Naveen Andrews plays Princess Di’s paramour in ‘Diana'

If anyone can relate to the fishbowl environment that left Diana Spencer drowning in celebrity, it would be former “Lost” heartthrob Naveen Andrews. Like the Princess of Wales, he is a born-and-bred Brit of above-average intelligence who got more than he bargained for when he stepped into the spotlight. So who better to portray the alleged “love of Di’s life” than him in the new biopic “Diana?”

In the film, which opened Friday, Andrews is Pakistani heart surgeon Hasnat Kahn, a publicity-shy hunk who entered into a torrid romance with the princess during the final two years of her life. Amazingly, the two lovers managed to keep their frequent trysts a secret from an entity as cunning as the Fleet Street paparazzi. No small feat. But then, neither was their romance.

“I think she was thrilled to finally meet someone who was not going to treat her like she was made of gold,” Andrews said during a short phone interview. “He was the first man who treated her like a human being. He offered her what we all want – to be loved and cherished.”

In the minds of many a Brit, though, the movie hasn’t exactly been showered with affection. Many of Di’s fans have directed anger toward the picture in which Naomi Watts stars as their beloved princess.

“It’s an ownership they feel over Diana,” Andrews said of Di’s fans. “It felt like we were reopening a wound on the national psyche. It’s a testament to her power that she’s still generates such strong feelings.”

The swarthy actor, who quickly became a favorite on “Lost” as the cerebral ex-Iraqi soldier Sayid, admits he never paid much mind to the royal family during a youth spent obsessing over more ancient monarchs.

“I had no respect for the royal family growing up. I still don’t,” said Andrews, who has since become a naturalized U.S citizen. “That’s because I can relate more to the Plantagenet from the 14th century, strangely enough, because I know more about Edward II than I know about the royals over the last 10 years. So I wasn’t worried about offending them. The thing that caused trepidation was the responsibility one feels about playing a character (in Hasnat Khan) who’s real and still alive.”

Andrews, the 44-year-old son of a psychologist mother and businessman dad (both immigrants from India), said he took a real liking to Kahn during the making of “Diana.”

“There’s something reassuringly old-fashioned about him,” Andrews said. “He seems to be unencumbered by 20th-century neurosis. The way he drank and smoked and enjoyed life are all very attractive qualities, and things you hardly see anymore. He kind of reminded me a little bit of Robert Mitchum or Yves Montand, a man’s man.”

Andrews said he and Watts made a conscious decision not to seek out Kahn, who is aware of the movie’s existence but has dismissed it as nothing more than untruths. And screenwriter Stephen Jeffreys admits many of the scenes are based on conjecture more than fact. But Andrews believes that the gist of the movie is true in spirit, particularly Watts’ portrayal of Diana as a fierce, but often insecure champion of the less fortunate.

“I think what Naomi does is bring great instinct to this role, which is her vulnerability,” he said. “It’s the same vulnerability I saw in ‘Mulholland Drive,’ and without it, that film just wouldn’t have worked. That makes her the perfect person for Diana. That’s not to say Diana was a victim; she was actually quite cunning and strong in her own way.”

Deep down, though, he says no one really ever knew Diana.

“We weren’t given the chance to process any real thoughts about her because it was the media that handled the way she was portrayed,” Andrews said. “It’s like the tabloids today. You don’t really get the chance to show what you might be like as a human being.”

Andrews said he’s been wrung through the same media wringer, but to a much lesser extent.

“What I’ve had to deal with is nothing like what she went through,” he said. “The little bit I experienced was extremely unpleasant and certainly not desirable, and one wonders what if that were perpetuated to the degree that it was in her life. I mean it would drive me mad. It would literally drive me bonkers.”

He added that the mass majority of “Lost” fans “were very nice and expressed goodwill toward that little show I did in Hawaii.”

His fans are becoming equally pleased with this new TV character on ABC’s “Once Upon a Time in Wonderland.” He plays a live-action version of Jafar from the animated film “Aladdin.”

“It’s given me the chance to do something I’ve never done before,” he said of the show. “It’s something radically different from the movie. I’m literally riding around on a flying carpet. Need I say more?”

Still, he says “Lost” holds a special place in his heart. But is he as much a fan of the show as the rest of America?

“Oh, God, yes,” he said. “You’d have to be. But I must tell you that I’m just as perplexed as everyone else.”