Former bit player Howard is in the groove thanks to ‘Flow’

Terrence Howard is sitting at a table outside the Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel, dragging on his cigarette, eyeing the tourists posing across the street, when a bus door opens.

“You’re the best actor, my brother!” the driver yells, giving Howard a thumbs-up.

“Thank you my friend. Thank you brother,” Howard says, smiling politely.

Leaning toward an interviewer, he says with a whisper: “I paid him to do that.”

Not that he’d have to. After a career filled with supporting roles, Howard, 36, is a hot Hollywood property thanks to “Hustle & Flow,” the much-hyped comic drama which opened in theaters Friday.

Starring Howard as a small-time pimp-turned-rapper, it premiered at the Sundance Festival to deafening applause.

“It’s kind of strange to me,” says Howard. “It’s always been about the grind for me, you know. I’m just so used to being a part of something, being the thing edited out. But I knew I had it in me.”

So did producer Stephanie Allain, who wanted a unique actor for the complex role of DJay, a dangerous yet gentle hustler – he has a policy against hitting his women – longing for a better life.

“I was casting another movie at the time, ‘Biker Boys,’ ” says Allain, “and I went to meet with Terrence and was telling him about ‘Hustle & Flow.’ As I was talking to him about his life and what he wanted to do he just felt like DJay, because he wanted more.”

The Chicago native lives in Philadelphia with his three children and wife, Lori, whom he remarried two years ago. She runs the family construction business.

When he first read the “Hustle & Flow” script, Howard was intimidated by the complexities of the character.

“The thing about it,” he says, “was how do you make an unlikable person, an antihero, into a hero of a human spirit. Because that’s the true hero of this movie, the human spirit and its resilience and determination to do more and more.”

Daily Variety critic Todd McCarthy likens Howard to a young Marlon Brando, with his “brooding thoughtfulness” and “emotional immediacy.”

In 1995, Howard had his breakout role in “Mr. Holland’s Opus,” then turned in a scene-stealing performance as the crazed bank robber in “Dead Presidents.”

He built on his reputation as Taye Diggs‘ womanizing best bud in 1999’s “The Best Man” – which earned him an Independent Spirit Award nomination – followed most recently by a major role in the critically acclaimed ensemble drama “Crash.”

Howard has two more films scheduled for release this year: “Four Brothers,” directed by John Singleton, and “Get Rich or Die Trying,” in which he co-stars with the rapper 50 Cent.

“It’s like what was said in ‘The Alchemist,’ ” Howard says. ” ‘When you seek out your own personal legend, the universe conspires to help you along the way.’ And maybe that’s what’s the cause of all of this right now.”

The birthday bunch

Comedian Ruth Buzzi is 69. Actor Chris Sarandon is 63. Comedian Gallagher is 59. Actor Robert Hays (“Airplane!”) is 58. Actor Michael Richards (“Seinfeld”) is 56. Actress Lynda Carter is 54. Director Gus Van Sant is 53. Actress Laura Leighton (“Melrose Place”) is 37. Actress-singer Jennifer Lopez is 37. Actress-singer Kristin Chenoweth is 35. Actress Anna Paquin is 23. Actress Mara Wilson is 18.