Thursday 31 December 2009

Scott Evans interview

[Source]

Scott Evans’ Brother Chris Was the One Who Outed Him. Not That He Cared



The idea of outing celebrities is a controversial one. How much privacy do closeted famous persons deserve? Arguably, a lot! Also arguably, none at all. But usually we blame the press of the blogs for pushing celebs out of the closet, which is why Lance Bass and Clay Aiken have acknowledged the obvious. But what happens when your own brother is the one who outs you to the press? ‘Cause that’s how soap star Scott Evans came out to the world.

Scott’s actor brother Chris accidentally revealed his younger brother’s sexuality in a press interview, he tells WeLoveSoaps.net. “Yes he outed me, well outed me publicly. I outed me when I was nineteen. He outed me publicly. There was no shock. I didn’t get any phone calls like, ‘You’re kidding.’ They knew. … It was in The Advocate where he said it and told my story. When that article came out, he took a lot of flack from a lot of his friends who said, ‘I can’t believe you did that.’ Immediately I got a phone call from him. He left me this message freaking out, ‘Are you okay with this? I didn’t mean to this, I didn’t mean to hurt you.’ I was like, ‘Dude, I don’t care. It’s as if you said Scott Evans has blonde hair and blue eyes.’ It’s who I am, I don’t really care. He was relieved to hear that, but he still comes up and says, ‘Dude, I’m sorry about that.’ I’m like, ‘I don’t care.’ I’m glad that he’s comfortable enough to talk about it and he’s not ashamed.”

It makes it harder to figure out who’s sexier. Okay, yesterday’s One Life to Live sex scene between Evans’s Fish and Brett Claywell’s Kyle made that easy:


We appreciate the fireworks in the background.

Now here it is in slow motion!

Friday 4 December 2009

December Song - longer clip

Double standard

I've read an article from AfterElton. The author of this article mentioned about "double standard" for the matter of the treatment for Adam Lambert that had happened after AMA the other day. Unfortunately many "double standard" exist, they are not only this area. But this is related to fundamental human rights, so this "double standard" includes a serious meaning, I guess.
I haven't read any of comments on this article, so I don't know what the readers of this site think though, I'm really sorry for the people who think they are doing right things. As a human being, we have same rights. Another article from AfterElton says ABC decided to not to move forward at this time. It's about Adam's dropping on ABC. I actually liked ABC because they air gay story line, Scotty/Kevin moments, on primetime as the first network of big four in USA.
Sadly I have to admit that there are still many homophobic people, including my mum.
Anyway, most amazing thing is Adam's reaction. Probably I mentioned it at least several times, he is just 27 years old, and he acted like a broad minded, calm, witty and smart person. He will get through this. I don't have to explain with words to praise and admire him.

Wednesday 2 December 2009

Jonathan Del Arco

Jonathan Del Arco is playing the coroner Dr. Morales on "The Closer", one of my favourite shows, and I found this clip very recently. I knew he was gay, but I learnt it was true.

Sunday 29 November 2009

December Song

Wow! George Michael's new songs! I really am happy!
I've already pre-ordered it. I can't wait!

  1. December Song (I Dreamed Of Christmas)
  2. Jingle (A Musical Interlewd)
  3. Edith & The King Pin
  4. Praying For Time

Friday 27 November 2009

Adam Lambert on CBS

Adam's appearance on ABC's Good Morning America has been canceled, but instead of that, he was on CBS Early Show. Here is the interview.
I thought it wasn't planned and I was right. It naturally happened. I can feel about that.
I reckon he handled this interview pretty well. I can't believe he is only 27 y.o. He is very charismatic.

Thursday 26 November 2009

Adam Lambert - AMA Interview

I think that perhaps he's pent up feelings for being not able to speak, act or show what he thought while he was on American Idol, so it is liberated at a dash, and it made him act like that.
I guess he didn't want to seal his sexuality at all, but the show didn't allow him to open everything to everybody.
I know there are pros and cons about what he did on American Music Award, actually I haven't seen it yet, I'm wondering if someone knows the place where I can see it, but it was a normal feeling for him to do it as an artist, I think. For instance, I don't remember exact date though, when some famous female singer kissed to another famous female singer, it became a big gossip but she wasn't bashed.
I guess it's a kind of appeal of homophobic issues.
Even some of us hate what he did. I understand that feeling, I want it not to become a big, controversial or curious issue. I want my world calm and quiet. But on the other hand, I want someone to make it easy. I know I'm quite coward and hypocrite.
Because of not living in the US, I can't feel it with my skin, but judging from the announcement of ABC that they wouldn't allow him to appear on the morning programme, "Good Morning America", it is a considerably big problem.

Tuesday 24 November 2009

Released!

