Hot Property: Calza and Effect

Photos: Alessandro Calza

Personally, we can't think of anything—or anyone—hotter than this month's Hot Property, Alessandro Calza. A relative unknown in the States, the hunky Italian is known to gay film fans as the equally hunky Andrea in director Yen Tan's film Ciao, a tender and poignant tale about two men from different parts of the world who meet after a mutual friend dies unexpectedly and go on to form their own unique bond. The film (now available on DVD) was a gay filmfest fave and established Calza (who cowrote the script with Tan) as a presence to keep an eye on. Of course, the fact that he posts numerous photos of himself semi-naked on his site has nothing to do with it.

Anyway, since one interview with him wasn't enough, we rang up the snap-happy stud again to ask him some more questions about the movie (and his uber-hot co-star), his thoughts on porn, and yes, what it takes to get him unzipped. You can find it—as well as a hot gallery of pics from Calza's site—after the jump.

Alessandro Calza: The Unzipped Interview

Since you're not really an actor, we're curious how your role in Ciao came about.
It came about incidentally; it was nothing that was planned. I met Yen [Tan, the director], and we started writing together. It just sort of happened. I just took a chance. You don't see many Italians in American films. For sure, the language is a barrier for many people. So I have to say that on one side I’m very attracted by having that experience again, but at the same time I know how much work and energy and frustration and pressure there is going into it. So I’m very conflicted about it. But of course I would do it if I had the chance.

You said you have a special thing for American men. Is that why you made the movie—so you could make out with one?
[Laughs] There was more to it than that. But in a way the movie gave me a chance to explore that. I did have a boyfriend in the U.S. It was part of my experience, but not completely. Fortunately, nothing so dramatic happened in my life.

I somehow picture you as having a boyfriend in every country. Or at least a fuck buddy. Are you a polyamorous kind of guy?
Not in every country, just certain states. [Laughs] I do have to say that Australians and Americans are my favorite because of the cultures and their approach to life. I don’t get along with Italians very much. I’ve had Italian boyfriends, but I prefer Americans. It’s a more pragmatic mindset. I need somebody who is practical and leisure-oriented and not very dodgy. Europeans are usually dodgy. Italians think too much, and Americans are more relaxed about that. That’s really a good balance for me.

Your straight costar, Adam Neal Smith, is a total babe. Did his orientation make the love scenes more or less exciting for you?
[Laughs] Adam is a very nice guy, but straight guys are a handful, actually. It may be thrilling on some level, but it’s also complicated to deal with straight guys. You never know if you can hurt their feelings or something like that. As much as they seem relaxed about stuff, eventually they are not. There’s only a few straight guys who are truly completely comfortable with gay subject matter, especially with gay sex scenes or even a kiss.

Your characters share a very real attraction, but there’s no sex in the film. Who the hell made that choice?
[Laughs] Yen is Asian, and Asians are not very easygoing about sex. It was his choice. I think he wanted to focus the attention on the relationship between the two men. I know when you watch the movie you think, Oh, come on, two guys in the same place for three days. How can it be that they don’t have sex? But it’s also a stereotype that gay men have sex no matter what. And it’s not necessarily true, especially when you’re older.

Speak for yourself. Your characters do share one very sizzling kiss in bed together. Were you, like, demanding multiple takes to make sure you got it right?
[Laughs] It was actually a very spontaneous scene. We didn’t plan it. It came very naturally. We shot that a couple times. It was the best scene to act. It was the most enjoyable and the easiest. It was the last scene that we shot, and there was a lot of experiences going on already throughout the shoot that informed it.

Was Adam a good kisser?
He was, yeah. I really enjoyed it, but I don’t want to make his wife mad. It was really intense. It’s very difficult to direct a scene like that with a guy who is straight, because you’re sort of feeling that you’re taking advantage of a situation that is actually work. I think it's probably what happens with straight actors when they work with attractive women.

The movie ends with things between the two men left up in the air. What would you like to believe happens to them? Do they keep in touch? Do they end up together?
No. As the viewer, you take for granted that they should do something together, because they are both attractive, but they are not attracted to each other. It’s kind of natural that they don’t have sex together. I think they develop an appreciation for each other by the end of the movie, but given the distance between them, I don’t think they develop a romance. Of course, if Andrea was more like I am, he wouldn’t have left that house without having sex with Adam. He’s very attractive. He’s not the kind of guy who would jump out at you if you were at a party, but he’s very attractive and sweet and has a nice body. And he’s very hairy. I would have been all over that in real life. [Laughs]

Woof. OK, new topic: Your website. I’m sure you know that there are lots of guys out there getting off looking at your pics. How does that make you feel?
It’s very flattering when I see that my pictures end up on other blogs, but that doesn’t matter much to my self perception. Even if there are a thousand people telling me “You look so fine,” it doesn’t change it if I wake up in the morning and think I look terrible.

