The silver screen is about to get a whole lot hotter with the latest chapter in the Eating Out series, which is set to turn up the temperature on Friday, Dec. 15, at the Hillcrest Cinemas, with no preheating required.

The film explores what defines modern day sexuality in the era of “straight acting,” “bi” and “questioning,” with a healthy dose of humor tossed into the cinematic blender and set on frappe. The movie makes mincemeat of the notion of drawing sexual lines in the sand.

The film chronicles Kyle’s (Jim Verraros) quest to win over the handsome and unsure Troy (Marco Dapper), even going so far as to pretend to be an ex gay to get closer to him.

For a movie sequel, Eating Out 2: Sloppy Seconds has a lot of firsts going for it. To start with, it will go down in the gay history books as the first-ever gay movie sequel.

“I think it’s awesome,” Verraros said of the film. “I have a lot of respect for gay cinema, whether it’s a comedy or drama. It feels great to be a part of this film in particular because I think it’s important, especially for gay youth to see the gay lifestyle being portrayed in such a lighthearted, kind of funny and campy way.”

Secondly, it marks the feature film debut of Marco Dapper, who was discovered while working for UPS and soon after was cast as Troy, the “is he or isn’t he” lusted after co-star.

“The experience was fun, I’ll tell you that much,” Dapper said. “The most fun I’ve ever had in my life, to tell you the truth. [Director] Phillip Bartell and [producer] Michael Shoel gave me a chance to be a lead in a movie. I took that in high regard.”

Before starring as Kyle in the first Eating Out in 2004, Verraros was most widely associated with being a contestant on the inaugural season of “American Idol,” which helped toughen his skin for diving headfirst into the cutthroat world of Hollywood.

“It [‘American Idol’] completely prepares you,” he said. “You get subjected to a lot of criticism on that show. Hearing the word ‘no’ doesn’t hurt as bad because Simon’s as bad as it can possibly get. So anything less than that is not difficult to handle. It definitely prepared me in a lot of ways for auditions and just for getting turned down for things.”

Newcomer Dapper is the object of affection in Eating Out 2: Sloppy Seconds, and said he has no qualms about the beefcake aspect of his role or about being cast in similar roles in the future.

“I’m not worried about any typecasting or drawbacks from the role at all, actually,” he said. “I’m confident in myself that I could do other things. We are who we are, first of all. I’m not the nerdy guy next door; that’s not me. We all have some kind of essence and I know I’ll be going out for more roles like that [Troy], leading-man stuff or the sex object of some sort. I’m not really worried about it. I am who I am, and I just kind of have to work with what I’ve got.”

As far as typecasting goes for Verraros, he said he is happy being an out actor and playing it pink on screen.

“I think that it should always be about talent, and there are a lot of Hollywood actors who are afraid to come out because they might get typecast,” he said. “But for me, I wouldn’t mind playing a gay role for the rest of my life. That’s not really what would bother me. What would bother me is if I wasn’t able to work because I’m gay.”

Humor is used in abundance to help deliver that core message in Eating Out 2: Sloppy Seconds.

“Humor is the easiest way to get a point across without offending anyone too much,” Dapper said. “We can all relate to humor and [we] like to laugh. If it was a serious drama, it might be trying to push the message way too hard. You can say it’s like preaching about God, the crazy Bible thumpers out there; no one takes it seriously because they put too much pressure on the whole subject. Someone who takes life more lightly, we are more prone to listen to that person than the person that’s end-all, be-all.

“It’s like this movie: If you’re gay, fine; if you’re not, fine; and if you don’t know, no big deal, you’ll figure it out one day,” he said.

Being true to oneself is the message at the heart of the film, and Dapper took away that meaning from his role.

“To be comfortable with who you are, don’t worry about other people’s opinions and what society tries to tell you, that’s the message I got,” he said. “Just be happy with what you’ve got and who you are, and know that and own it.”

Of course, this is something Verraros also knows about firsthand as he has come out on a public scale.

“We had a rep for the top 10 of us [from ‘American Idol’] handling our press, and she had told me that Out magazine wanted to feature me in their ‘Out 100’ that year, in 2002,” Verraros said. “And she asked me if that was OK. I said sure, and it was as easy as that.

“I knew I had a responsibility to be honest with people and be honest to myself, and to prove to gay and lesbian youth out there that you can do just about anything in this world and be whoever it is that you want to be.”