The Naked Truth: Chad Darnell

Chad Darnell, 35 Atlanta Likes: hands Dislikes: stomach

Attention, gay magazines: Chad Darnell is putting you on notice. "I think we all feel like we're measuring ourselves against some sort of standard that's completely unobtainable," he says. "When we flip through magazines, we see these pictures of guys who are completely juiced up with ripped bodies and huge muscles. Whether it's an ad for a car dealership or a protease inhibitor drug, it's always the same shirtless hot guy!" Darnell says he used to hope that he'd have that "perfect" body, but he now dismisses that ideal as unrealistic. "No matter how many push-ups or crunches I do, that's just not my body type," he says. "I don't care what personal trainers say."

Formerly a casting director, the 35-year-old bristles at a standard of beauty he calls "airbrushed" and "Photoshopped." "I always hated when I had to cast a show with attractive people," says Darnell, who cast Alias for five years. "Whenever Sydney Bristow went to a sex club, there was not a runt in the bunch for fear that the camera would land on him." He says he prefers healthy alternatives to looking good; he quit drinking and smoking this past year, and is currently training for his fifth AIDS marathon. So is he content with his current exercise regimen and lean body shape? "As happy as I am with my body, I'm not going to be running around shirtless," he confesses. "I'm happy with my body, but it's not perfect."