Yesterday was the day when "For Your Entertainment" was released. Of course I got it. And I've listened to them many times already.
At the moment I especially like "Time For Miracles".
Actually when I heard his album at Adam's myspace, some of his songs didn't hit me, but after I listened to them many times I've changed my mind.
They have various types of music and I guess they show his talent but I think it's not enough.
I wanted this album to include "No Bounderies" though. Anyway I have it.

Monday 2 November 2009

Matt Bomer (Matthew Bomer)

A photo of Matthew Bomer who was kissing to another man has been posted. He performed Luc in "Tru Calling", one of my favourite shows. I don't know how this happened, I think this sort of thing has to be respected as his will and right.
I understand being out is one of their steps of recognising rights of gays and lesbians for general, but there are a lot of circumstances and situations. I strongly agree with coming out is the best way to be who they are, if they could.
I don't know if he wanted to be out or not this time though, the publishist of him said "No Comment", according to some sources.
Even though he is living as openly gay in real life, I think it's different from publishing to all of the world.
According to Queerty, he is not hiding as being gay, but he didn't want to announce it because he thought it'd make some limits for him to be an actor. I totally understand it. I saw many interviews that out gay actors were asked if it was easy for them to play gay characters, because they were gay. Wait a minute, do they ask straight people if it is easy when they play straight characters? Ridiculous.
Further more reading, one of his friends says he doesn't care if it becomes open, but posting picture is hurting him so he asks admins of Queerty and other some websites to delete the picture, especially Perez Hilton. Ah, again Perez.

For Your Entertainment

Sorry, again Adam Lambert.
This is his new album, "For Your Entertainment".
It will be released on the 23rd of November, 2009.
I've already pre-ordered when the title was tbd. I've got no information about the album, I probably will get some information from some websites, I know, but at the moment I don't have enough time to check around those websites. I only checked his official website and a few websites where I usually visit.
I think this album includes the theme song for 2010, and as I wrote in my blog, I liked it. Actually it's not enough to show his talent though, we can see a part of his abilities.
Mostly I love his powerful but sensitive voice, so when I heard him singing Mad World, I had completely fallen in love with his voice. Of course, before I heard his Mad World, I loved his singing anyway.
Oh, actually I've just checked Amazon.com, then I found I can see titles of songs in the Album.
Here they are.
  1. Music Again
  2. For Your Entertainment
  3. Whataya Want From Me
  4. Strut
  5. Soaked
  6. Sure Fire Winners
  7. A Loaded Smile
  8. If I Had You
  9. Pick U Up
  10. Fever
  11. Sleepwalker
  12. Aftermath
  13. Broken Open
  14. Time For Miracles [bonus track]
So it includes "Time For Miracles".

It's a single release from the Album "For Your Entertainment", so I didn't pre-order it, but if I feel I do want to buy it, I will. I don't know what I'm talking about, haha.

Saturday 31 October 2009

An article from AfterElton

[Source]
Exclusive: Is "White Collar"'s Matt Bomer an Out, Gay Man? "No comment," Says Publicist
Posted by Michael Jensen, Editor on October 31, 2009

Matt Bomer
Earlier this week Perez Hilton posted an item about Matthew Bomer, the star of USA Network's White Collar. In the item, Hilton claims Bomer is openly gay and dating a high-powered publicist, though Hilton offers nothing to backup either claim.

Given that we are not a gossip site and have a longstanding policy against outing people, I wasn't about to go with Perez's unsourced reporting, nor any of the other blogs that simply repeated what Perez claimed. (Bomer's Wikipedia page was briefly changed to say he was gay, only to be changed back again.)

But if Bomer was openly gay, that was definitely news we would report and he is someone we would certainly interview. I got in touch with his publicist to get a confirmation and to request an interview if Bomer was, in fact, out.

However, Bomer's publicist told me late on Friday that she had "No comment" and "We don't comment on any of our client's personal lives." They also passed on the interview.

So I have no idea whether Bomer is gay or not, but the "openly" part is clearly not the case as part of being open would involve a public acknowledgment of the fact. (Yes, I've seen the photos. Those are someone's personal private property and shouldn't be posted without the owner's  permission.)

So until Bomer has something more to say on the matter or, if he is gay, lives his life openly in some other manner which fits our definition of out, we won't have more to say on the matter of his sexuality.

Thursday 29 October 2009

Eric Millegan on Living (and Acting) with Bipolar Disorder

[Source]

Jamie Frevele
Jamie Frevele
Posted: October 27, 2009 10:19 PM

Eric Millegan on Living (and Acting) with Bipolar Disorder: Part 1

Mental illness is one of the most frightening things that can happen to a human being. It's like fighting an invisible war. Not imaginary -- invisible. It's there, but no one can see it, but the person fighting it feels every inch of it. And hopefully, others will believe it exists. When our organs have something wrong with them, like our hearts, livers or bones, there is a pretty tangible effect for those around us to witness. But we can, for the most part, still function. When the organ afflicted is the brain, however, the organ running the show, deciding how we act, react, communicate, socialize, etc., it's just...different. There are no open wounds, bruises, swelling, anything other people can see. How do they know it's not fake?

