Caffeinated courting

Actor comic Jason Stuart is jazzed about his latest film, Coffee Date, a gay indie that's about more than just hooking up."Yeah, there is sex," Stuart asserts, "but it's more about relationships, friendship, more about what's on people's minds, it's a little more emotional and cerebral." Stuart plays a gay office manager whose sexually confused coworker (Jonathan Bray) asks him for advice when he begins questioning his heterosexuality. So if a straight guy can ponder his gay side in Coffee Date, can Stuart ever see himself dating a woman? "Probably not," he laughs, "but stranger things have happened." Stuart's been on "a million" of his own coffee dates (vanilla, mocha, and chai lattes are his faves), but he's often found his comedic image to be a dating disadvantage: "What happens is you go in, and they have this idea of who you are, and the idea for me is usually quite limited." He acknowledges wasting many romantic opportunities in the past because, he says, "I was so career driven in my 20s, and I was walking around with blinders on. I was so afraid of people and not realizing that I was, and I was not in touch with who I was. It took me a long time to connect the dots until I was close to 30. When I started getting into my 30s is when I started looking for a relationship." Now Stuart's ready for Mr. Right. "Oh, I think I'd be a great husband. I'm romantic, I'm funny, I'm passionate, I'm thoughtful. I have my own life and my own friends, but what I'd like to do is find a guy whom I can add to my life, not someone who has to be needed in my life."

– Lydia Marcus

Coffee Date is a cross-over romantic comedy about a straight man whose life spins out of control when an unexpected friendship with a gay man causes everyone in his life to think he is gay. Co-stars Wilson Cruz and Jason Stuart sat down for coffee once again at Romancing the Bean, the very coffee house where they shot scenes for the film. Envy Man sat in on the conversation between hunky Wilson Cruz and funnyman Jason Stuart.

Jason Stuart: Do you remember how we met? I do, of course.

Wilson Cruz: You do?

JS: The first time had ever met you was at the taping of the TV special out there in Hollywood on Comedy Central. You were sitting in the audience and you came over to me and you were so sweet.

WC: Yeah, I do remember that. That was where we met?

JS: Yeah because they used your face as a reaction shot in my comedy set which I used as a demo for years.

WC: That's so funny that you remembered that.

JS: I remember seeing you and the show My So Called Life. I wanted to ask you, how did it come about for you to get the part, because you were so young?

WC: You know it was like every other thing. At the time I was just trying to get a job. I was 19 and I had this very, very small agent in a small agency.

JS: Had you done any other TV work before?

WC: No, I had mainly done theatre.

JS: So, you went right into television Hollywood royalty because you went in with Winnie Holzman, Scott Winant, all the people from Thirtysomething.

WC: And I knew who they were because I was a big fan of Thirtysomething. I wasn't going into this naive.

JS: See, I'm getting chills thinking about that, just as an actor, because I would have killed you and three other people to do something like that. When I met you, that's in a way what meant so much to me. Because I saw someone who, ten years later, all of a sudden, you had such a tremendous opportunity, something that I never had. There was a changing of the guard and something did happen. And when I saw you looking at me in the audience during my set and I said, "Oh wow, I'm here".

WC: You know I've always thought you were hilarious, Jason, I've always thought that, and I appreciate comedy in our lives. I mean, I think if we can't laugh about ourselves and laugh about our existence; especially these days... we're in big trouble. And you really helped me do that. You know at the time, in the early 90's, we needed a lot of that. You've been an incredible ambassador for us.

JS: God, ambassador? I don't know if they let Jews do that. Then Rent was the next big thing, correct? And then all of a sudden, the whole gay world just said, Here's our person. We have our teenage gay person".

WC: And there was a lot of pressure in that and I got a little lost in that, I’ll be honest. I felt overwhelmed by the responsibility of it and even though I didn't really want it I felt like I did have to step up to it.

JS: What was it like to be in the film Nixon with Oliver Stone.

WC: l’ve never been shy about my opinions, and Oliver Stone is pretty famous for his opinions. In the end I think he respected me for being able to say what needed and wanted to do, but there were some moments between us.

JS: Tell us...

WC: I played this house boy who J. Edgar Hoover, played by Bob Hoskins, comes in contact with, and I eat fruit out of his mouth, an Oliver Stone wanted to put me in this very risqué outfit and I thought that it didn't serve the scene and it didn't serve me and it took the surprise element out of the scene, whichis what it was supposed to be, and so he and I had some words about it.

JS: Do you think you would have been able to do that if you hadn’t been on My So Called Life?

WC: I think I was so oblivious that I didn’t care. You know I’m kinda like this New Yorker boy. If I feel something, I say something, I do it and say it. In the end we're the only ones who take care of ourselves in this business. We have to be the mommy and the daddy.

