 

   He has never been to Japan or Asia but hopes that the work will eventually get him
   there. Funding a couple of Hongkong action flicks is on the cards as well. 

   In the meantime, he has been starring in film after film, taking his pay packet and
   feeding the Dragon. 

   Two projects have emerged as distinct possibilities. One is an MTV special, the other
   an adaptation of best-selling novel, The Burning Man, a Twin Peaks-ish look at a girl's
   murder and a lawyer with secrets. Describing the book as a page-turner, he
   enthuses: "I want to do the whole Orson Welles thing -- write, direct, produce and
   star in it." 

   His wish list of roles include Tom Clancy's shadowy character John Clark, an
   embittered Vietnam vet-turned undercover CIA operative and novelist Clive Cussler's
   mega-macho alter ego, Dirk Pitt, America's answer to James Bond. 

   Top of Cain's agenda is a film about an American on a soul-searching discovery of his
   Japanese roots. 

   "It's very similar to my own life, sure. But that stuff is wonderful to explore as an
   actor and as a human being. 

   "That's the great thing about this line of work -- that your art and life can co-exist."