Zach Braff.

Sorry, McDreamy. Scram, McSteamy. It's sensitive manchild J.D.--the put-upon cutup on the hit series Scrubs--who's TV's most cuddly (and gay-friendly) doc. After all, the guy married a gent in Vegas (granted, he was drunk), sang about his "guy love" for his buddy Christopher Turk (Donald Faison), and earned himself a Golden Globe nomination in the process. In January he stars in a new romantic comedy, the appropriately titled Fast Track, which pits him in a love battle against a wheelchair-using Jason Bateman. Here Braff. 31. who broke out as a bleached-blond little queen who does Special K and falls for gym bunnies in 2000's The Broken Hearts Club, continues to impress.--John Griffiths

Zach, you are a thinking man's sex symbol, Say something smart.

[Laughs] I'm glad you clarified with "a thinking man." I can't think of anything. It's too early.

J.D.'s sexuality is often called into question on Scrubs. What's the girliest thing about you?

I love Broadway musicals. My favorite has always been Les Miserables. But then I saw Idina Menzel sing in Wicked. and I almost cried, it was so beautiful. I get in the car sometimes and crank up a good musical.

You once played a guy who pretended to be a girl in an after-school special. Are you a fan of drag?

Not really. I'm not a very attractive woman.

You and Donald's character seem to be practically inseparable. Will they ever hook up?

I don t think so. The funny thing about the Turk and J.D. thing is that there are so many guys who have these relationships with their best friends. [They] walk the line between hetero and homo and just dip their toes across it--you know what I mean? It's not sexual, but they love each other as much as two guys can.

And you and Donald are BFFs in real life?

Yeah, we hang out all the time. He just move around the corner from me, so now I see him even more. It's funny. We couldn't be from more different backgrounds and have more different lives. And yet we have the exact same sense of humor. No one makes me laugh more than him

What's your favorite nickname for Donald?

Probably C-Bear. which is short for Chocolate Bear. Yeah, I call him C-Bear in real life too.

So are you into the club scene?

Not really. I go out occasionally. But you never meet a girl your'e going to date for a long time at a club.

I've realized the same thing about gay guys. I'm not Mr. Rage.

I've been to Rage, by the way. I went for research--I know you're laughing already; research for Broken Hearts Club. [Director] Greg Berlanti brought Dean Cain and me to the Abbey for drinks, and then we went to Rage. I'll never forget this giant black guy who walked in. He looked like a bodyguard--must've been 6 foot 6, a huge, built guy. And he walked in, and I was like, Oh my God, this guy's in the wrong, bar. He's going to start a fight. I got all stressed-out. Once the guy made contact with his friends that he was meeting, he totally switched and went. "Hey, gir-r-rl" It was just the ultimate articulation of you never know who's gay and who's not. It was actually a good lesson to learn.

When it comes to homophobia, what bothers you the most?

Gay marriage is so obviously going to be something that's going to happen eventually. These people who are against it are just wasting their time. I just think it's preposterous that any two people who love each other can't get married.

How did you get to be so gay-friendly?

I grew up around gay people. I went to theater camp at a very young age, and a large percentage of the guys there were gay, both teachers and campers. I was surrounded by and loved people who were gay. It never really fazed me.

If you were gay, what male celebrity would you have sex with?

I have a man-crush on Tim Olyphant [of Broken Hearts and Deadwood]. In fact, I saw him the other night, and I told him about my man-crush.

J.D. has some fun gay neighbors. Do you?

I do. I know that because there's a giant rainbow flag on their house. Not to sweepingly, generalize but when you put a giant rainbow flag on your house, you're probably gay. I'm taking giant--like, garage-size.

Griffiths is the TV critic for US Weekly and writes profiles for InStyle and Glamour.