JS: I grew up in the time where I spent the first ten years of my career of people saying to me basically, "you're light, you're this, you're too gay, you're too that," - I used to call it “T-O-O something." It was always something like that, and I remember thinking to myself when I was on the set with you, Wow, look that this guy. He's so confident." I was the one when Stewart Wade, the director, had said, "Well, we're trying to get a hold of Wilson Cruz and we can't get a hold of him." And I had just seen you at the OutFest and don't remember what I said but...

WC: You came up to me, and I remember this well, I tell everybody the only reason why I'm in this movie is because of you. You came up to me and I asked you what you were doing lately and you said that you were getting ready to make this movie and you said. "Actually they've been trying to get a hold of you because they haven't cast one of the leads."

WC: And actually I knew about the movie because my boyfriend at the time went in for an audition.

JS: And the director actually said to me, "Do you think we should call him because his boyfriend's up for it”. I said, "Are you kidding me? He's an actor. He will just find away to deal with that.

WC: I think in the end it kinda did mess up our relationship.

JS: I always hasten to talk about this, but I've done two episodes of Will and Grace, which was sort of like being on Survivor because every day they were so obsessed with getting the show funny and the jokes perfect. I remember Glenn Close saying to me, "I'm an Academy Award- nominated actress. I can't believe I have to take this shit." She was going so crazy. Now, have you ever read for Will and Grace?

WC: I never read for Will and Grace. I met with Max and Dave, after the show had ended actually I met with them about another series they were doing, but they didn't cast me in it.

JS: I think also, as actors, we have to have the guts to say to the director – I did a film with Mekhi Phifer.

WC: Wow!

JS: Oh, gorgeous, just…we don’t even want to go there.

WC: Yes, we DO want to go there.

JS: He's so straight. And he has this beautiful…

WC: Penis?

JS: Well, that I didn't see but I could pretend to be him for you later.

WC: (Laughs)

JS: Do you think of yourself as a leading man or as a character actor?

WC: I'm a character actor.

JS: You do?

WC: Yeah, absolutely.

WC: When they wanted me to play the love interest in this, last summer when I was doing this and Noah's Ark. It was the first time that anybody was like, you know, I wasn't playing somebody's best friend, you know, or somebody's sidekick. I was somebody's love interest or somebody's... I was desired.

JS: You were THE guy.

WC: And that was so foreign to me so I had to like let go of whatever insecurities I had about that.

JS: You've also worked a lot; you've completely changed your body and the way you look from My So Called Life.

WC: Yeah, but you know, in the end, I was doing Rent, and I was 25 years-old and I weighed 120 pounds, I was wearing a size 0 skirt, and when I finished that I looked in the mirror and...

JS: I'm never going to say was wearing a size 0 skirt.

WC: (Laughs)

JS: That's something I'm never going to say.

WC: I looked in the mirror or day after I finished Rent and thought, you know I don't like the way I feel about myself and l just wanted to change that for me.

JS: And then when I saw you at Outfest and all of the sudden you had this incredible body and I thought to myself, 'This is a leading man". But to me the thing about Coffee Date, the thing that was really interesting about your performance.. . Jonathan Bray is straight and you are gay, there's the kiss, (I'm going to ruin it, but) there's the kiss. The kiss scene to me was incredible because what you did was you almost crawled up on him.

WC: Well, that was all improvised, too.

JS: Yeah , but you kissed him like a man kisses a man. And that’s the way I kiss. You know, Jews and Latins, very similar. There's a passion to it.

WC: That whole scene, you want to talk about improvisation, we literally rewrote that whole scene on the spot. Because he had reservations about it, and rightly so, about what he was being asked to do.. and there was an awkwardness about the whole thing. It needed to be that way, and I think ignoring the awkwardness would have been a problem, and you know there's a line where I say to him, "What are you so scared of? And all of that was improvised It was really me,Wilson, an actor, asking Jonathan Bray, really.

JS: Which is so much better.

WC: Yeah, and it really was about, "What are you so afraid of?” And that’s really the question at heart.

WC: I think it’s harder for people to come out now than it was ten years ago. I think it's harder for people now, just in terms of fear. I think we've been hit over the head with so much fear, just in the last five years, that we're ruled by fear so people aren't willing to take the same kind of chances that we were willing to take over ten years ago, and I think that's one of reasons why.

JS: Is there anything you wanted to ask me?

WC: There is. You mentioned that you've doing more producing these days.

JS: I also have my own TV special, which is called Jason Stuart, Making My Way to the Middle.

WC: Did you say "Sleeping Your Way to the Middle"?

JS: That would even be better. And the last question . It's just a simple little question, and if you just say "yes" then it would really be great. Would you marry me?

WC: No, I can't do that because I'm not getting married these days. I had a commitment ceremony once. It didn't work out.

JS: With crazy guy?

WC: With crazy guy. We'll leave it at that; so I won't be doing that again. Thank you, Jason. I adore you. I just give you a hard time.

JS: Thank you. Thank YOU. (Kiss)

JS: We just kissed.

