Bernie Mac grew out of poverty on Chicago's South Side to become a man whose size could intimidate anyone, were he not so gentlemanly and refined--offstage, that is. One of today's highest-grossing comedians, Mac made his mark on Russell Simmons' Def Comedy Jam with his musings about men, women, sex and especially family, based on his own tough youth. His mother and one brother died when he was a teenager. He hardly knew his father. Somehow, that life formed the basis of a comic viewpoint that Mac took public in 1977 while he drove a Wonder Bread truck to make ends meet. Fast-forward to 1997, when Mac joined the Kings of Comedy tour that eventually became the subject of Spike Lee's documentary. He followed that with a scenery-chewing turn as a blackjack dealer in the 2001 remake of Ocean's 11. Now he's on the Fox TV network with The Bernie Mac Show and was nominated for an Emmy for lead actor in a comedy series. He's also co-starring as Chris Rock's older brother in Head of State and he'll be in Bad Santa with Billy Bob Thornton, followed by a role in Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle.

Contributing Editor David Rensin met with Mac recently in Los Angeles.

Q 1

PLAYBOY: You're a big man. How do you dress to be big?

Bernie Mac: Dressing smaller is better. When you dress too big, you're not really secure with yourself. If you're big, it's good to be neat. The more you play down your size, the better; the attention is already there. Everybody likes a gentle giant. I've always been a dresser. I wouldn't dress like this if I couldn't afford it. I've always been into fashion. I was a black-and-white guy. I loved the style of a man--with the hats and the handkerchiefs. I used to watch the entertainers from the old Regal Theater. They left the room and you still smelled them. Their hands were so neat. I always liked the manicured man.

Q 2

PLAYBOY: When did you get your first manicure?

Bernie Mac: When I was 15. It was a cool thing for me. I admired my brother, who was called Sweet Rob. He sang background with the Chi-Lites, and he was very well groomed. After he spoke on the phone and handed it to you, you smelled him. I watched my brother's hands, how they glittered and how he used them to express himself.

You can tell the essence of a man from his teeth, his eyes, his hair and his skin. When you shake his hand and you feel the firmness and the softness combined, when you see the neatness of his manicure and the way his clothes lay on him. It shows not only his style but his character and what he's about internally. You see the love he has for himself, and what he can share with others.

Q 3

PLAYBOY: What does "keeping it real" mean?

Bernie Mac: I have no idea what the fuck "keeping it real" means. Keeping it real is the stupidest shit I've ever heard. Is there any other way? I have asked my people and got different explanations, but nothing makes sense. The more ignorant you are, the more real it is? I've seen cats, especially in Vegas during the fights, doing some of the most ignorant shit you've ever seen in your life. And I've heard people next to me say, "Man, he's keeping it real." The less manners you have, the more real you are?

Q 4

PLAYBOY: About what sexual habits do most men lie?

Bernie Mac: How long they fuck. How they tore up somebody's ass. Men lie on their dicks all the time. Women lie about good dick: "Girl, that dick, he can throw that ass." He can throw that money, is what it is. Women fuck men more for money and personal shit than they do for pleasure. They are just as guilty as men, only women can get away with it more.

Q 5

PLAYBOY: Does the first time you have sex with a woman change her?

Bernie Mac: Women love dick. They try to lie about it because it's unorthodox to admit it. But if you get a woman in bed and truly please her physically, you will see the transformation and hear things you thought she would never, ever say; then she starts walking with the mattress on her back. The problems begin when you throw good dick to a woman who's not accustomed to it. Not only will she not leave you alone, she'll over-commit herself to you. Some men have the same problem. It's no different from being broken in for the first time by an experienced woman. I hear men say their woman is not compatible with them--no way, no how. Then they say, "Yeah, but she got some good puss." Stupidest statement in the world. It's like, "Damn everything you work for. Damn everything you believe in." You know she ain't right. You know she's fucking your brother. You know she sucks dick for a living. And the first thing you say in your sorry-ass defense is, "She got some good puss."