"What makes me motivated are assholes."

By Richard Andreoli

Jenny McCarthy, the sex kitten-turned-entertainment force to be reckoned with, discusses her appeal to gay men and the raunchy new movie she wrote and stars in, Dirty Love.

Why do gay men love Jenny McCarthy?

Is it because she's a sexpot and homos love curvaceous women with attitude? Is it her outrageousness, deliberately going against what society deems proper for a girl by exposing her bawdy humor and bosom for all to see? Or do gay men love Jenny McCarthy simply because she hosted the Brady Bunch special on TV Land and has hours of gossip about America's ultimate family that she can't share?

"Gay men are jealous of my large cock," laughs the man-made blond bombshell with a spirit that's as large as her, um, well, her bombs. "I don't know," she continues, obviously aware of why heterosexual men are drawn toward her ample personality but somewhat stumped by the gay appeal; after all, we're not in it for the sex. "Maybe it's because they know I love them so much," she says, bringing it down to reality for a moment before adding, "I actually hope my son grows up gay. I just want to shop with him, and I want him to do my hair. I'm one of the guys with boobs, so maybe that's why."

Maybe so, and nowhere is this proven more than in Dirty Love, the independent feature film that she wrote, starred in, and had John Asher, her then-husband (the divorce was announced the day of this interview) direct. In the same vein as Porky's or National Lampoon's Animal House, the story surrounds Rebecca (McCarthy), who is devastated after arriving home one night and finding her supermodel boyfriend plowing another woman. She visits a psychic in the form of gay-fave Kathy Griffin, and alongside her ditsy friend Carrie (Kam Heskin), ghetto girl Michelle (Carmen Electra), and loyal bud John (American Pie's Eddie Kaye Thomas), Rebecca tries to score revenge on Richard while finding new love for herself.

Perhaps most interesting about Dirty Love is the definite queer sensibility that pervades every moment, from gratuitous shots of her boyfriend's stellar body to a sexed up night on ecstasy that is shockingly funny. Likewise, the film may straddle the gross-out comedy genre, but it also maintains a camp appeal reminiscent of such movies as Clueless or Legally Blonde, particularly in Heskin and Electra's performances. It effectively works for both straight and gay men, but the focus for McCarthy was to create something that would really showcase her own comedic acting skills.

"The only roles out there right now are for the funny guy's girlfriend, or the funny guy's wife," she says. "I'm a different type of entity in Hollywood. I'm not just a pretty girl who doesn't have a brain, I'm also quirky and goofy and out of desperation to make it in this business I did [Dirty Love]."

McCarthy's entire journey in Hollywood has been a series of similar incidents. After creating a sensation with her 1993 spread in Playboy magazine, few believed she could extend her fame past the obligatory 15 minutes. But she's proved the naysayers wrong with guest spots in movies and on numerous television shows, as well as starring roles in series on MTV, NBC, and most recently UPN.

As McCarthy observes, "What makes me motivated are assholes." Realizing she's speaking to the gay press, she elaborates. "That's my own ÔHollywood get-by' philosophy. If people were constantly [saying], ÔYou're beautiful, you're a genius, you're awesome, you're so talented,' I think I would shrivel up into a ball and die. The more people say, ÔNo, you can't do it,' the more I want to prove them wrong."

So faced with cynics once again, McCarthy sought out script writers to create Dirty Love, but she soon found that they just didn't understand what she was hoping to accomplish. Frustration mounted, but with three best-selling books under her belt and the encouragement of her director husband, McCarthy realized she should stop looking to others and start looking toward herself. "What I realized is no one's going to [understand] what I'm capable of unless I do it," she says, the jokes fading from her words as the filmmaker emerges. "It's kind of like stand-up comedians. They can't have someone write their material. They have to go up there and do what works within them. So I had to do my own thing."

While McCarthy's script was the foundation, Asher's direction also holds a key place in Dirty Love's success. From Rebecca and her boyfriend frolicking on the beach in a quintessentially romantic scene, to abrupt moments that effectively exploit the comedy, Asher was the perfect partner to McCarthy's words; indeed, their relationship initially sprouted during another creative endeavor, the filming of Asher's 1999 film, Diamonds, in which McCarthy had a role. The duo were married after that film and had their son three years later, but according to the Dirty Love press notes, working on this project could sometimes be called "tough love" when the duo's individual visions conflicted. Naturally, one wonders if Dirty Love was actually the impetus for their recent split.

"We wanted to kill each other during the movie," McCarthy admits. "And thank God, because we pushed each other to do our very best and when we both looked at the end result we said we made a better movie because we both fought like crazy. But that's not why we broke up." While McCarthy won't get into those dirty details, she jokes that she is "loving every second" of doing movie promotion while going through a public divorce. She also explains, "We're still really good friends, we still want to fuck each other like crazy, and it was really amicable, so it's kind of easy."

Perhaps it's this attitude that ultimately draws gay men toward McCarthy. Sure, she could bemoan what's happening with Asher, she could use the movie as a platform to slam him, she could even take out her frustration on writers looking for an inside scoop on her personal life. But she doesn't. Instead, this American sex symbol, whom critics have constantly belittled because of her sexuality, has exploited every one of her natural talents to fullest effect. She takes what life tosses her way and continues on with her goals, including another book, a movie with Fox, a show on the E! network, and more of her own film projects. She is the ultimate underdog, and what gay man couldn't love that?

"Or maybe it's because I am a gay man," McCarthy tosses out just before the interview closes. "At least my dick seems to think that."