It's lunchtime at the Four Seasons Hotel in Los Angeles. Blue-eyed Beverly Hills matrons pick at their salads, Sean Penn chats with the hostess, and Larry Flynt sits regally in his solid-gold wheelchair at a table at the center of the room. "Look at this place!" says Romany Malco, with a laugh. "What in the hell am I doing here?"

For Malco, the road to the Four Seasons began, ironically, with a song called "Victim Of The Ghetto," a No. 1 rap hit that he penned in 1992 with his group, College Boyz. After two albums, the Brooklyn-born, Texas-bred Trini got a gig as a music producer for John Leguizamo's The Pest (1997). The hyperactive star encouraged Malco to explore acting. "I've always been the person at the center of the room, standing on a table and demanding attention, so it wasn't much of a stretch," says Malco.

Over the next few years, Malco divided his time between e-commerce ("I'm a tech wiz in real life," he says) and minor TV roles. His first big break arrived in 2001, when he donned parachute pants and an Oaktown swagger to portray MC Hammer in the VH1 biopic Too Legit: The MC Hammer Story. "That was a trip," he says. "It took a while to get that dance down."

This year, Malco is blowing up for real. Currently starring as soft-hearted gangsta Conrad in Showtime's pot-dealer dramedy, Weeds, Malco made a huge splash in the summer box office hit The 40 Year-Old Virgin, in which he amped up his turn as a cheerful womanizer to swipe scenes from his costars. "If that film can make what it's been making without a name star, just a lot of great actors having a good time," says Malco, "then we've done something revolutionary."

Back at the restaurant of the posh hotel, Malco is appreciating the fruits of his labor. "I'm doing alright, I guess," he says, grinning. "I got to start coming here more often!"