For starters, "sister" Lisa Kudrow is carrying his baby.

Or, at least, "hosting" it. If you don't already know, Ribisi plays Phoebe's lovably ditsy kid brother, Frank Jr., on Friends, a recurring role that has breathed more life into that old must-see workhorse than anything since Selleck made it with Courteney Cox.

Already firmly established on the indie scene, Ribisi wowed Sundance last year as lead slacker in Richard Linklater's subUrbia and, this year, as a sheltered Cajun man in love for the first time (with Natasha Wagner) in First Love, Last Rites.

But '98 will be the young actor's crossover year. In a big way, starting with Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan, the WWII rescue movie that's fast becoming this summer's most buzz-inducing flick. (Fellow Sizzler Vin Diesel is another of the film's hot young stars, along with last year's Sizzler, Matt Damon, and Tom Hanks, who coincidentally directed Ribisi in That Thing You Do.)

Then comes Garry Marshall's The Other Sister, in which he costars with Juliette Lewis as a pair of retarded youngsters who fall in love.

(Diane Keaton plays Lewis' mother.) In between are another film with Lewis, Men, a twentysomething relationship comedy and yet another indie, Scotch and Milk, helmed by Adam Goldberg--Ribisi's fellow grunt in Private Ryan.

And everyone'll be anticipating the patrimony on Friends. Indeed, by the time Phoebe gives birth, we expect the young dad will be a major star.