If there's a better part for a rising actor than the lead in a John Grisham film, Hollywood has yet to invent it. Tom Cruise, Chris O'Donnell and Matthew McConaughey have all used their hotshot-attorney roles as steppingstones to bigger and better things.

The latest young gun to land a Grisham gig is the relatively unknown--at least for now--Matt Damon. A Harvard grad with all-American looks, 25-year-old Damon will appear this summer in Francis Ford Coppola's adaptation of Grisham's The Rainmaker.

Damon proved his mettle last summer as a heroin-addicted soldier in Courage Under Fire. To play the part, he dropped 40 pounds in three months by running 10 miles a day and adhering to a strict daily diet of egg whites, chicken, vegetables and a single dry baked potato.

Did we also mention that Damon can write? The New England native recently sold his first script, Good Will Hunting--a coming-of-age tale about a young Bostonian--and Gus Van Sant (To Die For) is set to direct. Damon, who wrote the screenplay with his best friend and School Ties costar, Ben Affleck, will play the lead.

So, will he follow in the footsteps of other Grisham leads? In some respects, it appears he already has. Like McConaughey, who reportedly found romance on the set of A Time to Kill with costar Sandra Bullock, Damon has been linked with Rainmaker costar and Gen-X dream date Claire Danes. Now, that's a so-called life.

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