Daze dreaming

FIRST the red panties question.

Jason Biggs is used to such personal inquiries after plunging his manhood into a piece of pastry in the film that made him famous. That was American Pie, the bawdy teen comedy in which his sexually-inexperienced teenager made love to his mother's apple pie.

In his new comedy, Wedding Daze, the first scene finds Biggs being outrageous again - wearing women's sequinned panties, wings and carrying a bow and arrow. He's playing at being Cupid to propose to his girlfriend.

She doesn't react exactly how he expects - she drops dead, plunging him into a depression from which, a year later, he hasn't recovered. Perhaps that's why, when a waitress in a restaurant asks for his order, he asks her to marry him on the spur of the moment.

The very personable Biggs admits the red panties were uncomfortable because of the sequins. "There was some chafing in the groin area that didn't lend itself to comfort or good times," he elaborates.

Too much information, you might think, but ever since the apple pie incident Biggs has been fielding such intimate questions.

"I hesitate to call any of these situations uncomfortable. There was obviously a bit of physical discomfort, but in terms of embarrassment, I love doing that stuff," he says.

"So even the sequin panties was really fun for me, because I knew it was funny. I like putting myself out there, and going to those extremes. And given my track record, it wasn't really new territory for me."

Nothing's off limits on screen. "For me, it's all about context. I've not done jokes before, not because I feared they would make me uncomfortable, but because I thought they wouldn't work in the context of the movie," he says.

"So if something felt gratuitous or unnecessary, that's when I say no. But as you can tell from what I've done before, if I feel it'll work for the moment, in the scene, then I'll pretty much do anything.

"If I've put my penis inside an apple pie and crazy-glued my hand to my penis, and worn this outfit, what would top that that I would say no to? It would have to be ridiculous, probably something illegal."

His own tastes in humour run the gamut. The Marx Brothers get a mention, so does Monty Python and spoof comedies like Airplane and Naked Gun, along with more subtle Woody Allen humour. There appears to be little that doesn't make Biggs laugh.

Anderson, his Wedding Daze character, is pretty spontaneous in his actions.

Biggs is the same with travel, usually organising trips at short notice. "I don't think I've planned a trip more than a few weeks out," he says.

"I actually had a very romantic trip, which was very spontaneous, with a girl I'd just met. We took a road trip through Europe. That's probably the most spontaneous I've been, both in terms of travel and romance. The two came together and it was one big impulsive crazy trip."

This week's visit to London to promote the film is giving him the chance to indulge his love of travel by combining it with golfing in Scotland and going on to a friend's bachelor party in Madrid.

He finds himself looking for love again after breaking up with his girlfriend of two-and-a-half years. "I'm newly single.

It's a bit weird but was the right thing to do," he says.

Unlike Anderson, he's never been close to being engaged. "We were living together for a year and a half, and together for four-and-a-half years. You begin thinking about the next step and, in the end, it wasn't the right move for us so we broke up," he says.

Also, like Anderson, he's never fallen in love at first sight but believes it can happen, and would like to think it could exist for him. "My experience of falling in love has always been lust at first sight and then you fall in love. It takes a lot more than just that initial meeting," he says.

"The cool thing about the film is, with most romantic comedies, the characters are looking for love, and here love finds them, so that spark is there. If that's what we call love at first sight, then yeah, I believe in that."

Biggs' comic antics on screen must make it difficult to date women, with their preconceptions fostered by his screen persona. "There is a bit of that. I'd like to think that meeting me, you see I'm not really like my characters and have something different to offer," he says.

"That being said, I guess there is a perception based on my work, though I like to think it doesn't take long to move past that.

"In terms of dating, it's less about the roles I've played and wondering what people's intentions are. If you're dating someone who's outside the industry, there's a lot of other stuff to cut through.

If it's someone who's not an actress, there's an adjustment period for them and for you.

"I guess this is why actors date actresses, there's an understanding there."

More of a problem, perhaps, are other people. He met his friend's wife-to-be for the first time on his London trip and, as she was leaving, she said to Biggs: "Please make sure my husband gets back in one piece. I've seen your movies. I know what you can do. Please behave."

He's heard all the jokes about pastry that he wants to hear for a lifetime but isn't complaining. "I'm waiting for someone to come up with something new.

Believe me, I solicit it," says Biggs.

"It doesn't really wear thin though.

Initially I was proud, but now it's a combination of I'm still proud, and nothing's going to change it, you can make fun of it, or mention it as much as you want.

"At the end of the day, I'm so proud of that film and my involvement in it. It's responsible for my success to date that I can't really be angry at people for bringing it up. The more people who mention it, the more I realise that it is one of those iconic, seminal film moments that struck a chord in pop culture.

"I'm that guy, it's pretty cool. It'll be on my gravestone, for sure. It'll be with me until the day I die. As long as the residuals are with me till the day I die, that's cool."

* Wedding Daze (15) opens in cinemas tomorrow.