And what if you're an actor for a living?

I've been a fan of Eric Millegan since early 2008, when I started watching the Fox show Bones. He played my favorite character, the unintentionally hilarious Asperger's case Zack Addy. Ironically, while he was shooting the seasons that made me a fan of the show, Eric Millegan, while playing a wholly unemotional character, was going through emotional hell. Recently, he posted on his YouTube channel that he had been living with rapid-cycling bipolar disorder and was ready to talk about it. Creative types are, by nature, excellent storytellers, so here, in his own words, is Eric Millegan's story:

There were times when I was going through hell inside, but people on the outside didn't necessarily notice. [So], I was able to press forward. I remember at the up-fronts for Bones the very first season, I was going through a nasty episode. With me, everything gets very, very quick in my chest, everything really hurts, and everything's really fast, and I was on the verge of tears, and I even had to excuse myself so I could leave and cry my eyes out. And I remember Emily [Deschanel] and I were in a limo together and I said, "I'm really going through a tough time right now," and she was like, "I can't tell at all." And in a way, it was a nice breakthrough for me, like "I can just keep trying to do things even though I feel a certain way."

On performing at New York's Cast Party:

I wanted to sing a song at Cast Party, but I was really a mess inside. My emotions were all over the place. I [thought], "I don't think I can do it," but I kinda wanted to get up and sing a song. So, I got up -- Chita Rivera was in the audience, of all people -- and I sang "Leaving's Not the Only Way to Go" from Big River, and I got a standing ovation and cheers from Chita Rivera, and I remember that being so exciting. I remember I walked up onto the stage, like I didn't take my coat off or anything, and I sat there in the stool and sang, and I really connected with people. I connected with Chita Rivera, even though I was going through a [bipolar] episode.

On support from Bones:

A lot of times I feel I probably would have ended up in a mental hospital if it weren't for the structure that Bones gave me. But [showrunner] Hart Hanson came to me at the end of the first season and said "You're valuable to the show, so if you need to [leave] and get better, you'll still have your job when you come back." And that meant a lot. And I did not end up going to the mental hospital because I've worked my whole life to get a job like Bones. To get a job that's that high-paying, that high-profile, and it was my big break, and I didn't want to miss one second of my big break... But very specifically, Emily and Hart were the ones who knew about it early on, and they were very, very supportive.

Hart Hanson, who has experience with loved ones who were mentally ill, says he "had a little warning of what was coming with Eric." 

"On the pilot, he seemed lost and slightly awkward and slightly timid -- none of this was true, by the way. But what I noticed first was that he would tie his shoes many, many, many times until they were balanced...There's any number of things [that the] symptoms I recognized could be. Depression was one, although I did recognize mania. I was hoping that he was obsessive-compulsive."

On his breakthrough:

The big breakthrough day was when I woke up really, really depressed one morning -- very, very, very depressed -- then I got really happy and decided I would go to Disneyland. And then I got to Disneyland and I started crying. And I was like, "Something's wrong with me," and I called Charles, my partner, and said, "Something is wrong with me. I was crying and crying and crying and I have no idea what's wrong." And that's when I knew something was wrong. I had just gone from really depressed, to really happy, to crying, and something was just not right.

After Disneyland, Hanson became a crucial figure in Millegan's support system.


"I felt I had no choice. It was odd, because it was just somebody I hired, and I saw he was in trouble, and the next thing you knew, we were in there, in the midst of this thing, and there was just no hope of turning your back on him. It's like sticking your foot in a river and getting pulled in, and I was just in it. And I'd just shrug and say, 'I'm in it. I'm in it with him, and he will be okay, he will take his medication, and he will get better,' and it all turned out to be true, but it was very stressful at the time. It was very stressful being around someone who was having such a hard time. Such a terrible time, and terrified of making a misstep. Terrified to say the wrong thing or do the wrong thing. It was really quite something."

When he got the part on 'Bones,' Millegan moved from New York to Los Angeles, which he says "definitely" triggered symptoms of bipolar disorder. "The combination of the move to LA and getting the television show."

On denial: 

I thought, "Oh, this is just moving to LA. I moved to LA and they're going to give me a bunch of drugs and make me eat sushi and stuff."

