Rex Lee: More Than Just "the Gay One" On TV's "Entourage"

On Lee's first day of shooting however, the director only needed shots of Ari working in his office. The show's staff figured that having Lee sit at his desk and be in the background, dutifully performing his tasks as an assistant, would be a good way to help the actor transition onto the show. Lee said his excitement got the better of him--he was so nervous and his muscles so tense that he hurt his lower back just from sitting the chair and miming the actions of an efficient personal assistant. “So I think I was a little nervous, yeah,” he quipped.

“And I didn't tell anybody that I had hurt my back. I didn't know if I'd tell them and they'd just replace me with someone else,” he said with a laugh.

Regardless of initial nerves, Lee's character has become a permanent fixture on the show--and a reason for gay viewers to look forward to his scenes. Lloyd's presence allows for a different type of masculinity to match up against Ari's raging womanizing as well as the Queens-bred bravado of the main characters.

Lloyd also helps viewers see what working in Hollywood might be like for an openly gay man. For Lee, however, the authentic reproduction of the world behind the camera includes a few aspects that he grudgingly admits belong there--notably the show's use of casual homophobia used as a conversational device.

“The truth is I wish there was less of it, but I also feel like it's pretty realistic,” Lee said of the stray remarks that occasionally pepper certain characters' dialogue. “As far as Ari making homophobic comments--and I know this doesn't entirely excuse it--he's kind of insulting everybody. It's just one comment among the enormous barrage of comments against everybody.

“As far as the boys are concerned, the show gives us a fly-on-the-wall perspective into these guys' lives and they're really uncensored. It's very realistic that these guys who grow up in New York and--and who, in their own way, are a little bit “street” --talk this way. And in the long run, I think I respect the writers for not censoring this element of dialogue.”

Lee is also quick to note that the homophobic sentiments the characters express to each other are never directed at Lloyd.

“Those same boys are very polite to Lloyd whenever they see him. They don't say ‘fag' or ‘homo' or any of that around Lloyd,” Lee said. “So again, I have to think that it's when they're confronted with the gay guy, they're sort of doing their best to be respectful toward him.”

Even a casual fan of the show should know that the four main Entourage characters are indeed very heterosexual--and often matched with a constantly changing line-up of starlets to fulfill their romantic needs. In that vein, one could argue that Lloyd's character balances out the show somewhat.

Lee describes the overall atmosphere on-set as quite macho. The testosterone, however, isn't necessarily being generated by the other actors, even though their on-screen personas might lead viewers to assume otherwise.

“It's funny. I don't think the cast is as aggressively macho as their characters are. But we're not the only people there trying to turn out this product,” Lee said. “There's a crew there as well. I don't know why, exactly, but I feel like the crew is very macho. Definitely some testosterone filled energy there.”

Though Lee swears that Lloyd has some very specific career ambitions he'd like to achieve, Lloyd is perhaps the only male regular on Entourage who doesn't seem to be thinking with what's in his pants. Instead, Lloyd is goal-oriented and professional, even while Ari may be diddling a Swedish model on his lunch break. In fact, Lee said he doesn't feel Lloyd's sexuality figures very prominently into his personality.

“I don't often think about my character being gay,” Lee said. “Being gay is more about who you fall in love with and up until now I feel like I've been playing this character who just happens to be gay--and clearly, in the universe of the show, he is gay--but you never know if he goes on any dates or anything.”

Lee also said that an episode airing later in the third season will feature Lloyd's sexuality as a pivotal plot point. In the episode, Ari will court the business of a successful gay TV writer, to be played in the episode by Mad TV alum Will Sasso.

“He's brilliant. Very, very funny,” Lee said of Sasso in his guest appearance. “I had so much fun in that episode where half the plot is built around the fact that Lloyd is gay. It would be fun if that happens again.”

Fearful of overstepping the boundaries of an actor with advance notice of this season's storyline, however, Lee was hesitant to reveal too much more about what else Lloyd might be doing. Nonetheless, he did comment on a common concern Lloyd's fans sometimes approach him with.

“I'm told of a lot of viewers would like Lloyd to become an agent. I'm not all that interested in that happening,” he said. “It's a lot more interesting for me as an actor if Ari just keeps squashing me down--preparing me to become an agent, but also preventing me as well.”

It's a journey viewers will be happy to watch as the third season of Entourage plays out.

Entourage airs Sundays at 10 p.m. on HBO. Rex Lee is also currently performing in Id and Bob at the Lillian Playhouse in Hollywood.