By ALICIA RANCILIO

NEW YORK —  Boris Kodjoe and Nicole Ari Parker are comfortable mixing business with pleasure.

They were co-stars on the Showtime drama Soul Food before they were married in 2005.

“I met her April 19, 2000,” said Kodjoe, 42, who is a series regular on Fox’s The Last Man on Earth and BET’s reality parody Real Husbands of Hollywood.

“Right away I felt her energy and how loving she was,” he said in a recent interview.

“He remembers that?” said Parker, 44, adding: “I felt the same way. I was a little judgmental because he is so good-looking and a model. Like a Ralph Lauren model on a horse with Naomi Campbell.”

“It was an elephant actually, for Versace,” Kodjoe said.

“How could I even enter that conversation? I’m an actress from Baltimore,” said Parker, whose acting credits include the Boogie Nights film and TV’s Murder in the First.

The couple clearly have a fun energy between them, and they’re hoping that translates in a new daily talk show, The Boris & Nicole Show, now airing in a four-week trial on select Fox stations.

They talked about their relationship history and their talk show in a recent interview with The Associated Press.

Associated Press: How did you begin dating?

Kodjoe: We were both in relationships and we respected that and we also respected our work.

Parker: I didn’t want to be a cliche actor who fell in love on (the) set because we were playing boyfriend and girlfriend. I played it cool.

Kodjoe: Everybody knew before we did. The guy with the boom (microphone) was like, ‘Oh God, there we go.’

Parker: My sisters on the show were like, ‘You know that’s your man, right?’ I was like, ‘I don’t know. He’s dating supermodels.’

Kodjoe: I was just doing research to become the man you want to be for the person you want to be with.

Parker: That was good.

AP: You’re been together for a long time. How have you made it work?

Parker: You have to want to be there. There’s nothing you can do if one of the parties doesn’t want to be there. And there’s making it work and making it good. We know how to make it work, but we have to remember to make it good. We’re good partners.

Kodjoe: But you don’t want to be roommates. You want to be lovers; boyfriend and girlfriend.

AP: Will you interview celebrities and have experts on your talk show?

Kodjoe: We’ll have all of that.

Parker: We’re not going to reinvent the wheel because there’s things about daytime television that you tune in for. I want to know how to cook dinner fast if we’re a family of four.

Kodjoe: I want to know how to crochet pillows for less. (Laughter.) It’s really something that’s been bothering me for a long time.

Parker: We’re gonna do real-life stuff!