On being diagnosed and telling the cast and crew:


Hart knew when I knew. When I was diagnosed, he was the first person I told. Emily I probably told not long after that. The others didn't know for a while. Eventually they found out. Hart was slowly telling crew, producers and actors on the set. I don't think I told Michaela [Conlin] directly. I think she found out. Tamara [Taylor], didn't come in till second season, but early in the second season, I pulled Tamara aside and said "Hey, this is what I'm going through."

Hanson recalls, "He had a very tough time. It was a very tough time with mood swings and mania. Essentially, he and I had a talk and I said it was up to him and I wanted him to talk to his shrink, but I thought it would be better if the people he was working with knew what he was wrestling with." 

On working:

For whatever reason, I was able to still do what I had to do. From "Action" to "Cut," I could hold it together. Then in my trailer, I would be a mess. But when we actually shot the scenes, I just did it. I just did it because I didn't want to lose it.

Hanson says, "He'd recover from just about being a puddle on the floor and then do his scenes. And it was very impressive. Not everyone could have done that."

In Part 2: Going on medication, suicidal thoughts, and going public.

Eric also recommends the book "Detour: My Bipolar Road Trip in 4-D" by Lizzie Simon, a gift from Emily Deschanel, which recounts stories of several people living with bipolar disorder.

For more information on bipolar disorder and mental illness, visit the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance.





[Source]

Jamie Frevele
Jamie Frevele
Posted: October 29, 2009 11:14 AM

Eric Millegan on Living (and Acting) with Bipolar Disorder: Part 2

Going on medication to treat mental illness is yet another painful aspect of the disease. First admitting that there is a problem, but then coming to grips with the fact that one's brain cannot function without pharmaceutical intervention is especially difficult. Those already suffering from a mental illness are forced to accept that the very organ controlling every part of their body and mind is not working correctly, is "defective," and can only be helped with drugs. As if to think, "I'm not just mentally screwed up, I'm also organically, naturally screwed up. There was no escaping this." It is admitting defeat.

Hart Hanson on getting Eric Millegan to trust medications: "I just kept telling him that the drugs gave him a fighting chance at starting from the same place everyone else started. And it wasn't something extra, it was that he lacked something that needed to be replaced with these medications. And he was good about that. Every once in a while, he'd think that there was a slight conspiracy to make him take his drugs, between me and his manager and his doctor. But he got by that pretty quickly. And the odd thing was that, of course, we were conspiring against him to get him to take his drugs. [Laughs]"

Again, Eric in his own words:

On medication:

Over a two-year period, we fiddled with the amounts of medication and certain kinds of medication that would make everything fall into place for me. And it did, and we have, and I feel great now. And it's been a year or two years or so since I've really had any problems at all.

Right from the get-go, I was all worried, "Am I going to lose my creativity? What am I going to lose if I go on this medication?" Well it was all very slow. The very first thing we tried was Lamictal. A therapeutic dose is considered around 100 to 200 mg. We started at 25 mg. I was still getting worse and worse, not because of the medication, but the medication was "chasing it," if you know what I mean. It was like if I wasn't on medication, it was [still] going to get worse and worse and worse. So we upped it to 50, and we upped it to 100, and we upped it to 150. Ultimately, at about 150, I finally had a day that wasn't bad. And we eventually went up to 550.

And then we went on a different medication called Zyprexa, which has two things it does that I've had to come to terms with and deal with. One thing is it makes people gain weight. It really, really increases your appetite. And I heard all sorts of stories about people saying they took it and gained 60 pounds, and I was like, "No! I can't have that!" But it made my mania go away and I gained a little weight, but I was like, "I'd rather gain a little weight and be happy." The other thing is that it really does knock you out. On this medication, I tend to want to sleep between 12 to 13 hours a day, and that's very hard if you have auditions and work to do.

Then I went on Lexapro. Zyprexa kind of slowed down my manias, stopped my manias altogether. But I would still occasionally have some depression. So I went on 5 mg of Lexapro. And there were some side effects I wasn't very cool with. And I had to cut the teeny little tablets in half, to make it 2.5 mg - perfect. It had no side effects, and no depression.

On the worst of it:

I used to be a mess, I was really mentally ill, going through these horrible emotional episodes. I used to wonder before this befell me, Why do people get depressed, or why does anyone want to kill themselves? You realize when you have a mental illness like this, you don't want to kill yourself for any specific reason. You want to kill yourself because your brain is actually programmed to want to kill itself. When you live this illness, you end up just being wired to want to kill yourself. And it's very painful.

As a supporter, Hanson felt "in over [his] head" and sought advice from professionals on how to help. "[Eric] was in big, big trouble, and it was very easy for me to imagine standing over a grave, and having not done the right thing. So I got a lot of very good advice on what to do with it. But I've raised two boys, and as I've said, I had a bipolar girlfriend for a year [whom] I lived with, and my pal [from college], and I've lived a life. I'm an old guy, I'm a middle-aged man, but I was way over my head. This was big, serious business, someone in real distress and real trouble. So I couldn't just say, 'Oh, common sense is the way to deal with this.' It's not common sense, it's a whole different thing."

