Patrick Wilson has a heavy, wonderful burden.

He is what's known in film circles as an "up-and-comer" -- a title that is both a blessing and a curse. '"I think I've been up and coming for a long, long time," laughs this good-natured, Virginia-bred actor, who has been nominated for two Tonys (Oklahoma! and The Full Monty) and is now in the running for a Golden Globe for his supporting role as Joe Pitt in Tony Kushner's epic play-turned-HBO-miniseries, Angels in America.

"When I was little, of course my parents always said I was up and coming," he says with a chuckle. "And every job I've had since college, someone has invariably told me, 'This is your big break.' The first time I had a lead in a [theatrical] tour. The first ensemble job in a Broadway show. My first Tony. All those things were 'career-making,' I was told. It puts pressure on me, and it doesn't. I've always felt each role offered something more challenging. It's been a very steady climb for me."

This 30-year-old is pondering all this during a recent phone call from London, where Wilson is cast as a lead in director Joel Schumacher's upcoming filmed version of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Phantom of the Opera. "Hopefully, from Phantom, whatever the next movie will be, will be a different adventure," says Wilson, who plays Raoul, Vicomte de Chagny. "And I'm sure they'll say, again, THIS is your big break." He sighs, and chortles. "Anyway, it's nice to hear."

Wilson is relatively new to this in-the-spotlight thing. Many cinephiles won't have heard of him yet. But directors who hanker for theatre-trained actors love this man-boy, who manages to look beguilingly fresh-faced and painfully mature (and emotionally tortured) in his Angels debut, which he was handpicked for by director Mike Nichols.

In the $66-million, six-hour production, which comes to Canada on Movie Central in the West and The Movie Network in the East, starting tomorrow, Wilson plays Pitt, a Reagan-Republican lawyer who is a Mormon-bred married man, oh, and also, a closet homosexual. He is in moral purgatory, and spiritual agony. Critics largely applauded Wilson's work in the miniseries, saying he more than held his own among the all-star cast, which included Al Pacino, Meryl Streep, Emma Thompson and Mary-Louise Parker, to name a few. As Wilson dryly puts it, "There is a good chance I might never work again with such an Oscar-friendly cast."

Angels in America, shot in New York, took 11 months to film, and aired on HBO in November. It drew raves from critics and was an audience favourite. Wilson, who had done primarily theatre, says Angels was a godsend introduction to feature film. He says he got a call from his agents to audition for Nichols after the stage/film director (The Graduate, Carnal Knowledge) saw him perform in The Full Monty on Broadway.

Wilson credits Nichols for bringing so much class, humour and humanity to Kushner's groundbreaking, decade-old play. "He surrounded himself with people who love the theatre and are used to that kind of process," says the actor, who left the set of Angels to take a part in The Alamo, a film with Dennis Quaid and Billy Bob Thornton. "Mike has such a great attitude, such passion and such confidence in the people he works with. I remember I was all worried about taking on this role, and doing Oklahoma! at the same time. And Mike said, 'Don't worry about that. It'll be fun.' And I'm thinking, fun? A gay, republican lawyer, just a wreck of a man, a closeted homosexual and a Mormon?! They were some of the hardest scenes I've ever had to do. But Mike just knows how to help out, and keep everybody calm."

Some days of shooting were draining, others exhilarating. "Some days were difficult and some were very easy," Wilson continues. "I was initially worried about doing some of the more intimate stuff, which is always the case, whether you're straight, gay or whatever. It's just the nature of the business.

"But when you're given that strong of a backbone [the script], you can't go wrong. It's like Tony built this wonderful fence and all we had to do was play inside of it."

To get ready for his role as Joe Pitt, Wilson studied the Book of Mormon. "What really intrigued me is the Mormon backbone of this guy and anybody who is like that. I grew up in an Episcopal church, but my life didn't revolve around the church like it does for the Latter-day Saints. Whenever Joe got nervous and was unsure of what he was saying, he'd quote the Book of Mormon. I found all those passages. I also talked to an openly gay Mormon who came out in the 1980s. For me, this production was not so much about sexuality, but about all of us trying to find our way through life. We've all got our battles and the struggle of trying to be truthful to who we are, and to those we love."

But where previous AIDS-themed, gay-themed films (Philadelphia and Longtime Companion) might no longer seem as relevant or topical today as when they hit the screens more than a decade ago, Angels In America (based on Kushner's Pulitzer Prize and Tony-winning play) has managed to strike a chord with audiences that surpassed its makers' expectations. HBO's movie recently dominated the Golden Globes, receiving eight nominations, including four of the five nods for best supporting actor.

Even Wilson is a tad dumbstruck by the show's mass appeal. "Philadelphia or any number of other gay or AIDS plays, written in the 1980s, always seemed to be about THAT. AIDS seemed to be the story," says Wilson. "Angels never seemed to me like a gay play or an AIDS play. At the end of it, you kind of go, 'Oh right, all these guys are gay.' You don't really focus on their sexuality so much because there are so many other things going on. What resonates for audiences now, and didn't maybe then, was all the political themes. The play came out in the Clinton era, when we'd just finished with Reagan/Bush. Now that there's been enough distance, and the Republicans are back in the White House, you see the political themes are much stronger."

In Phantom of the Opera, Wilson is one of three relative unknowns (along with Gerard Butler and Emmy Rossum) who are the leads of what is billed by Schumacher as "the world's biggest musical," a feature film with a colossal budget that hopes to capitalize on the popularity of Chicago and Moulin Rouge. "We're probably the most sung-through movie that's been out yet," agrees Wilson. "Joel has a vision for it. It's shot beautifully. The sets are amazing." On the surface, Angels in America and Phantom of the Opera could not be more disparate works. But Wilson sees a thread that connects the two productions.

"Joel and Mike are good friends," says Wilson. "And Mike always said to me, "Eighty-five per cent of what I do is casting. And Joel is the same way. He doesn't go around touting his résumé. He says, 'Regardless of what you think of my movies, I put together good casts.' "

A few weeks ago, Wilson appeared on stage at the Kennedy Center to honour Nichols, along with Carol Burnett, Loretta Lynn, James Brown and Itzhak Perlman, for his contribution to the arts. Wilson danced and sang with Streep. He couldn't help but bring it up. "I got to sing for him at the Kennedy Center with Meryl," he said, disbelieving. "It was thrilling.

"Mike went to bat for me. He chose me to do this. In fact, he had more confidence in me than I did."

Wilson can play down the up-and-comer tag all he wants, but you'd have to be tone-deaf not to hear the pride in his voice when he describes his inclusion at that star-studded event. And you'd have to be dumb not to pick up on the fact that -- at least for that night anyway -- he wasn't just up. Or on his way. He was there.