Not just friends.

New York theater vet Denise Faye takes on young guys' lesbian fantasies in American Pie 2

When Hollywood makes a movie about the sexual fantasies of teenage boys, you can count on at least one of two kinds of temptresses rearing her horny head. In American Pie it was a nubile foreign exchange student (portrayed by Shannon Elizabeth) who represented the face of female seduction; now, in the sequel American Pie 2, it's two playful lesbians--right out of straight guy-fantasy casting--who show up to excite the film's quintet of randy young men.

Actress Denise Faye, the woman who makes up one half of that fantasy, is sitting at a cafe in Greenwich Village, a stone's throw from Stonewall Place. And what you get immediately is that Faye didn't shrink from her lavender role. She certainly wasn't shy about flouncing around for most of American Pie 2 wearing nothing but a pair of heels, a bra, and a skimpy G-string. And she's definitely not reticent about discussing the special topless rehearsal she did with Lisa Arturo, who's both a friend and the actress who ended up playing Amber, her make-out buddy in the film.

"We were at my house, and we practiced the whole scene topless together. We were told we might have to do that," says Faye, whose character is called Danielle. "I think appreciating the female form is easy. Gorgeous. Easy. And Lisa happens to be a very sexy broad. So sucking on her lower lip was no problem. Tonguing was a whole other level. But what I thought was more awkward was worrying about the placement of the breasts."

"Basically," Arturo says later by telephone, "I had to bury my head in her chest and swim around." "You want to maximize the boobs," adds Faye with a laugh.

Hooray for method acting. The pair's rehearsal came the night before their fourth and final callback. Did it win them the roles? "It really came across that we had great chemistry," says Arturo.

So here's the setup: It's 12 months after American Pie's prom-night finale, and that film's five delecto guys--including Jason Biggs, Seann William Scott, and Chris Klein--are on summer vacation after their freshman year of college. To help pay for their own vacation rental, they are painting the house of the two women--who may or may not be actual lesbians ("It's a big question mark," Faye says). Sensing the guys' fascination with their relationship, the gals offer to kiss in front of them--but only if two of the boys will kiss each other first. "Guys will do anything," adds Faye. "We're pretty much playing off that. It's always nice when the guys are made fools of."

Faye herself fits another fantasy: the cool New York theater chick. She's appeared on Broadway in Guys and Dolls and Chicago, and she's associate choreographer on Miramax's upcoming movie adaptation of Chicago. She also played the sapphic Dr. Kitty in the play Last Summer at Bluefish Cove. "I've played lots of lesbians," says Faye. Having been performing alongside openly gay and lesbian people since she was 8 years old, she says, "I think somehow I learned it through osmosis. That's just part of the world you're in, and that's it."

Will Faye and Arturo return to the lesbian world for the inevitable Pie 3? If so, Arturo wants some changes. "I once told her," she recalls, "`If you were really my girlfriend, I'd have to talk to you about the way you manhandle me. You're just too rough.'"

Find the official Web site for American Pie 2 at www.advocate.com

Pener has written for Entertainment Weekly, Details, and In Style.