I would imagine you’ve gotten a few offers to appear in porn movies. Ever considered it?
I haven’t. If I wanted, I know people, so I could do it. But I’m not very interested in porn at all. For one, it’s very damaging if you ever want to do something else. Just a few people can do that and do something else. There’s a stigma. And then a lot of porn is just really bad. I watch a lot of porn, and there’s just no good porn at all. [Laughs]

Oh, come on. There is a lot of good porn out there.
I’m an expert. I watch a lot of porn. I watch a lot of bear porn, a lot of Asian porn, whatever. You can get off to it, but all of it is bad. It’s getting better, but still, it’s pretty lousy because there is no tension, no build-up. It's just sex. The better-shot porn is actually less interesting. That’s why people would rather watch bareback porn, because it’s real. I mean, you’re watching a Raging Stallion movie and you hear all this screaming and all this fucking, and it’s some guy in a leather jockstrap and leather boots. And who has sex like that? I used to like Colt, but now it’s very shallow. It doesn’t have anything to do with Jim French’s vision for Colt anymore. They’ve destroyed it. Now they’re using all these Hungarians. What the fuck, man? And Titan is bringing in all the fist-fucking and pissing, just to do it because they don’t want to lose ground. Now they are finally understanding that people are changing.  They’re starting to understand that what they were doing for ages isn’t working anymore. But they’re late to the game.

If you were to make your own porn movie, what would it be like?
Something like Nine Songs by Michael Winterbottom. I do like some older porn. Probably my favorite porn is Muscle Ranch! from Colt. And there’s a lot of vintage stuff from the end of the ‘70s and the beginning of the ‘80s that is very good. Some Joe Gage. I just saw one called Double Cross and it had all these sequences and music. There was an intent to do something pretty fine.

You live in Genova, Italy. What’s the gay scene like there? Are the men there really as romantic as they are portrayed in movies?
There’s no gay scene. It’s almost like living in the middle on Montana. It’s a very conservative town. Everybody goes to Milan, which is, like, an hour and a half from here. In general, I don’t like the Italian scene at all. It’s so fucking in the dark ages, man. I wouldn’t say Italian men are more romantic. It’s true about the Latins—they’re passionate and opinionated—but I actually think Anglo-Saxons are more tender. If you listen to songs in English and it’s a man singing, it’s always possible for the guy to say something like, “I’m crying for you.” But for an Italian singer to sing something like that, it would never happen, because it’s not something a man would do. They may be passionate, they may be aggressive, they may be hot-blooded, but I wouldn’t say they are romantic at all.

On Facebook, you list your relationship status as “complicated.” So what’s up with that? Do you have a boyfriend or not?
I am dating someone in New York, so that’s why it’s complicated. And he’s actually a Texan. We try to see each other every month. He comes here for a week or so.

I imagine you would have no problem finding any action when you need it. Do you keep yourself busy in that regard?
At the moment, no. I really have a big problem with Italians, so not really. The typical gay man in Italy is not like the typical American gay guy. There are a lot of hot guys in Italy, but most of them are straight. One guy in San Francisco is like, 10, 20 years ahead of gay men in other countries. So hooking up with Italians is like going back in time. At this point, I surrender to my weak spot for American men. What can I do? I should move there!

Do it! So besides your body, what are you working on now?
I’m very busy with my real job as a graphic designer. I do my website and my photography and my music on the side, and I also build furniture. And I’m actually working on another movie with Yen right now. So probably by the beginning of 2010 we are going to shoot a new one.

OK, so what’s the wildest place you’ve ever had sex?
Italians have a lot of sex in cars because we usually live with our parents until we’re about 20 or so. I probably had more sex in the car than anywhere else. And I had a very small car! [Laughs] That’s the most common. The craziest was probably outdoors. Like, one time I was in a nightclub that was in the hills. And this guy and I came out of the nightclub and we were in the parking lot, which had this, like, abandoned house. And we were making out and getting into it, and I realized we were in a chicken house! It was crazy, man!

So what’s your favorite type of guy?
I really like guys who take care of themselves and go to the gym. It doesn’t have to be a perfect body; I  really like stocky guys as well. I like more weight than less weight, but still I like someone who takes care of himself. If you have a rugby type of build, even better. I really like laid-back guys, people who are able to chill and relax. I’d rather date a carpenter from Ohio than a model from L.A. Like a man who can have a good laugh and who has a very simple, very spontaneous approach to life.

Great. What’s the easiest way to get you unzipped?
If he has a nice voice and I like the guy, it’s very easy. I’m very much in charge. If I want something, I take it. If I want to get unzipped, I don’t wait for someone to do something to me. I do it myself.

Alessandro Calza: A Gallery of Self-Portraiture