WC: It was hot!

JS: Thanks. (EM)

What would the Reverend Mother say? The Flying Nun's playboy friend was gay!

That's the shocking claim of a stand-up comic who says he had a gay affair with the late Alejandro Rey, who co-starred with Sally Field as Puerto Rican playboy Carlos Ramirez on the '60s ABC hit.

"I used to love 'The Flying Nun" and then years later I had an affair with Alejandro Rey," said comedian Jason Stuart on the Web site AfterElton.com.

"He's dead. He died of cancer a million years ago. This was when I was in my 20s."

Rey died of lung cancer in 1987 at age 57.

Stuart, who plays comedy clubs and has also made guest appearances on "Will & Grace" and "House;' said he met the Latin heartthrob while cruising the streets of Hollywood.

"I was driving on Sunset Boulevard ...I said, 'Oh my God, that looks like Carlos from 'The Flying Nun; and it was;' revealed Stuart.

"We started to chat, and we set a time and got together and started hanging out."

STUART, WHO IS OPENLY GAY now, says that he and Rey were "very closeted" at the time of their one-year affair. Besides his role in "The Flying Nun" Rey had a long and successful career in television and appeared opposite Elvis Presley in the 1963 movie "Fun in Acapulco?'

Added Stuart: "We never went anywhere because he (had been married and) had a son and, you know, it was a different time.”

by RICK EGUSQUIZA

‘Coffee’ talk and more

Comedian Jason Stuart dishes on the state of gay TV, Faye Dunaway and sitcom therapy for straight people

By ERIC JAMES

Click here to view PDF of the printed piece.

Jason Stuart (left) and Wilson Cruz share camera time and coffee—with plenty of sweetener—in Stewart Wade’s romantic comedy “Coffee Date.” (Photo by Rebecca Sapp and Matthew Simmons

Jason Stuart is, to put it mildly, a busy man. In the past month, he has been to Seattle, Detroit, Atlanta, Ohio, New York State and Kansas City. Stuart is completing the last leg of his comedy tour that will ultimately take him back to Hollywood.

The gay comedian has also been offered ten different movie roles since his improvisational film “10 Attitudes” was released a couple of years ago. He can currently be seen in the film “Coffee Date,” playing flamboyant office manager Clayton. (It is currently playing at the Angelika Film Center in downtown Houston.)

The big-screen comedy revolves around Todd (Jonathan Bray), a straight man who works with Clayton. Everyone assumes Todd is gay after his brother sets him up on a blind date with another man (Wilson Cruz).

Much of the humor in “Coffee Date” comes in moments when Clayton catches Todd and his blind date, Kelly, in situations that make it appear as if they are in a relationship. It’s one misunderstanding after another as Todd must come to terms with his true sexual identity. Does he love Kelly if he’s not gay? Is he gay if he loves Kelly?

The theme of “Coffee Date” is summed up by Stuart’s character in a very sweet moment near the end of the film. Clayton speaks of several different kinds of love, not all of them revolving around sex. It is a crucial moment in the film—and one that was created by writer/director Stewart Wade specifically for Stuart.

With the knowledge that Stuart enjoys improvisation, one must ask: How much of his part was performed as written, and how much done off the cuff?

“I love improvising,” Stuart says. “I took (Wade) all of my changes, and he liked all but one.”

That “one” is a joke during which Clayton tries to prove Todd is gay by asking, “Do you swear on Judy Garland’s grave?” Stuart wanted to say, “Do you swear on Liza Minnelli’s third gay husband?”

Ultimately, the filmmakers didn’t want to offend anyone who was still alive, and the Garland joke made the final cut.

“Coffee Date” also gave Stuart the chance to work with pop star/Broadway actress Deborah (Debbie) Gibson, whom he calls “terrific.” Gibson not only acts in the film, but she performs an original tune over the end credits, which touches on several different kinds of love.

Gibson is only one of several actors Stuart has had a chance to work with in recent years, and he considers himself extremely fortunate for the experiences. Earlier this year, Stuart starred alongside Faye Dunaway in “Ghosts Never Sleep.”

And what was it like to work with this screen legend?

“She kept pointing to the Oscar in her purse and saying, ‘I won this,” Stuart deadpans. He is joking, of course—“but only partly.”

“(Faye) carried me through the scene. It felt like I was Lois Lane, and she was Superman.”

Speaking of the Man of Steel, Stuart worked with gay director Bryan Singer on an episode of the FOX TV hit “House.” Singer once crashed Stuart’s birthday party but is really, “very sweet.”

It is from his varied television appearances that most may recognize Stuart. And he’s done it all: a talking head on VH1’s “Love Lounge” and “The Coolest Years; having fun on “Match Game.” Stuart’s talent for sharp wit and humor has served him well. He even had a recurring role on the Damon Wayans sitcom “My Wife and Kids” as a gay therapist.

