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Don't be fooled by his genial, boy-next-door good looks.

Folks who are in actor/writer Paul Gross's inner circle know full well that the pretty packaging is simply a handy cover for a guy whose caustic wit and droll (some might say twisted) sense of humour is rarely kept in check.

In CBC Television's upcoming political thriller, The Trojan Horse, Gross mirthfully takes on the absurdities of politics - and the people who thrive in that bizarre milieu. And it's clear from the ribald flashes in this issues-oriented script that Gross had a blast creating a four-hour miniseries that envisions Canada becoming part of the United States and his character, Tom McLaughlin (a former prime minister) takes over as America's president.

Seem a little far-fetched? "Not at all," insists Gross, 48, whose fit, six-foot-frame has been swallowed up in a puffy leather couch in the lobby of a Toronto production house, where he's currently editing a First World War feature film, Passchendaele. "At the time we were writing this, Iraq was just really getting under way," says Gross. "And the American press, pretty much en masse, folded under the banner of the Republican agenda.

"There was absolutely no dispute that everything was to be swallowed hook, line and sinker. Except for a couple of guys like [U.S. investigative journalist] Seymour Hersh. If we had written down - then -everything we know to have happened with the U.S. administration since (eg., there never were any weapons of mass destruction), you'd say could this ever happen?," says Gross.

"I mean the level of corruption involved in [Iraq] is unlike anything we've ever seen in the history of the world. So what we created in The Trojan Horse I don't think is that far-fetched. Maybe a Canadian couldn't win the presidency, I don't know. But, hell, a young guy who devoted his life to building muscles out of Thal, Styria, Austria is running one-fifth of the world's economy in California. If you didn't have to be born American to run for president, Arnold Schwarzenegger could easily be president of the United States of America."

And Gross - a self-described political junkie and ardent nationalist who never backs down from a healthy debate - is just getting warmed up.

"I'm watching these U.S. primaries and I think there's virtually nothing people wouldn't do as long as they thought they could get away with it," he muses. "Even when they're caught, it doesn't seem to matter."

A workaholic, Gross co-produces, stars in and co-wrote (with long-time collaborator John Krizanc) the two-part series which is a sequel to their 2004 political drama H20, also on CBC. In 2006, he and Krizanc holed up in Gross's farm north of the city where they indulged in loud, heated rants about the latest indignity that had happened in the political arena.

To create the script, the two men - friends for the past 20 years (they co-wrote Men With Brooms) - borrowed from the current headlines, incorporating elements like vote tampering and rigging, spies, countries playing political games for oil. To juice things up, they dreamed up some new high-stakes shenanigans including a faked assassination of a politician (Gross) who rises, Christ-like, from the dead (a requisite for any American seeking high office, Gross explains). And they delighted in depicting a homosexual president (played by the world-weary Tom Skerritt of Picket Fences and Brothers & Sisters) who dallies with a young male assistant in the Oval Office.

"I'm addicted to watching all this stuff in the States," Gross says with a chuckle. "It's fun. It's a great blood sport. And we got to write some of the best lines, such as 'I was the prime minister of Canada for two weeks so you know I'm completely harmless.' That just makes me laugh my head off," the irreverent Calgary-born actor says. "And we get to leave the president's sperm on a young man's blue shirt. I don't think most people would probably think that's very funny, but it makes me howl."

He sees The Trojan Horse as something of a "cautionary tale."

"It made us giddy to write it and shoot it. It's audacious and kind of on the edge of 'this is insane.' But we hit upon a number of things that are worth discussing, What is the core of democracy? How do Canadians feel about being part of the U.S.? I think it's fascinating. We're drifting increasingly towards this almost fully integrated state, why don't we just fully integrate then. These are the questions we ask."

Reached at his home in Seattle, the 74-year-old Skerritt admits he got a kick out of playing a homosexual president. And he explains he signed on for the role because he shares Gross's belief that the "reality we face in the world today is actually much more frightening than the story of The Trojan Horse. The terror is already in our reality so it's an interesting parallel to the movie."

And the veteran actor, whose big break was appearing alongside Donald Sutherland and Elliott Gould in Robert Altman's biting 1970 satire MASH, said he also loved the script. "I fully appreciate good writing, and the complexity of the character drew me in. Even though it's a thriller, it's also funny. And that's Paul," adds Skerritt, whose father was born in Leamington, Ont. "I relate to that kind of humour. I relate to a show with this level of humour, irony and absurdity."

The Trojan Horse, which was primarily shot in Ontario (with a few days spent in Alberta's Badlands and two days in London, England), was completed a year ago. It kicks off with Gross's character watching as the majority of Canadians vote to join the U.S., which then hives this country into six states. McLaughlin plots to get revenge on those he sees having stolen his country out from under him. So he runs as an independent for president of the newly formed United States with his ex-wife, (played by his real wife, the actress Martha Burns, with whom he has two teenagers). The series, directed by Charles Binamé (The Rocket), also stars Greta Scacchi, Saul Rubinek and William Hutt, in his final performance.

Suffice it to say, as The Trojan Horse unravels, too much blood is shed and scores of careers are ruined. The only characters to emerge with any real redeeming qualities are the two main women, Scacchi's character and Burns's.

Which raises the question, why are the good people in this miniseries women? "I think women, just generally, are better people. I base that on watching politics," Gross quips.

So does that mean you want Hillary Clinton to win the Democratic primary? "I'm not sure Hillary's a woman," he cheekily retorts, blue eyes twinkling. "I want proof. I want something medical and bona fide. X-rays will do."

The Trojan Horse airs on CBC at 8 p.m. on March 30 and April 6.