Meloni's Gay Kiss

A kiss is just a kiss, says Chris Meloni of his on-screen lip action with another man in the gritty HBO prison drama Oz.

"There was some trepidation at first," the actor tells Out. "I mean guys have stubble and stuff, and after I was 5 I didn't even want to hold hands with my father or kiss him on the cheek. But finally it was like, f--- it, let's do it."

In fact, Meloni says he was happy to relive the tender lip lock when he and Oz co-star Lee Tergesen presented at a GLAAD awards ceremony. "Lee and I made out onstage. 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."

Meloni also says Oz isn't his first encounter with homosexuality. In college he had a gay admirer. "It was the first time a guy had ever said 'You've got a great body' to me. The next thing you know, he's asking me if I like gladiator movies." Meloni also adds, "I was a bouncer, a bartender at Studio 54 in its third reincarnation, which was like being a rat on a sinking ship, and I worked at the Body Center, a gay gym."

The married actor, who also stars on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, contends that despite his same-sex rendezvous he just doesn't find guys appealing. "They're good to talk with and that's about it. I don't have much use for men."