“I helped straight people,” Stuart says. “God knows they need it.”

Stuart says the part was always intended to be gay and that he received 10,000 pieces of fan mail after his initial guest spot—which turned it into a recurring role.

“I didn’t play him bitchy or queeny. I played him as the nicest guy who just wanted to help people,” he says.
As for his thoughts on the often-stereotypical portrayal of gay men on television, Stuart sees a bigger problem: There are simply not enough gay characters on TV.

Stuart is indeed doing his part to change that. His next television project is the comedy special “Making it to the Middle,” which he is currently shopping around to Comedy Central, Logo and Showtime. It’s about being on the road and performing his standup act.

It is standup comedy, in fact, that currently keeps Stuart so busy. He was recently in Kansas City performing his stand-up act “Looking for Mr. Right.” When asked if he’s found him Stuart says plainly, “No.”

“Please explain to me how to meet Mr. Right because I can’t find him,” he adds. “I don’t know where to look or what he looks like.”

His schedule might also be a factor. It included seven performances at the Kansas City Improv in five days. How does he survive such a busy schedule?

“I lay down a lot,” he says.

Dot Newsmagazine

• celebrity interview •

Jason Stuart & Wilson Cruz

Click to view PDF of printed piece.

These two openly gay actors meet up on a coffee date with dot Newsmagazine to discuss their amazing careers, typecasting, 'coming out' and their exciting new film release of Coffee Date in November

By Gil Kaan

Gay indie film Coffee Date is already earning its place on the silver screen after only a few film festival stints. In learning more about the film, dot Newsmagazine also forges the opportunity to learn more about the showbiz life and personal adventures of the very hot Wilson Cruz and the very funny Jason Stuart.

Coffee Date, opening in theaters Friday, Nov. 10, centers around the life-changing consequences affecting Todd, a recently divorced straight office worker, when his brother sets him up with a blind date, named Kelly. Unbeknownst to all involved, Kelly is a guy, deliciously played by Cruz.

Cruz, who has been "out" publicly since his first television gig as the gay teenager Rickie Vasquez on My So-Called Life, found a few similar qualities between Kelly and himself. Wilson finds both outgoing and considers them to be good friends, unapologetic about their sexuality, and possessing the tendency to fall in love easily.

"I tend to do that," said Cruz, ruefully.

On the other hand, Stuart believes he's nothing like his character Clayton. Todd's very "out" co-worker wistfully hopes that Todd is actually gay.

"But then, Clayton thinks everybody's gay!" Stuart quipped. "He has a boring relationship. I don't have that. I'm holding out for that terrific guy. He doesn't really listen and I think I'm a really good listener. Although we're both funny."

On the subject of seducing straight guys, Cruz believes he and his character also agree.

"I have nothing for straight guys," Cruz said. "I don't think Kelly has an attraction to straight guys. I think this just happened. As far as I'm concerned, the minute I hear someone's straight, my boner's gone--gone! That's a complete turnoff to me."

Cruz's love scene with Todd, played by Jonathan Bray, wasn't as much scripted as it was directed on the spot.
"I think it was awkward for both of us," Cruz said. "Jonathan was very sweet and nervous. It was really awkward for him and it made it awkward for me. This was actually my first love scene. I'd never done one before."

Both Stuart and Cruz did not have smooth personal "coming out" experiences. Cruz's father kicked him out of his house. He was living in his car only a few months before beginning his role on My So-Called Life. Cruz's "coming out" became well-documented, and was incorporated into the series' plotlines.

For the then 20-something-year-old Stuart, it was frightening.

"I was totally wrong about both of them and how they would react," Stuart said. "My father was 'Oh, who cares?' and my mother was the one that had the problem. Then it got worst, and two years later she stopped talking to me."

Of course, Stuart and his mom wound up getting along so fabulously he frequently jokes about her in his stand-up comedic acts.

"Mom, I'm going to be doing the Rosie O'Donnell cruise," Stuart jokes. "You should come with me--it's for gay people and their families. 'How am I supposed to meet a guy on that farkakte cruise?' she would reply."

Stuart publicly "came out" to viewers of the highly rated Geraldo in 1993 after 10 years of doing stand-up with "no point of view." It took a year of performing fat jokes for Stuart to realize that they didn't work.

"When I first started, I put a bathroom scale around my neck," Stuart said. "I talked about being a fat kid, which was totally ridiculous because I was never fat doing stand-up."

Ironically, Stuart used his successful stand-up career as his entry into better acting roles.

Asked if he thought he was typecasted as gay when auditioning for roles, Stuart responded, "I play probably three different kinds of parts: the fussy manager in charge of something, but I always have no power; the funny gay guy; or the emotional doctors, where they are either a shrink or a veterinarian, like in My Wife and Kids."

So what's Cruz's take on typecasting? "I don't even know what that means," Cruz said. "Do I get called in mainly for gay roles? Sure. But I don't think I've ever played the same role in my career. They've all been gay but they've all been so completely different. I don't really think about it very much. I just want to work and do good work. The more opportunities, the better."

