Actors on the Edge.

COSTARS CHRIS STAFFORD AND LEA DELARIA TRADE TALES ABOUT FOUR WEEKS OF FILMING IN OHIO AND MAKING A MOVIE THEY CAN BELIEVE IN

Edge of Seventeen is a summer movie in every sense. Last summer it won the audience favorite award at Outfest, the Los Angeles gay and lesbian film festival. This summer it will have the chance to win over audiences everywhere, opening nationally at theaters June 11. And the movie begins with a summer romance, between about-to-be high school senior Eric and college student Rod.

The film is also a paean to its 1984 setting, complete with a rainbow of hair colors, outrageous clothes, and a New Wave sound track. For 21-year-old Chris Stafford, who plays Eric, it's a period piece as well as a poignant look at coming out in any era. (About his own sexuality, the up-and-coming actor says only, "Let them guess!") For costar Lea DeLaria--the way, way out actor who plays Angle, Eric's mentor and confidante--it's a visit to her own teen years. To get both sides of the story, The Advocate asked the two costars to sit down together and talk about the film.

DeLaria: So you're on the cover of The Advocate!

Stafford: Isn't that pretty, cool?

That's cool! I've never been on the cover of The Advocate, Chris, and I've been an openly gay performer since 1982. Just thought I'd say that. [Laughs] So what was it like for you shooting this movie? Like I have to ask you. We were together all the time!

It was a totally enjoyable experience. It was, I think, for all of us, a labor of love. We were all working for horrible money ...

Peanuts!

... and horrible conditions. And we did it because we believed in the movie. And, damn it, we were right!

We were definitely right! You're brilliant in this movie.

You're brilliant in this movie.

You and Tina [Holmes, who plays Eric's best friend, Maggie] are just amazing. You have that quality that you don't get to see much on film--you just sort of eat the screen up. Both of you! Which I find fascinating. I've been told I have it as well. It's like, when the three of us are working together, you don't know where to look, you know What I mean? There's so much happening.

You know, an art teacher that I had in college once told me that one of the things for her that defines a good piece of art is that every time you look at it, it brings you something new. And I feel that about this movie. I feel that there are so many nuances and so many messages being ... not thrown at you, but they're there for you to look at and to take from, whatever your experiences are. Every time I see this movie, something else comes out at me.

For me, it's very personal because this is where I grew up. This is my generation. These are the bars that I went to. Edge of Seventeen takes place in Sandusky, Ohio. I grew up in Belleville, Ill., a little town that's been surrounded by an information-proof shield since 1923 or something like that. It was very hard for me to come out at the time that I came out. I totally felt an affinity for [your] character. And I had Wilson Cruz weeping, weeping at your performance and what you were going through. Because you're so real; it's beautiful the way you do it. It's very heartfelt.

I gotta give the most credit to [screenwriter] Todd Stephens. It's an amazing script, and he never stopped working on it. He was constantly wanting to make it that much more real. We had the rehearsals back in New York, and then he continued to develop the script. The first script that I read was fuckin' amazing, and yet the one that actually ended up in the theaters was completely different and yet still as honest.

There was a process that was happening, a collaboration of artists. That scene that you and I have on the porch [when Eric shows up at Angie's house after a difficult night] was not in the original script because they melded my character with another character and she became your mentor, which is hilarious! I'm the role model! [Laughs]

I have to steal a question from another interview, posed to both of us: Who do you want most to see this movie?

I would totally love this movie to be seen by everyone. It's a beautiful film; it'll change some minds.

I agree. My answer is a little different ... Kids [should see it], kids that wouldn't go out and buy The Advocate, kids that are being told how they're supposed to live their lives and are scared to death about any feelings or impulses they may have about who they are.

I think their parents too. There's such a great thing that happens between you and Stephanie [McVay, as Eric's mother]. They need to see it.

The movie is not simple. It doesn't resolve anything. More than anything, it's all about being true to yourself. You got to start there. The rest is going to come. We know that. We feel that. And that'll be in the sequel, Edge of Twenty-one.

Edge of Twenty-one! [Laughs] You are having sex in this movie a lot. I just love the rimming scene, frankly; I find that really funny.

Do you know what I thought was interesting, though? A lot of the straight audiences aren't getting what's going on there. And Rod takes Eric's virginity in that scene, which is a very moving scene. It really is.

It's a harsh scene. It's really hard.

But go see the movie, and you'll hear about how hard it is ...

[Laughs] I have to say this: How did we stand it in Sandusky, Ohio, for four weeks in the winter? We became such a family, didn't we?

Oh, completely!

We had the biggest party cast and crew I've ever seen. My big story from the shoot was going to the only gay bar in Sandusky--me and Tina and Anderson [Gabrych, who plays Rod] and my girlfriend at the time, Jen. It looked like a cross between a rural gay bar in Connecticut and Bonanza, OK? And it was karaoke night, so you can imagine. We were loaded, sitting in the front row pointing and laughing. And this guy was giving me all sorts of attitude.

This was the DJ guy?

The DJ guy. So I thought, Fuck you. I'm gonna sing now. So I just went up and requested a number and blew the roof off! I really did. And he came over to the table and said, "God, where did you come from? You're better than Dot from Lorain!" [Laughing] I want to put that on posters--you know, next to something from John Simon. "Better than Dot from Lorain!" But that's pretty much how we stayed sane. Drinking and partying. It was a hard schedule, man, that shoot. How many times did you dye your hair?

Over 20.

It's unbelievable you still have hair.

I know. And I went almost directly into a play where I had to dye it red.

That's the hard thing about this business. Was the Advocate photo shoot difficult, Mr. Cover Boy?

They worked me, like, the full 9 1/2 hours that they booked me for. The last stuff that they were getting I really liked. They were playing some Sarah McLachlan ...

E-e-ew! Whiny Sarah McLachlan.

I know, I know, she is whiny. She puts me in the mood. I'm rolling around in the sand on this little beach ...

Sarah McLachlan puts you in the mood? You're a lesbian?

I'm telling you--all that techno bullshit that they were playing for the first few hours, man ...

I call it the faggot faggot, disco disco, beat beat, music music. Well, I'm sure the photos will be gorgeous.

We should have both been on the cover.

Oh, my God, I can't believe he said that. I didn't tell him to say that! Say good night, Chris.

Good night.