WESLEY Snipes, it's fair to say, is as tough as they come. As fearless vampire hunter Blade, he slices and dices the forces of the undead with such lethal grace that it's hard to tell where the special effects stop and the man begins.

Unlike other action stars, happy to call in the stuntmen when the going gets tough, Snipes is a martial arts expert, a student of the Brazilian capoeira fighting technique and a fifth dan black belt.

Which perhaps accounts for the phenomenal success of the Blade films, which see Wesley's half-vampire Daywalker (all the strengths, none of the weaknesses, meaning he can stake the undead at night and top up his tan in the day) chop his way through his foes without creasing the folds of his ice-cool leather coat.

In the third film, Blade: Trinity, he needs the help of another pair of fighters, nicknamed the Nightstalkers, played by Jessica Biel and Ryan Reynolds. And Snipes admits that, although Blade might seem as sprightly as ever, fighting evil gets harder with age.

''I only have a couple more years of jumping and kicking,'' he says. ''It's getting harder, and I'm getting injured more frequently. So the clock is ticking.''

But there's a reason this time has been harder, he says. ''It's demanding because we're trying to top ourselves, trying to give the audience more than we gave them previously. You want to be more creative and less repetitive, and that requires a little more attention and focus.''

Writer David Goyer, who directed this third instalment of the franchise, says that he had Wesley in mind when he first set out to transfer the character, originally the star of a Marvel comic book, to the big screen.

''Wesley's so well-trained in martial arts it comes to him naturally. He also has an understanding of movement and dance. Blade is a man of few words and he imbues him with all these little nuances.''

The rumour is that this will be Snipe's final appearance as Blade, with the Nightstalkers pencilled in for a spin-off film. But despite creaking limbs, this might not be the end of his comic-book adventures.

''I've wanted to do the Black Panther for years now,'' says Snipes, referring to another Marvel character, an African king called T'Challa who, for reasons best known to himself, dresses up as a panther and fights crime in New York.

''If the fans want it, I'd be honoured to bring T'Challa to life. It would be a fabulous challenge to animate another black comic book character.''

Given his impressive physique and capabilities, it's no wonder he's drawn to such roles. As he says: ''I like the idea of being a dramatic actor who still has that strong physicality, and can cross over to those kinds of roles, because I'm capable of doing it. I love the idea of man-to-man things, against one another. I like that. I don't know why.''

Part of the key to Snipe's success is that he isn't just a muscle-bound hunk - he's a serious and capable actor. Even in 1993s dumb-but-fun action movie Demolition Man, set in a utopian future, his manic villain acted Sylvester Stallone's no-nonsense cop off the screen.

He also has an impressive track record. A graduate in Performing Arts from New York State University, he had his big breakthrough as a druglord in 1991s New Jack City, directed by Mario van Peebles. At the same time, he proved his dramatic credentials in two Spike Lee films, Mo' Better Blues and the inter-racial love story Jungle Fever.

Although he became recognised as a star in 1992, with the release of basketball comedy White Men Can't Jump (co-starring Woody Harrelson) and airplane thriller Passenger 57, he's proved willing to spoof his hard-man image, most notably as a drag queen in 1995s bizarrely-titled To Wong Foo, Thanks For Everything! Julie Newmar.

Snipes can also be outspoken on serious issues. He expressed his disappointment very publicly when Samuel L Jackson won the lead role he felt he deserved in John Singleton's remake of Shaft.

And in 1997s One Night Stand he insisted his screen wife (played by Ming-Na) had to be cast as an Asian, to ''push the boundaries of racial sexual taboos".

''I read that Asian women were bedroom generals,'' he confessed to Jet magazine. ''Some people think that means they're great in bed, but that's not the issue.

''They're talking about a place where the man is at his most vulnerable, where they have the most control. They don't have to beat him over the head to mow the lawn. They can whisper it in his ear and give him a kiss on the cheek and it's no problem.''

He should know about Asian women - he has a three-year-old daughter with Korean painter Nikki Park, as well as a teenage son from an earlier relationship. And this has given him the perspective to be dispassionate about his film career.

''I don't allow myself to get involved in things that movie stars are supposed to do,'' he says. ''If I don't have an acting career, will I jump out the window? No. Can I still be happy? Yes.''

He even confesses that he had a very different reason for going into the industry from his more thespian contemporaries. When asked why he became an actor, he replies: ''The girls. It's the reason I went to college and studied so long. I actually wanted to be a dancer.''

l Blade: Trinity opened this week and is reviewed on Page 10

Published: ??/??/2004