The opportunities and critical acclaim really presented themselves in the form of two back-to-back drag roles for Wilson. In 1997, singing and dancing the role of Angel Dumott Schunard in Rent at the Ahmanson in the evenings, and acting as the doomed street hustler Stephen/Stephanie Grant in Ally McBeal on the FOX lot during the day, marked the first times Cruz actually performed in drag.

"I'd never been in a pair of heels, but somehow it felt natural," Cruz said. "That's what frightened me the most. I'm too good at this right away. Like a fish to water."

Although Cruz doesn't usually perform in drag, he agreed to dress up in drag for an Actors' Fund benefit, and he received whoops and uproarious applause for his rendition of "A Little More Mascara" from La Cage Aux Folles.

After being confined to a size 0 skirt in Rent, Cruz decided to start buffing up his body. He kicked it up a notch when he was cast in Party Monster and realized that he would be surrounded by young, beautiful people, of which he would be one. And fortunately for viewers of Noah's Arc, in which Cruz is scantily clad (as he describes his costumes), he's kicked up his workouts another notch.

As the first "out" gay stand-up to perform in many comedy venues, Stuart works out his comedy chops as a corporate speaker hilariously expounding on the topic of being openly gay in the workplace. His lecture "To Be Out, or Not To Be Out" were derived from the oft-asked questions poised during the Q&As he's had after his stand-up routines.

Which leads us to Coffee Date. Stuart initially got involved with this comedy after director/writer Stewart Wade and producer Cindy Peters recognized Stuart from his producing and starring duties in Ten Attitudes and offered him his role. Cruz was initially introduced to Coffee Date, by a chance meeting with Stuart at last year's Outfest when Stuart told him he'd be perfect for the role of Kelly.

Both actors had interesting replies to the closing question of our coffee date as to what advice for "coming out" they would give young actors.

"'Coming out' is a personal thing," Cruz said. "But being good at what you do is good business. If you're going to be an 'out' gay actor, just know that it's going to be a little harder--it just is. The only way to minimize how hard it is on you is to be as good as you possibly can. That means studying your craft and working as much as you possibly can and keeping your ego in check and make it about the work."

Stuart gave the following advice: "Come out! Come out where ever you are! When you are 'out,' you are 'out' for me, and I am 'out' for you. We become a big community, and we're like a large family."

For a chance to see Jason Stuart performing in November, log onto his Web site (jasonstuart.com). You can catch Wilson Cruz on the new episodes of Noah's Arc on Logo (logoonline.com).
coffeedatethemovie.com

coffeedatethemovie.com

November 10, 2006
MOVIE REVIEW

'Coffee Date'
The wry romantic comedy of sexual confusion deftly becomes serious without losing its sense of humor.

By Kevin Thomas, Special to The Times

Stewart Wade's "Coffee Date" is a wry romantic comedy of sexual confusion that deftly becomes increasingly serious without losing its sense of humor. Amid a recent flurry of low-budget independent productions, "Coffee Date" is a standout with its strongly developed central characters, complex themes and polished look.

Good-looking 35-year-old Todd (Jonathan Bray), who has a cushy office job and a spacious flat in a vintage Spanish duplex, has just been divorced. He allows his deadbeat brother Barry (Jonathan Silverman) to set him up on a blind date via the Internet. The uptight and square Todd is surprised and uncomfortable when he realizes that the meeting place, a coffee shop, has a virtually exclusively gay clientele. While waiting for his date to show up he warily strikes up a conversation with a buff young gay man (Wilson Cruz).

Todd eventually realizes that Barry has played a prank on him — that the gay man is Kelly, the date he has been waiting for. By then the two men have discovered they share a passion for movies, and Todd invites Kelly to take in a Bergman double feature at the New Beverly Cinema. Todd now sees a chance to oust his brother Barry, incidentally a decided homophobe, by taking Kelly home and taking Kelly by the hand to his bedroom. (Kelly promptly climbs out a window and goes home.) Not only does this send Barry instantly packing but also inspires him to call his mother (Sally Kirkland), who promptly gets on a plane to lend support to Todd, who she says she always knew was gay.

Loving but overbearing and obtuse, the mother is one of those people who are so absolutely confident of their convictions that they never bother to listen to anyone about anything. Todd's life soon becomes a nightmare, with friends, neighbors, co-workers — even his boss (Leigh Taylor-Young) — smothering him with acceptance and absolutely refusing to give any credence whatsoever to his assertions that he is in fact straight. At the same time his friendship with Kelly, the one person who understands his plight, flourishes.

As Todd's predicament intensifies, he becomes less confident about his sexual orientation. Could it be that mother knows best after all? Or could it be that Todd is discovering that a straight man can be good friends with a gay man? The latter, which after all happens in real life, is rarely explored on the screen.