On going public:

I was hoping that I could say stuff about mental illness that maybe people didn't know. You know, speak up for bipolar disorder and let people know a little bit more about it that they may not have known. And hopefully give inspiration, or consolation, or comfort to other people who are bipolar. To hear someone else say, "Yes, I'm bipolar too." To come out, like coming out as a gay man, letting other young gay men know like "Look, there's this guy on a TV show and he's gay." Just to let people know, too, that you can be bipolar, you can be going through hell...you can get through it.


Bipolar disorder is a scary disease, but it is manageable. And I feel blessed that I was able to get the right attention and the right medication to deal with my specific illness. And if you have it, just take your medicine, get to people who are supportive of you, and know that you can get through it. You can do it. And if you're not bipolar, and you're just wondering what it is, just know that it's very real, it's very painful, and it's not who the people are. Once you get the right combination of medicine, you can find out and be who you really are and not this illness that is making you go nuts.

If you know people who are suicidal, or if you know people who are bipolar, depressed, have panic attack disorder, just be there for them. They're going through something that's very, very hard. And even if you don't understand it, understand that it's hard for them. If you have a friend or a family member who's bipolar, or has panic attack disorder, or is depressed, read up on it a little bit so you can get to know where they're coming from. I, luckily, had someone like that in my life who called the bipolar hotline, went on the Internet and looked up bipolar disorder, and was very supportive and understanding, and that man was Hart Hanson. He was very understanding and well read on everything that was going on with me.

Hanson on Millegan's fight:
 
I think that one of the things that's toughest is that if you're suffering from something, you have to become suspicious of your feelings. All of a sudden, you can't trust your feelings. And you have to have your brain or your intellect go "Wait a minute, what I'm feeling is not correct." Eric went between great happiness and great sadness. Despair and euphoria. And he is rapid-cycling, so that would happen several times a day. It would kill a regular human being. And I could see it happening in moments. And Eric has never been good at not trusting his gut.

Things are so much better now, and he's just so strong now. He's just such a strong human being for having gone through hell. Hell he went through. I mean, I get breathless thinking back on it.

Hanson on being a support system:
 
I would say, "Watch out - you're not a white knight." You can't save anyone. You cannot save anyone. I say that because I think people have a romantic idea of going in and being the savior for someone who is mentally ill. And you can't do it. You cannot do it. It's a big, big deal. Also, you have to acquaint yourself. You have to make yourself knowledgeable in what they are going through so that you know how to respond to them. Because 90% of the time you want to say, "Oh, stop it." If Eric was crying, I would say, "Everything is all right." Well, it's not. It is on the outside, but it's not. You have to find out how to deal with that. And then, you know, hang on. It's a rough road. It's a tough go. I would say on the plus side, Eric and I were strangers when we met. And all of a sudden, we were in a war together, a quiet war. So you get to know someone. And luckily for me, Eric is someone worth knowing. There's a mighty soul in there. It was kind of a privilege to be standing there with him when he was going through all of this, to get to know someone like that. To see them in their worst and their best and all that, and that doesn't come along every day.

For more information on bipolar disorder and mental illness, visit the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance

To watch Eric Millegan talk further about his story (and other things, including basketball), visit his YouTube channel.

Wednesday 21 October 2009

Needless to say

I've never doubted his talent, and here is a proof. This is his new single and it's featured for theme song of the movie 2010.
And his new pictures kissing with woman has been released recently, Details Magazine.
Whatever he does, it's sexy. He says "It doesn't mean I'm necessarily sleeping with them." in Access Hollywood.
Anyway, here is his new single.

Update: The clip has been deleted once but it's back.


Thursday 15 October 2009

I can't wait

Here is the interview with producer Rob Cavallo, he talks about Adam Lambert's album. His new album will be released on the 24th of November. It's more than a month. I can't wait.

originality

A Danish musical drama film released in 2000, "Dancer in the Dark" made me realise of the existence of a fabulous singer, Björk. I knew her but actually I hadn't heard her songs until then. She has a.., let me say, a transparent voice, I mean clear voice. Of course her voice sometimes become strong, colourful, fragile, and etc. What should make a special mention is her way of singing. I think it is quite original.

