Q 13

PLAYBOY: What's your favorite muscle on Arnold Schwarzenegger?

Rae Dawn Chong: [Laughs] His stomach. He's got a gorgeous stomach, just beautiful. Every muscle on Arnold's body is sickening; he's so perfect. It's not that he's the largest or the hardest or the most outrageous, it's just that he's in proportion.

Q 14

PLAYBOY: Which spirits moved you?

Rae Dawn Chong: Buckminster Fuller was a real guiding force. Also Baba Ram Dass. I read his book, Be Here Now, when I was 11. It saved my ass completely. My father was a great influence spiritually, because he's such a Buddha. I'm a real believer in power. The people who are very powerful have had what I call conscious deaths. Their egos have died a couple of times in their lifetimes. Once you've had that, no one can hurt you anymore. No one can take anything away from you. You just gain. That kind of understanding is really power.

Q 15

PLAYBOY: Have you had a personality death?

Rae Dawn Chong: Yeah. My son had a brain dysfunction that almost cost him his life. At the same time, my relationship with my husband fell apart, and I hadn't worked in two years. I had five cents to my name, a kid in intensive care and a husband who was worthless. And when everything is the shittiest it can possibly be, you die. There's nothing to hold on to, so you surrender and say OK. It was really hard on me, and if I hadn't been blessed, I would have probably gone over the edge and become horrible. But instead, I remember just looking through a window. One pane of glass was very clear and one was opaque. And I flashed that life was like that. It's all perceptions. I could get hung up on the bullshit or the clarity. I've never looked back since then.

Q 16

PLAYBOY: But seriously, what's Whoopi Goldberg really like?

Rae Dawn Chong: I love Whoopi very much. Not only is she busting a lot of stereotypes but she takes a lot of the responsibility off me. Whoopi is blazing a trail for black women--for just black anything successful. She's not a white-looking black woman. She's getting everybody's consciousness ready, so when someone like myself, who is milder on a lot of levels--and yet I think could be just as deep and just as intense--comes along, no one will make it such a big issue. Then I can just get on with the fucking stuff. I can just bank my millions and be happy that I am who I am.

Still, I often ask myself if I have to be a 30-year-old ex-junkie who lived in Berkeley and who did stand-up comedy in Germany before I can get some respect.

Q 17

PLAYBOY: What's the toughest clothing for you to find or buy?

Rae Dawn Chong: Well, I'm a shopper extraordinaire. But I have one of those bodies that things fit right on. I don't really have much trouble. I was going to say mohair underwear. And cruel shoes.

Q 18

PLAYBOY: Are there any male-fashion trends of the Eighties that you wish would disappear?

Rae Dawn Chong: Men liking other men! [Laughs] I guess white socks with bell-bottoms. Skirts.

Q 19

PLAYBOY: Quest for Fire was your big break. How did you research your role as a prehistoric woman?

Rae Dawn Chong: We studied a bunch of chimpanzees. In London, there are these great parks and private estates. There are a couple of families that own gorillas. I don't understand the English fascination with primates, but who knows?

Q 20

PLAYBOY: We'd like to thank you for introducing the world to oral sex in that film.

Rae Dawn Chong: That wasn't oral sex. I was putting something on a wound that happened to be in that area. The director was being very cheeky and definitely tricked me into doing the first head shot. I did, however, introduce the missionary position, and a lot of people have thanked me for that.