How long were you actually away from it all?

I stopped doing the shows five years ago and moved to LA, so things just gradually wound down, although last year was the first year I didn't work at all. And now here I am working again — how great is that?

Who is your new booker?

David Todd at Wilhelmina, he's great. When I think about what he'd probably heard about my reputation, and how few images I had in my new test book — I'm just glad he took me on.

What are your plans?

Well, I love a challenge, and I can't think of one bigger than being in L.A. as an actor right now. Acting is a tough business.

Is it tough in a different way?

Yes it is. It's more personal when you go into the room. Even if it's still 95% looks - whether or not you look the part - it's still more personal because you give part of your soul. You really go in there and you are the character and you do a good job and maybe you hire a coach and work on the character. Maybe you're on your third call-back, and that goes on for several weeks, and you fall in love with your character, and you just have to get that part - you don't know what you'll do without it. But then you're turned down, and of course, after all of that investment you take it more personally. You get used to it though - the competition is mad. Everyone flocks to LA to be an actor and Hollywood has a natural weeding-out process, but I'm not a weed damn it! (laughs)

So how do you cope?

To be very driven in this business can be torturous. As a result I've adopted a new set of goals, which is to have none. (laughs). Which makes it a lot easier to enjoy every day. You know, I do my theater and whatever happens, happens. I have a very good feeling about my acting career.

What's happened since you shaved your head?

Four or five of the Gorman photographs appeared in Vogue Homme International and in GQ France, and there was an editorial in Detours. It's the one with the rose thorns on my head - a nine-page story of singles shot by Mike Ruiz.

I also performed a one-man show I wrote and produced in LA. And they're crazy characters, people are always surprised. There's a flamboyant African-American boxer, reminiscent of a cross between Muhammed Ali and Jesse Jackson, and there's a handicapped boxer who's beaten up and has no use of his left side, his speech is slurred. And doing a character like that, you really have to commit. My acting agent in LA came in and saw it. He was blown away but said he wasn't so sure anymore about representing me after seeing the facial contortions I have to go through for that character. (laughs)

Who is that agent?

Steven Jang at SBD Agency.