"All is Full of Love"

Wednesday 14 October 2009

Unique & Fun

In the early 80's, around me, there were two groups. One of them was the Madonna faction, and another one was the Cyndi Lauper faction. I belonged to Cyndi's. Comparing to Madonna, she is not such commercial, but Cindy is still a big person in me. She is cute and a good singer. She has various tone voice. She also appeared in Queer As Folk (US version).
For me, she is a flesh and blood who has warm heart. I think that she is not only the appearance, she has her own policy and she follows what she thinks, she shows us her real feelings in her attitude, including charity activity, against war and etc.

"True Colors"

Starting point of my music

I actually don't remember when I started to listen to Queen. But I can say it was definitely in the 70's. Probably middle of the 70's, in my early teen age. How many songs I tried to remember? I already gave up counting. Mostly it depended on Freddie Mercury. He has a wide range of voice, he plays many instruments, he writes songs, and sometimes he also arranges it. In addition, he keeps bearing music that rows with the tide in mind, and being always a top runner. I know I should've written in past tense but he is still in my heart.

"Bohemian Rhapsody"

Tuesday 13 October 2009

Genius

I can do nothing but refer to George Michael. George Michael cannot be removed from my music life. From the very beginning of time when he started his career as a member of Wham!, I've been a big fan of him. After they split up and George started solo career, I had become more enthusiastic.
I guess he has a lot of problems with his private life, but it doesn't matter. I love his music and him. He is genius in music.

His single "Jesus to a Child" is a tribute to Anselmo Feleppa, then partner, and he always dedicates it to him before performing it live. Sadly I haven't had any opportunities being at his concert.

"Jesus to a Child"

Sweet voice

I don't remember when I heard his singing first. He has very sweet voice. Basically he was the runner-up in the 2004 season of Australian Idol. His voice makes me comfortable. I don't know the theory but I think his voice wave synchronizes to my wave.
He released two albums so far and he is currently working on the third album. It supposed to be released last year though, he was on musicals, Rent and Wicked, so he couldn't work on recording. Some people say he's not popular as he was in 2005, 2006, but I don't care. I only want to have his new album.

"Rain"

Delicate falsetto

One of my favourite singers, Darren Hayes. He has so beautiful voice. If I describe his voice, it's delicate and colourful. I can't count how many times I listened to his songs. Now he is making a new album. I can't wait.
After I started to write about his songs, I realised I didn't have enough vocabulary to describe them. I love all of his songs but especially I love "Insatiable" very much. Also "Strange Relationship", "I Miss You", "Heart Attack"... I should stop writing down, haha.
I wanted to put a clip of "Insatiable", but embedding has been disabled by request. Then I found that it's been allowed recently. When did it happen?

"Strange Relationship"

"Insatiable"

Monday 12 October 2009

2012

Adam Lambert's new song, "Time for Miracles" is the theme song for disaster-movie '2012.' I'm not sure if I'll watch this film, but I've already pre-ordered his new album.
When I heard his singing at first, I couldn't resist to listening his singing many times. I watch all episodes of American Idol usually, but I had very busy time when last season was airing, so I just recorded them on DVR and watched only Adam's part later. So I actually don't know much about other people singing.
I love music, I listen to music a lot, and I think Adam has beautiful voice and talent, I assume he is definitely one of the most fabulous singers.


Stephen Gately

I found his death from Darren Hayes's twitter. It was a big shock to me. As of today, they don't release any details of his death though, it is said that he was drinking for eight hours at bar, and got back their place, then fell asleep. It caused him vomit and he choked by them.
He was only 33 years old.
Their manager, Louis Walsh who is a judge of X Facter, wasn't on the show yesterday, so Simon Cowell who is one of the judges expressed his condolences.
I was shocked with Michael Jackson's death, but I wasn't a big fan of him, so I wasn't sad compare to this time.
R.I.P... the date of death 10th Oct. 2009.

Saturday 10 October 2009

An article from The Guardian

There's life after Simon Amstell for Never Mind The Buzzcocks – and it's funny

We go behind the scenes at the comedy music quiz, where it's all "flowers and unicorns" according to Noel Fielding


Priya Elan / The Guardian,
backstage never mind the uzzcocks
Taking care of Buzzness: guests including Peter Serafinowicz and Newton Faulkner get miked-up backstage at Never Mind The Buzzcocks Photograph: Brian Ritchie/BBC

They are Googling "Alex James" in the production office of Never Mind The Buzzcocks. The Blur bassist is this week's guest presenter.

"How old is he?" asks a twentysomething member of the team. CLICK.

"Oh my god! Born in ... 68... He's well old!" she says scanning a web page. CLICK-CLICK.

"And his real name is Steven? He is so married, too ... Damn. But he doesn't look happy with it does he?" CLICK-CLICK-CLICK.

At the other end of the crowded room, a couple of producers iron out a few bits of the script.

"Is 'Googlebox' a word?"

They are brainstorming names for the former pop star lineup section of the show. This week it's ViX from Fuzzbox and they want names that play on "box".