Wherever and however Todd and Kelly end up they face challenges: It will be hard for Kelly's attraction to Todd not to turn into love. If they end up in a friendship rather than a relationship, Todd will forever face assumptions from others that he's gay when he is with Kelly. In the process, Wade challenges with humor, compassion and a sense of absurdity the tyranny of stereotypes, gay or straight, and knee-jerk political correctness.

Writer-director Wade develops considerable substance in his comedy that allows both Bray and Cruz to reveal much emotional conflict and confusion within Todd and Kelly, who in turn create portrayals rich in nuance and depth. "Coffee Date" also affords Kirkland one of her best roles in a long time — you can't help but respect the mother's steadfast love, but you'd also like to strangle her.

The film also shows to advantage Jason Stuart as Todd's campy, nosy office mate who ultimately has the opportunity to display the inner strength and resilience that gay men develop simply to survive. That Kelly might also be attracted to the obnoxious Barry proves a bit of a stretch, but "Coffee Date" is so wise and accomplished that it easily sustains this glitch.

BUCK UP

Gay jokester conquers life’s fears with laughs

By Ryan Lee

HAVING LITTLE luck thus far in his nationwide scavenger hunt for the perfect man, gay comedian Jason Stuart heads to Atlanta looking for what he calls “a Brokeback moment.”

“I want a cowboy,” jokes Stuart, who confesses to having a thing for leather/levi guys. The stand-up comedian and actor brings his “Looking for Mr. Right” tour to Atlanta’s Punchline Comedy Club for a four-gig weekend beginning Sept. 21.

But Stuart, who’s appeared in television shows like “My Wife & Kids,” “Will & Grace” and “House” among many others, knows not to get his marital hopes up too high while hopping from city to city.

“I’ve had boyfriends from on the road before, but none of them worked out,” Stuart says. “It’s hard to meet people because they meet the celebrity.”

Even in the most stable settings, Stuart admits finding the right guy is complicated.

“I’ve had tons of boyfriends, but I am not open to having men treat me bad,” Stuart says. “Most of them lie, cheat and steal — but other than that, they’re great.”

STUART’S JOKES HAVE LONG been tinged with defensiveness, or mocked life’s annoying difficulties.
“It’s all about fear,” Stuart says. “I think I started doing comedy because I was afraid of other kids, and being funny was a way of fitting in.”

Stuart was able to forge a comedic identity to counter his social awkwardness and a decided lack of support for his early career from his “crazy, yet lovable Jewish family.”

“I was five years old before I knew my name wasn’t ‘stupid,’” he says.

One of his first big breaks as an actor was community theater in Los Angeles. At age 14, Stuart nabbed the lead in “Santa Claus for President,” and had an adolescent epiphany as he took the stage in a jolly fat-man suit.
“I remember I thought, ‘Oh, I can get people to laugh,’” he says. “‘This is cool, this is something I wanted to do, and this is something I’m good at.’”

Initially, Stuart hoped that his jokes would open a door for becoming an actor, and he entered Hollywood in the “The Life & Times of Eddie Roberts,” a short-lived soap opera parody in the early ’80s.

Alongside his stand-up routines, Stuart landed small roles in everything from Arnold Schwarzenegger’s “Kindergarten Cop” to Angela Lansbury’s “Murder, She Wrote.”

The same year Stuart played a motel manager on the murder-mystery television series, the budding comedian appeared on the television show that Stuart knew would reshape his career.

But before Stuart came out as an openly gay entertainer on “The Geraldo Rivera Show” in 1993, he thought it would mark the end of his Hollywood dreams.

“I was afraid I was going to lose my whole career,” says Stuart, who faced coming out the way he does all of his fears — with a laugh.

“My whole career changed, and suddenly I gained a lot of respect,” he says. “I think that when you’re telling the truth, it’s funnier — comedy needs to be real.

“The critics even said I became more masculine as I came out, which I still don’t understand, but OK,” he says.

MANY PEOPLE STUART KNEW thought he was crazy when he embarked on a career as a comedian, but he attributes his success to good friends and good therapy.

In addition to helping him deal with life issues, the world of shrinks has also been good for Stuart’s acting career. He counts as one of his most pleasurable productions his recurring role as the gay psychiatrist on “My Wife & Kids,” where star Damon Wayans kept Stuart on the floor with his improv jokes — and his killer good looks.

“I just dropped dead every time I would see him,” Stuart says of Wayans.

Most recently, Stuart popped up on television shows like “George Lopez” and Kirstie Alley’s “Fat Actress,” as well as in movies such as the stoner flick “Puff, Puff, Pass,” and the upcoming “Coffee Date,” starring Wilson Cruz.

With his first stand-up comedy special, “Jason Stuart: Making It to the Middle,” recently wrapped, he is currently shopping the show to cable stations and hopes to air it this fall. Meanwhile, he’s fine with letting go of the hopes he once had of becoming a stunning leading man on the big screen.

