Mind your manners, it’s Jai Rodriguez

Vulture" may not be exactly the right word to describe Jai Rodriguez, whose figure and boyish features are nowhere near the emaciated frame or greedy gaze of the opportunistic bird. As the one responsible for updating straight, usually clueless, men on the finer points of etiquette on the hit TV show Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, Jai (pronounced "Jey") has since been dubbed the "Culture Vulture" – and he carries out this job, though not by circling over his withering prey before swooping down to pick at the carcass.

Metaphoric intentions aside, Jai possesses the talent and finesse to actually make each show’s weekly "victim" feel privileged to be the object of his attention. He is a mobile how-to when it comes to song, dance and social graces; one who will prod, push and plead just so straight men can learn how to give a firm handshake, dance a decent samba, and even propose marriage in the most romantic way (in any language at that).

But Jai’s display of talent on Queer Eye for the Straight Guy is just the tip of the iceberg – or, in more flamboyant imagery, flickered embers from a blazing bonfire. A Broadway mainstay before he became part of the show’s all-gay cast, Jai has been performing all his life, dancing and passionately making music since he was young. He has played the role of Angel in Broadway’s Rent, and has done guest roles on several soap operas. He also had cameo appearances on a couple of feature films, one of them in the recent remake of the movie musical The Producers. He’s set to take his first leading role in a feature film called One Month in Hell.

In this interview, Jai tells more about his passion for performing, his protocol peeves, and a one-time ballet boo-boo:

THE PHILIPPINE STAR: What makes you so fab?

JAI RODRIGUEZ: I feel so humbled being given this title. Before I started this, I was doing Broadway shows and then I joined these guys. What makes it fabulous is that I’m 10 years younger than they are (he’s 27) so I have a different perspective on things and I tend to be a little more edgy with my decision-making. I’m also a little bit more of the sensitive one. I’m the one who says, "Wait a minute. We really can’t beat him up that much. We need to do something to lift him up, too." I guess that’s my biggest contribution, and I’m really proud of that.

Do you lament how modern men seem to have forgotten the basics of etiquette?

Yes. A lot of these guys just weren’t taught growing up. These things were just somehow left on the wayside because their fathers weren’t taught either –you know how the men are expected to rear the sons, and the mothers, the daughters. We’re in this day and age where things have become so casual and common courtesies aren’t extended all the time.

Which basic act of etiquette do you feel is now rare?

I think it would be (saying) "Thank you" and "You’re welcome." I don’t know how it is out here, but in the States, when you say "Thank you," the reply is just "Uh-huh." I’m a fan of the good old-fashioned "Oh, you’re welcome."

Part of your duties is teaching men how to dance. How’d you learn how to dance?

It’s in my blood. In my family, we’re all just big movers and dancers. I started dancing at a very early age and I just love it.

Did you have formal lessons in dancing?

I did, in high school. And I’m always taking lessons. I always want to learn new things.

What’s the one dance that you still have to master?

Ballet. I thought I was better than this one straight guy who wanted to learn ballet so I took him to this premier ballet dancer at the American Ballet Theater, where we both attended a class. I put on the shoes and I thought, "Oh yeah, I took this in high school so I’ll be great," but then this ballet dancer started doing all the fancy stuff and I was like, "Oh my God!" Afterwards, the director said that we both looked like two straight guys struggling. It was so funny. You’ll see it in an upcoming episode.

What’s the one dance any man should learn to do properly?

How to slow-dance. Some men lack confidence when they have to dance in public and I think it’s because they don’t know how to hold a woman or where to put their feet. These are the little things a man should know so they won’t have to sweat it too much.

Tell us about your upcoming movie.

I’m actually going to be in a feature film. I start shooting it this fall. It’s called One Month in Hell and it’s a drama-thriller.

Wow, drama. That’s certainly different from your show.

Yeah, although I’ve done soaps before – I even played a young father in All My Children once. This would be my first lead role in a feature film. I’ve done films before: I did a movie called The New Guy and was also in The Producers, but those were all small roles.

You act, you dance, you sing. Which would be your biggest love of these three?

Probably music. When these guys heard me sing for the first time, they were really shocked because they didn’t know. They thought it was incredible and they said, "We feel like we really know you now." You know how Carson can get really excited and passionate when he’s styling someone? Well, for me that kind of passion only comes through when I’m really performing. My music is on my MySpace page, which is jairodriguezmusic@myspace.

You guys have been instrumental in getting proposals off the ground and getting couples together. How does that feel?

It’s really fantastic. It’s great to play the little guardian angel or Cupid. A lot of times, these straight guys need someone to talk to about the emotional stuff and they can’t really talk to their guy best friends about that. So us gay guys are somewhere in between the guy best friend and the girlfriend, and they open up to us.

Do you do ever follow up on your former makeovers?

We just did our 100th episode, where we did a Mr. Straight Guy pageant – it was hosted by Susan Lucci from All My Children – and we had 25 guys competing for the title of Mr. Straight Guy. These were all guys we had done makeovers on. So we get to find out what’s going on with them and who kept it up.

How do you choose the guys whose lives you’ll change?

We usually look for guys who have really interesting stories. We look for guys who are lacking in all the five areas, guys who couldn’t do without, but have the potential to learn.

How do you deal with homophobes?

Luckily for us, we only had a couple of those. By the end of the episode, though, they would say, "I’m sorry. I didn’t know anyone that was gay before I met you." And they would completely change their mind about gay men.

The thing is, our show was never really supposed to be a political show. It was supposed to be like a little home and garden show but because it was the first time there was an all-gay cast on a television show, it became this political thing. And for us to have a voice is really great, especially for our charity work.

Speaking of charity work, tell us more about AIDS Walk, the organization you’re involved with.

I do all the AIDS Walk. It’s been fantastic. You can log on to aidswalk.com, but basically all the money goes to men, women, and children living with HIV and AIDS. I travel all over the world to do these walks. I lost my cousin and my aunt to AIDS when I was 16 so I’m very supportive of it. I’ve been working with a different organization dealing with AIDS since I was 18, and I’ve been doing AIDS Walk for the past three years.