Law and Order?s hot cop Jesse L. Martin spends his time busting bad guys. But don?t be fooled by his rough-and-tumble day job. Deep down, he's a softie who still showers one lucky lady with loads of loot.

He was Ally McBeal's beau Dr. Greg Butters, but like most romances on the Fox dramedy, the sparks fizzled. And as far as the 32-year-old Jesse L. Martin is concerned, that was fine. "I'm not an LA. person," he says of his work on the left-coast Ally set. "I wanted to come back to New York. "Come back he did.. .and with a vengeance: When Benjamin Bratt left Law and Order, Martin snagged the coveted role. Now he can't walk down the street without people stopping to tell him how much they love his character (detective Eddie Green)... or that he's so terrific on ER. Martin laughs: "And then I say 'Thank vou, but I'm not Eriq La Salle.'"

Martin can afford to laugh. He's come a long way from where he was bom: a tiny town in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. When he was very young, his mother decided to relocate her family to Buffalo, where Jesse was exposed to theater and dance in a program for gifted children. All these years later, we thank his mom for opening the door that made our Wednesday-night fantasies possible.

1 You studied acting at NYU but left before graduation. Why?

We were dirt-poor. When I was accepted, my mother cried because she knew we couldn't afford it. But I worked four or five jobs at a time to stay there. Then I had to leave because school was interfering with work?and I couldn't afford not to work.

2 What was your craziest job?

Spritzing women with perfume at Macy's. Man, some of them would get so nasty!

3 Your first major part was in the musical Rent. Were you surprised it became such a hit?

Definitely. When I was sent the script, I literally had never heard of the play.

4 How did you get the role on Ally McBeal?

I heard that Michelle Pfeifer (wife of Ally creator David E. Kelley) brought my name up to David. How cool is that?

5 Did you realize that you'd be labeled a heartthrob?

Get outta here. I've always been a straight-up nerd?a bookworm and then a drama nerd. My stepfather wasn't the kindest person and had a propensity for violence, so I tried not to be seen. There was a girl I was infatuated with in high school, and it took me two vears to talk to her. Ironically, she became my high school sweetheart.

6 Are you in a relationship?

I recently split with a girl. I'll just say that there were some trust issues, on her part.

7 What attracts you to women?

There are women I've been with because they could sing their asses off, and I'm a sucker for that. Some, because they're smart. Others, I'll admit, simply because they were drop-dead gorgeous.

8 One of the great things about your relationship with Ally was that even though you're black and she's white, it wasn?t an interracial love story.

Tell that to the ugly bigots who sent mail saying 'What the hell is that Black Sambo doing with America's sweetheart?' But you're right...Calista and I loved that our characters never discussed race.

9 We don't know a lot about your Law and Order character except that he's a serious guy.

Yeah, Eddie's a little elusive. But that's one of the things I like, that the show is story- driven, not character-driven.

10 Is it fun to play a detective?

I love that I get to run down the street with a gun in my hand, acting crazy. That's exactly what I did when I played as a kid.

11 Now that you?re rich and famous, what do you splurge on?

We never had money, and I still act like I don?t. But I spend a lot on my family?my mom more than anybody. This past Christmas, I went home and she was driving this old Caddy in the snow, and I said, ?We are so getting you a new car.? That was one of the biggest pleasures of my life.