Style & Substance: Gale Harold

Gale Harold plays a homosexual heartthrob in the Showtime series "Queer as folk," a role he does so convincingly that many viewers wonder about Harold's real-life orientation. But the thirtysomething actor refuses to reveal any details on his sexuality. He has many fans in the gay community as well as many women supporters so, he prefers to remain mysterious rather than disillusion anyone.

He will, however, demurely admit that he's "not exactly" the lascivious lothario of his TV alter ego.

Growing up the son of avid churchgoers in Georgia, Harold was a soccer star and won a scholarship to AmericanUniversity in Washington, D.C., where he studied romance literature. After one semester, he transferred to the San Francisco Art Institute, though he eventually dropped out. He then worked as a mechanic on Italian motorcycles.

Harold relocated to Los Angeles in 1997 and studied drama for three years, which led to his theatrical debut in Gillian Plowman's "Me and My Friend" at the Los AngelesTheatreCenter.

He also made his feature-film debut, in Paul Scheuring's "36K," and studied with a classical theater company, where he did "The Misanthrope" and "Cymbeline."

Harold has performed in "QAF" (which has been dubbed the gay "Sex and the City") since it debuted last year. And he soon returns to the stage, playing a homophobic man in Austin Pendleton's "Uncle Bob," which opens tomorrow at the SoHo Playhouse (15 Vandam St., at Sixth Avenue).

The two-man show involves a man (Harold) and his uncle ("Oz" star George Morfogen) who is dying of AIDS, and their reflections on life.

Style: What is your personal style?
Gale: Pretty simple: stovepipe pants, cheap black glasses, used leather, rayon gabardine with lots of piping, hard woods, Spanish wine, Italian boots, loud music, long legs, big windows, salsa cruda, Republican-free futures.

Style: Do you enjoy dressing up?
Gale: I do. Especially if I have enough time to enjoy getting ready, like a summer night when the sun is setting late, condensation from the vodka tonic's leaving water rings on the furniture, maybe some Junior Wells on the stereo. The simple act of cinching a Windsor knot gets kinda deep.

Style: What do you wear for a night out?
Gale: Usually Levi's, boots or Pumas, and a T-shirt. If I'm dressing up, maybe a sharkskin suit. Or a microdress . . .

Style: Where do you like to shop?
Gale: I buy a lot of used stuff. Toronto - where we shoot - has great vintage shops. I found a really hot '60s pinstripe suit on Queen Street with a perfect shape. It's navy with blood-red lining. Unbeatable.

Style: Who are some of your favorite designers?
Gale: Paul Smith, Cesare Paciotti and Patrick Antosh.

Style: Do you shop alone?
Gale: Depends. I like to shop with the wardrobe designer for the show because he knows all the right spots. It's fun to kill a few hours going through piles of arcane stuff that fires me up but that I would probably never wear.

Style: Name an item of clothing or an accessory that you have splurged on.
Gale: I had a suit made here in Toronto [based on] this early '60s suit I found in San Francisco. [The vintage suit] was really nasty, like Carnaby Street mod-tapered and tight. I sort of destroyed it over the years, so I took it to a shop, Niagara Tailors in Little Italy, and had it reproduced.

Style: What do you do to relax?
Gale: Legally? Music, books, cycling. Being with friends-we're all pretty tight on the cast-is something I love to do to unwind.

Style: Do you follow a special diet?
Gale: Sort of the bastardized "Zone" - more protein than carbs, lots of greens, lots of sushi, lots of candy.

Style: What gives you substance?
Gale: My rattlesnake-skin Gideon's bible.