By David Keeps. Photographed by Francois Dischinger

Page 2

In addition to his machinations on Oz, the site follows Meloni’s other television alter ego, the conflicted family man and sex-crimes detective Elliot Stabler on the Law & Order offshoot Special Victims’ Unit. It also discusses the actor’s film appearances, which have ranged from bits in Terry Gilliam’s 12 Monkeys and the Wachowski Brothers’ Bound to Julia Roberts’ jilted fiancé in last summer’s comedy Runaway Bride. According to webmaster Rodgers, Meloni has also phoned to thank him personally. "I’m not sure how many actors as busy as he is would take the time to call or answer the many questions asked by people who visit the site. That confirmed my gut feeling about him-that he’s a nice, down-to-earth guy. There can be a perception that because Chris has a fairly large gay fan base; we're there because he has no qualms about appearing nude. I, or any other fan (male or female), will tell you that we admire what we see. However, most of us appreciate his acting far more."

Meloni, who admits," I’m a nudist at heart," has achieved a kind of Zen modesty about his appeal. "When I speak to Brain," he says with a softly commanding growl, "he gets a little nervous, which I’ve found a kind of charming. This is all new territory. I’ve always been an anonymous actor doing my job and just trying to make it. I just thought I should dive in there and try to establish rapport. For the most part, it’s a goof. I mean, they asked me how I eat my Oreos"-the answer, by the way is whole-"and once we get to the dessert tray. It’s pretty much open season on any question you want to ask. But then some guy will come on the site and say, ‘You’ve helped my self-image as a gay man,’ and I realize there is some value to whatever I had done. Because even in my own life, I have witnessed no shortage of low self-esteem." Meloni takes his connection to the gay community seriously; along with Oz costar Tergesen and his Special Victims Unit leading lady, Mariska Hargitay, he recently presented a GLAAD award at a ceremony in New York. "Lee and I made out on stage," he recalls. "The script called for it, and I do what I’m told. I kind of thought we brought the house down. Hopefully not too far down."

Lee Tergesen is feeling a bit queer. But then, he’s been through a lot. In the first season of Oz, he became the prison bitch for a white supremacist who branded his ass with a swastika, then dressed him in drag and made him sing "I Got It Bad (And That Ain’t Good)." In the second season, he fell in love with Chris Meloni’s ultrabutch character, Keller, who proceed to stomp on his heart by breaking his arms and legs. In the third season, Keller tried to make amends to little avail. Now, halfway through the shooting of the fourth season, he finds himself at the show’s massive indoor studio in New York’s Chelsea district, kissing a shirtless Keller. So, I pull up a chair at one of the tables in the set’s common room and ask him what Chris Meloni’s chest tastes like.

Like the most wonderful chocolate," he says, camping it up. "It didn’t really have a taste, to be honest with you. It was pretty early in the day."

Besides the fact that "there were definitely Altoids on hand, you know, you don’t wanna make a bad first impression," Tergesen had no trouble making out with Meloni. "I mean, I couldn’t say that I’ve never kissed a man before." He says. "It’s not the kind of thing that makes me freak out at all. I think what was a little tough at first was the fact that you know it’s going to be filmed. You know? There will be evidence. But I mean, come one, look at the man, he’s attractive. Chris is built like a brick shithouse, for God’s sake."

The shithouse swaggers up to our table. (Are those two softballs in his back pockets, or am I just happy to see him?) He and Tergesen are great friends. Meloni insists. ""Behind every great man is a man," Tergesen replies. "I said one time in an interview, ‘Love hurts,’ and it was pertaining to breaking Beecher’s legs," says Meloni. "And you know, it was funny at the time, but there’s also truth in it. High tension leads to high passion. You have the best sex after you’ve just had a fight. I think our characters have two people trying to learn to survive and trying to understand this animal that’s been created between them. An animal that neither one of them has really ever known: trust, loving." Those feelings helped Meloni over the hump when it came time to lock lips with his costar. "There was some trepidation at first," he says. "I mean, guys have stubble and stuff, and after I was five I didn’t even want to hold hands with my father or kiss him on the cheek. But finally, it was like, fuck it, let’s do it. I was supposed to be drunk in the scene, so I was juggling a lot of emotions. And the second time I had to kiss him-and this was also a valuable learning thing for me-it was tender moment, a kiss of love. This has to mean something. I’ve only ever had that feeling with the softness of a woman’s lips behind it, and her was a guy who Love as an actor and as a friend, but now it was taking it even a notch higher: I love you enough to kiss you, to want you sexually. And I’m telling you we were so nervous we got it in one take. We were afraid of it. We just allowed that atmosphere to permeate the scene. Tough work, but someone’s gotta do it. Now, Tergesen has the last word: "I think people really relate to our relationship. I think gay men like the fact that two men were being intimate and there wasn’t any sort of discussion of it. And also think it’s sexy."