“What’s happened is the comedy got more successful than the acting,” he says.

Even if he wanted to be an openly gay leading man, Stuart has been in the entertainment industry long enough to know it’s not that simple. Still, he has no regrets about coming out on national TV, and the path his career took in the 13 years since then.

“I think when you lie about your sexuality as a gay person, you hurt a lot of people,” he says. “We all have to stand up and be counted.

The Middle Man

THE CABLE BOY by Anderson Jones

Stand-up comic Jason Stuart sounds ecstatic on the phone. And why not? He just has finished a successful swing through Atlanta clubs. And the weekend before we get to talk, he has screened his new TV special, Jason Stuart: Making It to the Middle, for Funny Boy Films.

It’s a concert show that documents “what it’s really like to be on the road,” Stuart shares over the phone from his West Hollywood-adjacent home. “It’s the radio shows you have to do early in the morning, and getting rides from club owners in their cars sitting in the back next to child seats, hauling your own bags.”

Stuart is hoping Funny Boy, home of the entrepreneurial DIY filmmaker (Adam & Steve, Latter Days), will help him take his act to Showtime, Logo, or Here!—or there, will do nicely, thank you. He already is doing cool things on the big screen, so it won’t be much of a stretch.

West Hollywood is hosting a premiere of Coffee Date, a sweet, gay romantic comedy that’s indie-produced. It stars the well-toned, toffee-colored body of Wilson Cruz. Stuart costars. Catch it. The film is making the rounds at queer fests nationwide.

Maybe you’ve caught Stuart doing his thing on Will & Grace; as Damon Wayans’s shrink on My Wife & Kids; on House; or on The George Lopez Show. He’s pretty easy to identify.

“I’m always the manager,” Stuart tells me. “I’m in charge, and yet, no one will listen to me. I wonder what the hell that means?”

You can catch Stuart soon on Logo’s stand-up comedy series Wisecrack, taped at WeHo’s favorite watering, er, hole, The Abbey. He’s in good company. So far, the show has featured the likes of gay comics Alec Mapa and Miss Coco Peru.

Great exposure, surely, but Stuart needs a weekly platform on TV on a show like, say, Lost. After all, it’s the most progressively cast show on television—and next to Grey’s Anatomy, perhaps the most gorgeous. As Stuart likes to say, “I’ve got a joke about Lost. It’s about a plane that cracks open, and all the Ford Models fall out.”

Stuart does have a serious question for the producers: “I can’t believe they don’t have a gay flight attendant. And I think it should be me. I wanna run up to the survivors and say, ‘I found this plant on the other side of the island, and I can make moisturizer with it!’” (Sawyer, by the way, is the cast member he most would like to, uh, moisturize.)

In many ways, I’m with Stuart. Not about Sawyer. It’s just that TV and pop culture itself are feeling very weird to me.

Are you like me? Are you trying to figure out why some TV characters aren’t gay? Like, what’s up with all the ambiguity? Hello?

George on Grey’s Anatomy? Or, the brother/manny of Julia Louis-Dreyfus (The New Adventures of Old Christine)? Or, quite frankly, the former Dr. Doogie Howser on How I Met Your Mother. Isn’t he just a little too interested in his Prada shoes? Or, for God’s sake, why doesn’t Charlie Sheen just dynamite Jon Cryer’s closet door on Two and a Half Men. I mean, come on! Don’t even get me started on Jackass: Number Two. The flying dildos. The beer enemas. The puppet show?

We’re way, way beyond metrosexual these days. What’s weird is that audiences are finding the closeted or kinda gay guys the most popular. Perhaps because they’re the most familiar to people in their own lives? Is a Golden Age of Gays on TV dawning? Even now that The Golden Girls and Designing Women are in syndication?

One of the brothers on Brothers and Sisters is a sister. Everyone except maybe the cast of Class knows that one of the characters on that show is married to a gay. It’s supposed to be funny.

Stuart is not amused.

“I think there’s less gay stuff now,” Stuart remarks. “Now, we’ve got The L Word and Noah’s Arc—of course, that’s a fantasy world—but they were never really there to begin with. Straight people play 85 percent of the gay roles. Sam Pancake’s out and funny on Lovespring International, but he’s playing this weird role of a married guy in the closet, and nobody seems to think it’s strange. It creeps me out.”

Of course, Stuart adds, with a laugh, “I’ve never really played a character close to me, either. Except on House.”

Stuart played a straight guy, who—wait for it—was a hypochondriac.

That’s show biz, kids.

Comic 'looking for Mr. Right' to try his luck here

By Nick Crews

Five days before he returns to Crackers Comedy Club Downtown Jason Stuart wants to give heartfelt thanks where he thinks it's due. "I want to say 'thank you' to Indianapolis for proving everybody wrong, and showing that an openly gay man can be a big success in a mainstream comedy club in your city."

