`I love the sci-fi stuff," says Neal McDonough. "I was always, growing up, a big fan of `Star Trek.' I loved Kirk. Kirk was my favorite. For me, he was like Johnny Testosterone on the screen."

By now, everyone who saw "Star Trek: First Contact" knows that McDonough's character, bridge officer Hawk, is a traditional "redshirt" (red turtleneck and all), a character designated to be killed so the show's stars can do another installment.

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Did he mind being a redshirt? "No, I knew. The great thing was, that shot at the end where I turned into the Borg was so much fun. That was cool. I just totally dug that."

Before "First Contact," McDonough, who grew up in a family of six children on Cape Cod, had already racked up a respectable sci-fi resume. He starred with Paul Winfield in Fox's "White Dwarf," a stylish two-hour movie that served as a pilot for a series that was never picked up, about a distant world torn by opposing forces.

"The favorite thing I've done in sci-fi is `White Dwarf,' " he says. "It was so wacky. The fans dug it, but I think it was too cerebral for the basic masses."

He also appeared in sci-fi series. "It was funny, on `Quantum Leap,' I played this young, drunken ballplayer who had a problem with his father. On `VR.5,' I played this young, drunken pilot who had a problem with his father. On `White Dwarf,' I played a young, drunken doctor who had a problem with his father.

"At one point, my dad called me and said, `Neal, I love what you're doing, I know your career is really going well, but did I do something to you?' `No, Dad.' "

This May, McDonough tackles another big-budget sci-fi project, starring with Luke Perry ("Beverly Hills, 90210"), Rebecca Gayheart ("Earth 2") and Kim Cattrall ("Star Trek 6: The Undiscovered Country") in NBC's mini-series version of "Robin Cook's `Invasion.' " Adapted by sci-fi writer Rockne S. O'Bannon ("Alien Nation") from Cook's new novel, the thriller is about aliens that unleash a deadly virus on Earth through a meteor shower.

"It's kind of that `Body Snatchers' thing," says McDonough. "I play Bill Gates basically, this billionaire who wants to take over the world. I find this kid, Luke Perry, who wants to help me take over the world with this rock, and this rock turns people into very linear, alien-type people.

"But in the end, I give him all my money to help me take over the world, and he takes all my money and--ha ha!--I'm red-shirted again."

He'd love to do a sci-fi series, but not a dark one like "The X-Files" or "Millennium." "It's not so much, to be honest with you, my cup of tea. If I was going to do a sci-fi show, it would have to be something like `Quantum Leap,' where it's TV that's promoting moral fiber. Families could watch it and understand it and take something home after each episode.

"I would definitely be interested in doing a sci-fi series, you betcha. It makes people think. Not only does it make people think if it's a human-drama type thing, but also it makes people think of human drama 3000 years from now."

Kate O'Hare

NEAL MCDONOUGH ENJOYS HIS USUALLY BRIEF SCI-FI LIVES