Toni Collette talks about her gay fans...

Toni Collete, star of the fab Showtime series "The United States of Tara," talked to The Advocate recently about all kinds of stuff. I want to share the part about her gay fans.

Q. When did you first realize that the gays adored you?
Toni: "I know I should say, 'Do they? Oh no, it can't be true," but I know it's an absolute fact (laughs). It was right after "Muriel's Wedding." The combination of ABBA music and my playing outsider but who finds her groove was probably a small flag to the gay community.

Q. I'll be you had many gay people come up to you on the street and say, "You're terrible, Muriel."
Toni: "Still! For awhile it drove me insane, but then I realized that to be involved with a film that had that kind of effect is really a wonderful thing."

Q. So if you ever need an ego boost, you should just pop into a gay bar in your hometown of Sydney.
Toni: "(Laughs) Thank you! That's a good tip. In fact, when we were shooting "Connie and Carla,"we went to a local bar where they did drag shows. Hanging out with the drag queens on set was my favorite part of working on that movie. They have an innate acerbic wit and sense of irony that doesn't exist elsewhere. Being from Australia, which is a very dry place, I met my match with those guy-gals."