Stuart's reference is to his last Indianapolis gig that brought big crowds and bigger laughs - to Crackers last year. His appearance this week is the comic's third engagement at the club. It's a gig, Stuart says, that took him years to get.

"They didn't think I was going to do well there at all," said Stuart from his home in Los Angeles. "It took maybe 10 years of asking this woman to hire me (in Indianapolis), and when she did, we did so well. It's been wonderful."

Stuart began doing stand up comedy in 1983. In 1993 he "came out" on Gerald Rivera’s talk show. Since then, in addition to his stand up, Stuart has performed many acting roles; recently, he guest-starred on "House" and Showtime's improv-style comedy "Fat Actress" starring Kirstie Alley.

He's also appeared on "Will & Grace," "Charmed" and "Strong Medicine," among other television shows. Stuart is perhaps best known as Dr. Thomas, the gay shrink on the ABC sitcom "My Wife & Kids."

Stuart's film roles have included "Easier, Softer Way" with Mekhi Phifer, and "Coffee Date" with Wilson Cruz and Sally Kirkland. In "Gone Postal," Stuart plays a fussy postal assistant manager alongside star Lee Meriwether.

Veteran comic though he is, Stuart admits that recent world events have sometimes make it hard to laugh. "But (comedy) is my job, so I have to be able to do it no matter what," said Stuart. "Sometimes when you don't feel like it, you go onstage and people give me so much love and laughter that it turns me around. I've had that happen a hundred times."

Stuart says his latest foray into stand-up - "The Looking For Mr. Right Comedy Tour" - brings to. Crackers an act associated with finding a worthwhile man: something that's been on his mind a lot lately. "I talk about dating. There's a lot of new stuff about my family, politics, the war," said Stuart.

Jason Stuart is still 'Looking for Mr. Right'

BY OLIVIA FORTSON
Staff Writer

When Jason Stuart called us last week from LA., he was in a salon getting fluffed and buffed in preparation for a photo shoot the next day.

The actor has recurring roles on TV shows including "Fat Actress" and "My Wife and Kids," and he's made a name for himself on the independent movie circuit (he just finished filming "Easier, Softer Way" with Mekhi Phifer and Danny Masterson).

But his roots are in standup comedy, which is why he's in Charlotte this week. His "Looking For Mr. Right" tour started Wednesday at the Comedy Zone with a benefit for the Charlotte Lesbian & Gay Community Center. Stuart is the first openly gay comedian to headline a show at the Comedy Zone; his performance there continues with shows at 8 and 10:15 p.m. today and Saturday.

We talked to Stuart about how serious he is about finding the perfect man, what he really thinks about some of the famous people he's worked with, and what to expect at his show.

Q. Among the many stars you've worked with are veterans Faye Dunaway and Joan Rivers, and new star Mekhi Phifer. What do you think of them?
Faye Dunaway is amazing. The funniest thing about her is that she kept pulling her Oscar out of her purse and saying, "I won this." Joan is just so sweet and she's been there, so she treats everyone with respect. She's the grandmother of comedy. Mekhi is gorgeous, smart and sexy.

Q. How did you come up with the idea for your tour?
I’m looking for the right man, state by state. I really want to get married. I say to straight people that it's the year 2005 and if you let us marry each other, then we'll stop marrying you.

Q. What can audiences expect at your show?
My show is for everyone - gay or straight. I'm not dirty I'm just flirtatious. I talk about my family, dating, gay marriage, politics and pop culture. I talk about my life and things that have happened to me.

Q. What are the. characteristics of your Mr. Right?
He has to have a career that he likes. And a car, one that he doesn't live in. And he has to be willing to relocate to LA. Hopefully he'll come to me during this tour because me going to them has not worked at all!

Q. Why did you decide to do a benefit for the Lesbian & Gay Community Center?
I always call the club where I'm performing and get information about gay groups there so I can be supportive of my community. The Lesbian & Gay Community Center offers all kinds of help to people who are coming out, people who are HIV-positive. You can make a donation to them at any of my Charlotte shows.

Q. When did you publicly admit you were gay?
I came out 12 years ago on the "Geraldo" show. I'm not some white trash on "The Jerry Springer Show," so I told my family first.

Q. On your Web site (www.jasonstuart.com) you talk about being Jewish. Did that make a difference in how your family reacted?
My parents are weekend Jews. If there's a wedding, funeral or bar mitzvah, they're there. Otherwise, we're just like you. My sister is an Orthodox Jew. She walks around like she's in the road company of "Fiddler on the Roof." She hasn't spoken to me. I live a few miles from her and she has four children I've never met. But my mom and dad are terrific. My dad asked me why I can't just be gay and shut up about it. I told him that I make a lot of money talking about it so now he tells me to keep talking.

Q. When you're auditioning for a role, do you audition just for gay characters?
I don't care whether the character is gay or straight. I take what l can get.

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