Loveable legend Leslie Jordan’s got a new book, a new one-man show and (once I remind him) the best death scene in the Friday the 13th franchise.

by Jonathan Riggs

IN Los Angeles: This is a banner year: You’ve got the Logo Sordid Lives series and the soon-to-air 12 Miles of Bad Road HBO series, right?

Leslie: Yes! The big news, which I’m most proud of, was last January, after I won the Emmy for Will & Grace, my friend said, “I think you could sell a book.” I pitched them my stories about being an openly gay actor since ’82 and having worked with George Clooney, Mark Harmon, Luke Perry, Billy Bob Thornton — all these angst-ridden, unrequited, made-up crushes I’ve had. I slipped in my recovery story, my journey out of the Baptist Church and away from the shame. They were going to give me an April release, but they pushed it to June blockbuster season!

It must be a spicy tome.

My book was just filthy! My wonderful editor sliced it, though, so I have this amazing book that’s mainstream, but still naughty. I wrote it for the young gay man and the young gay woman out in our hinterlands. I read this quote recently that says there are two kinds of gay people in America: the fabulous and the fearful. We forget that outside of the velvet pink ropes are a lot of gay people who are scared to death, especially our youth. There’s work to be done.

Speaking of work, you spend a ton of time on the road, right?

For Like A Dog On Linoleum, I was out of town eight months, two years in a row, peddling my pussy in Chicago and San Francisco and everywhere else!

How do you keep your sanity?

Rentboy.com! [Laughs]

And you’re touring again to support the book, right?

Starting in late May, I’m going to get on a tour bus and do 30 cities in conjunction with Gay Prides all across the country, while I put the show on its feet. My manager said, “My god, he’ll get on Rentboy.com in every city. He’ll have a full bus by Boston!”

That’s our Leslie! Tell me about the show.

I’m gonna travel with a pink carpet and pink velvet ropes. My twin sisters put together a little montage of my career. It’ll clip in and go, “Well, well, well … Karen Walker!” and “Can you see my pussy now?!”

What can audiences expect?

It’ll be a lot of this, a lot of that, a lot of name-dropping. It’s not Kathy Griffin-ish, though. I’m too scared to be mean! I do talk about the size of a lot of famous people’s privates, or what I thought, from doing a little peter-gazing here and there!

What’s your weirdest “Weren’t you in … ” story?

Someone came up to me and said, “I loved you in Farm Sluts.” I said, jokingly, “Oh, I did that right before Horsehung Hispanics.” I talked to my manager later and he said that’s what they called a little indie I was in. [Horrified voice] I did a movie called Farm Sluts?! Farm Sluts!!

I loved you as the straight-but-sassy cook who takes on Mr. Voorhees in Jason Goes To Hell.

Jason dips me in the french fry fryer and then throws me onto the grill—well, that part was a stuntman. But the hot oil was really root beer and one of those bubble machines they put in aquariums. The director was so enthusiastic and kept coming up with ideas. He made me get thrown in the root beer seven times! I was sticky, I had root beer in my ears and my eyes were stuck together because I’d forgotten to take out my contact lenses. He kept having more ideas, but I said, “Get your damn shot, honey, I’m only going in the root beer one more time!”

You’ve got the best stories!

I think that’s what they loved about my book. I’m not really famous, but I’ve been around and know a lot of famous people and some great little stories here and there. That’s why you should come see the show—it’s gonna be fun!

The book, My Trip Down The Pink Carpet (Simon & Schuster) comes out in June, and the show travels the country from March 22 (San Diego)/March 23 (Palm Springs) through Aug. 10 (Provincetown). For more info, visit www.thelesliejordan.com.