For whatever reason, almost every actor seems to find himself involved with a horror movie early in the onset of his career. I am no exception. Channeling my best Jennifer Aniston à la Leprechaun, with just a touch of himbo, I accepted a role in the zombie slasher Manje. Dear E! True Hollywood Story,this tale is my intro.

The most appealing part of this film for me was probably the thought of playing a character totally opposite of who I am as a person. For most young actors, your first five or so roles are often carbon copies of your actual self, because — let’s face it — it’s what you’re good at. I, however, have never been one to follow this mold. (Vampire hunter on The Lair? I'm still questioning that one too. But I digress.) Anyway, this role was a total asshole alpha male jock who goes around spitting game at anything remotely female and all but refers to himself in the third person. He was the quarterback of the football team, an annoying jokester, and every bit as insecure as any guy who acts like that actually is under the surface.

All jokes aside, this role also held special significance for me because it would show the naysayers that gay men can effectively play straight males, even the most obnoxious, sleazy, Stifleresque of them all. I mean, there was even a sex scene (with a woman!) in Manje. However, this scene was focused less on my behind (for once!) and more on her ta-tas. Ah, straight people. So with my pants fastened tight and a political agenda ignited, I signed on for a torturous 10-day shoot in 2006 in the freezing cold mountains of Glendale for “deferred pay” — code for “I hope money isn’t important to you, because you sure as hell won’t see any from this film, sucker.” Mistake number 1. But the polite wording remains, despite my lobbying for a change in terminology.