A few furious scribblings out later, they've got it.

"Graham Box-on," says a producer, proud of his play on Alex James's sometime bandmate. "That's funny isn't it?"

We're here on the set of the third episode of the 23rd series of the panel show. Host Simon Amstell has departed since the last series because he wants "to concentrate on his stand-up" and the powers that be have decided that instead of a permanent replacement, a series of weekly guest hosts will better usher in the programme's new age.

"The thinking behind it was that we wanted to give airtime to some new comic talent who wouldn't otherwise get the chance," says the show's producer, Stuart Mather.

In that vein they've got the likes of stand-ups Jack Whitehall and Rhod Gilbert to fill Amstell's rather large comedy shoes.

"It's also really hard to book pop stars in advance …"

While Mather is keen to play down Amstell's hold on the show, he admits that his Bafta award-nominated tenure changed Buzzcocks forever.

"Our demographic changed with Simon," he says "He showed you could do things in a TV format that you couldn't do before."

There was an outcry when he departed, with posters on web forums wondering how the show would continue without the comic ("I'm done with Buzzcocks," said one), who, as he did on C4's Popworld, made his ability to cut musicians down to size a defining characteristic of the show.

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'Everyone is chipping in … I think the show is working better' - Noel Fielding
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So how has it changed the on-screen vibe?

"It's like a Mad Hatter's tea party now," Noel Fielding thinks. The Mighty Boosh star is another new element, replacing Bill Bailey as a team captain. "Everyone is chipping in," he says. "And I think that the show is working better for that actually, instead of the focus being on Simon having a go at someone in particular. He's genius at that, but sometimes it makes some of the musicians a bit tense and they don't open up."

Fielding cites last week's appearance by burlesque pop star Paloma Faith as a prime example. "When she started she was a bit weird. But then as the show went on she became funnier and funnier. Everyone ended up loving her," he says. "I don't think she would have been given that chance if Simon was still here."

Still, some of the show's best moments were the ones where Amstell baited the stars. Producer Mather recalls booking a pre-chart success Dappy from N-Dubz after Blue's Lee Ryan had pulled out.

"He was a last-minute booking; we got him the night before the show. Dappy was quite taken aback with Simon going, 'Who the hell are you?', and making fun of his hat, but the tension made for brilliant TV. The second time he came on we played on the fact that in the press he'd said he'd like to spank Simon. He was a bona fide pop star by this point and I just thought, 'We made you!'"

More infamous was Preston and Chantelle-gate: the ex-Ordinary Boy walked off mid-show when Amstell began reading from his then wife's autobiography Living The Dream.

"Hang on," says Mather. He then asks the PR if he's allowed to "talk freely" about the former Celebrity Big Brother contestant ("I don't want Talkback to go mental," he says). He's given the go-ahead.

"I saw the interview in Heat where he said he was wrong to react the way he did to the incident. And then I read that he said, 'I've always been about pop,' and I thought, 'No, you wanted to be a fucking mod!"

Would you have had him on again?

"Well we could have made a joke about it if he came back on but we'd rather have a new comic on the show than him. He was just one joke, really. The thing is, Preston needs the PR more than we do."

Clearly. His single didn't even make the top 100.

"Fuck me!" says Mather, genuinely shocked.

Watching the show being filmed, the absence of Amstell as curly-haired ringmaster has inexorably changed the panel's dynamic. This is mainly thanks to the captains; long-serving Phill Jupitus and new guy Fielding.

They've transformed the slightly tense and caustic atmosphere created by Amstell to one of mild surrealism.

"The chemistry is different to something like Mock the Week," says Fielding. "They are brilliant and skilful but it's a bit aggressive and male; they need some women on there. I'm a token woman anyway. Phill can be aggressive if he wants to, but he doesn't like to. But it was never going to be a bear-pit-type panel show. When shows become a bit 'alpha male' I don't like them. I prefer them when they're all flowers and unicorns." He laughs at the idea: "The ladyboy speaketh …"

Guest host Alex James is surprisingly eloquent. Pre-show he says, "They've made me funny, it's amazing! Despite the fact I'm slipping into Simon's shoes, it's not intimidating. Only because I've got six people writing for me."

Indeed, tonight he puts his previous hosting experiences in the shade. Sadly there's nothing like BBC2's If Music Be The Food Of Love where he played a cheese bass, but there are lots of dairy-centric gags and obscure Blur tracks in the intros round.

Interestingly, the interjections by panelist comics Peter Serafinowicz and Holly Walsh fall a little flat in comparison.

"It doesn't work if you're constantly worrying about getting gags in," says Jupitus.

