Hit and Ron

Image credit: Ron Livingston: Larsen and Telbert/Icon International

LOVE AND WAR Livingston, who'll guest on ''Sex and the City'' as a potential love interest for Carrie, also starred in HBO's battle drama ''Band of Brothers''

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It's summertime and the Livingston is...doing fine, thank you. Ron Livingston -- that clean-cut 35-year-old Iowa native who's graced screens big (''Office Space,'' ''Swingers'') and small (''Band of Brothers,'' ''The Practice'') -- begins a guest stint Aug. 18 on ''Sex and the City'' playing Jack Berger, a struggling novelist and potential Carrie crush. Before he writes the next chapter of his career, Livingston submitted to our less-than-literary Q&A.

How does one go from ''Band of Brothers'' to ''Sex and the City''?
The first thing you need to do is take a long, hot shower and get used to wearing something other than green. I feel like it's HBO's way of saying thank-you. All of a sudden I'm in Manhattan with beautiful women and cocktails.

Tell us about filming your nude scenes.
I haven't done any. I've done nude scenes before, but there's always been an element of comedy in them, which makes it a little easier to do. Generally you've got some 300-pound grip standing around, eating Cheetos. But any nude scene on [''Sex and the City''] will be slightly different.... The girls seem pretty game about it, so, hell, if they're up for it, I guess I am too.

In ''Swingers,'' your character was rejected for a job playing Goofy because he didn't have enough theme-park experience. Did you have a comparable career low in your own life?
That was sort of based on a true story. [''Swingers'' writer-star Jon] Favreau and I knew each other in Chicago, and we did a PR gig where we wore foam Cap'n Crunch suits -- mascot work. It was a lot of waving, a lot of waving. [It was] like wearing a 40-pound Nerf ball. Sure, it was a little hot and uncomfortable, but you could get hit by a commuter train and walk away unhurt.

You were nominated for a Golden Globe for your poignant portrayal of Captain Nixon in ''Band of Brothers.'' So, what was it like kissing Jennifer Aniston in ''Office Space''?
Uh, it didn't suck.

Speaking of ''Office Space,'' the most underrated comedy in the history of film, do random people now confess to you how much they hate their jobs?
I've had a lot of people tell me that the movie was their inspiration to quit their job, which is a lot of responsibility.

If people recognize you on the street, what's the first thing they say?
''What was it like to kiss Jennifer Aniston?''