By GINIA BELLAFANTE

So Who Needs Hugh Grant?

During his six years as Senate majority leader, Maine's GEORGE MITCHELL never presented himself as one of Congress's more magnetic leaders. But the publicly stolid statesman, who gave up his seat last year, must have maintained a very different dating persona. In an upcoming Vanity Fair interview, Mitchell's new wife HEATHER MACLACHLAN, formerly an agent for tennis pros, recalls their first meeting this way: "Right away he seemed so special. I could sense his individuality, his sense of humor. It was obvious that he had so much confidence in himself as a human being and as a man."

SEEN & HEARD

Add MICHELLE PFEIFFER to the list of actresses who will never belt the words Don't Cry for Me, Argentina. Pfeiffer rejected the role of Eva Peron in the much delayed screen version of Evita because she wanted to spend time with her new family. Madonna and Meryl Streep had also been considered to play the wife of Argentine dictator Juan Peron. New possibilities include Patricia Arquette, star of A Nightmare on Elm Street 3.

Middle-aged renegade MICKEY ROURKE and his wife, model Carre Otis, have come to value the sanctity of marriage.The couple, separated since Otis accused Rourke of physically abusing her, are now "very happy," said a Rourke-Otis spokesman, "like lovebirds."

She Took Manhattan

Showing off a sleek new coif for evening that required a liberal amount of gel, the PRINCESS OF WALES arrived in New York City last week to present an award to Harper's Bazaar editor LIZ TILBERIS at a ceremony sponsored by the Council of Fashion Designers of America. Stylemakers and supermodels, including Claudia Schiffer, gushed over Diana's new look, while rumors continued to swirl that she was planning to move to New York and work for Bazaar. Clearly, that would suit model Lauren Hutton, who shouted, "We want you here!" to the princess in the middle of her speech.

Auteur of the Moment

ED BURNS, 27, is living the dream of every aspiring director from lower Manhattan to L.A. A film-school graduate and former production assistant on Entertainment Tonight (he quit last month), Burns spent five years sending his script for The Brothers McMullen to agents and distributors who would not return his phone calls. So he raised a few hundred thousand dollars, got nonprofessional actors to work for free and made the film himself. Last week the comedy about an Irish-American family won the grand jury prize at the Sundance Film Festival. But for Burns the highlight of the event was "dragging my mom over to meet Robert Redford. He took off his hat and hugged and kissed her and said, 'Mrs. Burns, it's an honor to meet you.'"