Caffeinated courting.

Actor-comic Jason Stuart is jazzed about his latest film, Coffee Date, a gay indie that's about more than just hooking up.

"Yeah, there is sex," Stuart asserts, "but it's more about relationships, friendship, more about what's on people's minds--it's a little more emotional and cerebral."

Stuart plays a gay office manager whose sexually confused coworker (Jonathan Bray) asks him for advice when he begins questioning his heterosexuality. So if a straight guy can ponder his gay side in Coffee Date, can Stuart ever see himself dating a woman? "Probably not," he laughs, "but stranger things have happened."

Stuart's been on "a million" of his own coffee dates (vanilla, mocha, and chai lattes are his faves), but he's often found his comedic image to be a dating disadvantage: "What happens is you go in, and they have this idea of who you are, and the idea for me is usually quite limited."

He acknowledges wasting many romantic opportunities in the past because, he says, "I was so career-driven in my 20s, and I was walking around with blinders on. I was so afraid of people and not realizing that I was, and I was not in touch with who I was. It took me a long time to connect the dots--until I was close to 30. When I started getting into my 30s is when I started looking for a relationship."

Now Stuart's ready for Mr. Right. "Oh, I think I'd be a great husband--I'm romantic, I'm funny, I'm passionate, I'm thoughtful. I have my own life and my own friends, but what I'd like to do is find a guy whom I can add to my life, not someone who has to be needed in my life."