Matt’s still marching to the beat of a different drummer

Matthew McConaughey began romancing Penelope Cruz after working with her on “Sahara,” but the action-adventure introduced him to someone else he’d like to spend time with: character Dirk Pitt.

The 35-year-old actor says he hopes the fist-fighting scientist and treasure hunter from Clive Cussler‘s series of best-selling novels will become his definitive role.

“I’d been looking for that renaissance guy,” McConaughey says in the kitchen of his Hollywood Hills home.

“Everything I’d read that was a possible franchise character in the action-adventure genre was either too roadhouse, just fighting and running around, or they were too prim and proper, never getting their hands dirty.”

Dirk Pitt is “a senator’s son, but a scavenger of the deep,” he says. “He can talk marine biology with you at noon and then at one o’clock be dealing gold bullion with smugglers and pirates.”

If he plans to play Pitt again, McConaughey will have to hope that “Sahara” warms a frosty relationship with Cussler.

The author, who also was displeased with Hollywood’s 1980 adaptation of his “Raise the Titanic,” went along with plans to make “Sahara” but filed suit in January to block production of future Dirk Pitt movies after he was unhappy with script changes to his story.

“It’s well known it’s not the most amiable of relationships right now,” McConaughey says. “But what I hope is that he’s able to look at it objectively. I really think he’s going to be happy.”

“Sahara” is a critical project for McConaughey, who also was a producer. He has had hits with romantic comedies (“The Wedding Planner,” “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days”), but he also has had misfires (“EdTV,” the dragon thriller “Reign of Fire”).

McConaughey even launched his own rogue 39-day promotional tour for the film. He visited truck stops, lunch counters, tourist spots and trailer parks.

His nomadic home was a silver Airstream trailer that became a mobile billboard for “Sahara.”

During filming, McConaughey also was prone to wandering. “Sahara” director Breck Eisner says his star would spend his off-nights with “a bonfire in the desert, some drums, some tequila and an impromptu party.”

Drums are a McConaughey trademark. In 1999, he was arrested at his home in Austin while playing tribal drums and dancing in the nude.

A neighbor summoned the police because of the noise, and McConaughey spent a few hours in jail before forking over a fine.

His debt to society was paid, but the teasing continues.

“I understand – nudity and music, bongos,” McConaughey says. “It was congas, too! But I guess ‘bongos’ fit the meter a little better.”

But he says he has learned his lesson:

“Shut the window, so you don’t wake the neighbor, and he doesn’t call the cops.”

The birthday bunch

Actress Olivia Hussey is 54. Actor Sean Bean (“The Lord of the Rings” films) is 46. Singer Maynard James Keenan (Tool) is 41. Actress Lela Rochon is 41. Singer Liz Phair is 38. Actress Jennifer Garner is 33. Singer Victoria Beckham is 31. Actress Dee Dee Davis (“The Bernie Mac Show”) is 9.