Tuba City native and actor Jeremiah Bitsui

Chinle, AZ — It's hard to get a big head when you have Navajo friends to take you down a notch, Jeremiah Bitsui discovered.

Minutes after he posted on his social media sites that he had been named one of elle.com's 41 most eligible bachelors in America, the posts started to appear.

"That's too bad!" shot one friend.

"What are you doing wrong?" asked another.

"In mainstream society," the Tuba City-born actor mused over his cell phone as he waited for a delayed flight from Chicago to New York to witness the big-screen premier of his indie hit "Drunktown's Finest," "it's a status symbol to be called an 'eligible bachelor.' But in Navajo society, they're like, 'You're 34 and not married? What's wrong with you?'"

Not much, if Bitsui's swoon-worthy Elle interview is to be believed. According to what he told Elle, he once took a significant other on a train trip through Venice, Florence and Rome, "fueled with tons of red wine and Renaissance art."

He claims to watch romantic comedies, "sometimes ALONE," and have a soft spot for girls with a spiritual side.
When the interviewer asked who would be his ultimate date, he replied, "Jennifer Lawrence," adding, "oh, and you could come along too."

"I actually meant that for the readers," Bitsui clarified, noting he was interviewed by email and did not really get to know the reporter. Which is, if anything, even more romantic.

Bitsui's voice mailbox has been full since the magazine came out around Valentine's Day, but "I'm still single," he joked.

Bitsui was the only Native American among Elle's 41 choices, which he doesn't really think is accurate. "I have a lot of good Native friends who are also eligible," he stated, not realizing how sexy humility is.

Between running his construction company, Bitco, and touring with "Drunktown's Finest," Bitsui has not had a lot of time to date, but he says he would like to meet the right girl and settle down some day.

"Just because I'm a bachelor doesn't mean I don't think long-term," he said. At the same time, "I'm not going to go out of my way to make something happen that isn't happening, you know what I mean?"

You can see Jeremiah's interview at http://www.elle.com/life-love/sex-relationships/reviews/g25713/elles-most-eligible-bachelors/?slide=37