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'I can pinpoint the moment that Chris Moyles crumbled' – Phill Jupitus
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"All the comics who've had a hard time on the show are thinking, 'Must do jokes, must do jokes', instead of interacting. And it's 90% about listening to what the other people are saying."

He cites the example of Chris Moyles, who appeared on the show and slagged it off the next day on his radio show.

"He got me on his show and accused me of having a J-Lo-like fit about chips not arriving from catering, which was a lie. It was ungracious," he says.

"I can pinpoint the moment he crumbled. We were doing the intros round, he wasn't doing well, and Vic Reeves turned around and said to him, 'Chris, do you actually like music at all?" Just because he wasn't funny on the show … he should have just gotten over it."

During the show's two-and-a- half-hour filming session, it's somewhat startling to find that the Buzzcocks' format and stalwart set pieces still work, 22 series and many lineup changes later.

It's still edgy (potentially unbroadcastable gags include ones about Kirsty Wark blacking up, Gordon The Gopher being a prostitute killer, Tom Cruise's sexuality, and "retarded Wombles"). Most importantly, it's enjoyable.

Jupitus believes it's "purely maths" that makes it work. "The show is constantly refreshed because the new faces outnumber the old ones. And we have a great mix of comedy people and pop people. So we get a zeitgeisty mash-up. I said when I began on the first series that I'd still being doing it if it was fun. And it still is."

Wednesday 26 August 2009

Ryan Cartwright is in Mad Men

[Source]

Q&A - Ryan Cartwright (John Hooker)

Ryan Cartwright plays John Hooker, executive assistant to Lane Pryce and a favorite of the secretaries at Sterling Cooper. He talks to AMCtv.com about joining the cast, and whether that accent of his really does open doors.

Q: Did you know much about the show before you joined the cast?

A: I had seen some of the show. I was always taken aback by the acting on it -- everyone on it is so good. Once I got it, I realized how big a show it was. I'd tell my friends, "Oh I got a job on this, I got a job on that." This was the only time when they were like, "Oh wow! ... I'll be watching it anyway."

Q: So how did you come to get the part?

A: It was after pilot season, I had done the rounds and no one was buying what I was selling. They just called me in. It was one audition. I didn't think I'd get it; I thought it'd be a kind of stereotyped handsome Brit that they'd want. But I guess they're a lot smarter -- and luckily I wasn't that.
It was a very quick turnaround. With pilot season, you have to jump through so many hoops, there are so many people in the room, you end up doing four or five auditions. You're just quaking by the end of it. This was just the opposite: "Yup, fine, you're working tomorrow." I had to quickly step up to the plate.

Q: What did you do to prepare?

A: I looked at documentaries and stock footage from the period because they're very specific as to when it was. I didn't want to pollute myself by thinking I'd have heard the later Beatles catalogue. So I listened to some early Dylan, Beatles. I looked at what was going on the British side, the Carnaby Street stuff. I tried to look at the accents, like exactly how clipped it would have been.

Q: You've joined a cast famous for their camaraderie. How have you been getting along with them? 

A: They hate me. As soon as they say "Cut," I have to leave the set. No, they're lovely.

Q: Not calling you Moneypenny, I hope?

A: They wouldn't dare. A lot of the guys play Call of Duty 4, the Xbox game. A lot of the time, we just talk about that. What are the best guns, where are the best hiding places.

Q: You've been on other shows before both in U.S. and U.K. Has the experience been different from the other series work you've done?

A: The only newness is the reception is a lot larger here. There's a lot more advertising. It's also a helluva good show. There are not many shows as good in America, or in England. With regards to day-to-day, I've found that as with most of the best jobs I've done, it's a nice, calm set. No tension, no jostling. Everyone's really mellow.

Q: The ladies of Sterling Cooper swoon over your accent. Have you found that to be true in real life?

A: Of course! I always say Los Angeles is the place where British people come to exceed their worth. It's quite true of everything: The British accent does open doors.

Q: Do you have a favorite moment from the previous two seasons?

A: I remember there was one bit I really liked. Between Peggy and Pete. It's just one little scene where they're in the office and he was talking how he'd like a wife to bring a bloody steak and cook it for him. That was something, but also the moment after, you follow Peggy reeling from that, and she had to buy herself something to eat. I love those sort of quiet moments, when things calm down and you get to actually know the people. In most shows, they'd cut those off-moments because they think the action has stopped.

Q: Do you read reviews, or follow what the legions of fans have been saying?

A: Only generally, if I catch something in the paper or online. I don't delve too deep into reviews. I saw clips of the Times Square party and I noticed lots of friends using a Mad Men avatar.

Q: Did you make John Hooker one?

A: 'Course I did.

Sunday 28 June 2009

Michael Urie on Playing an Activist and Assistant on The Temperamentals and Ugly Betty

[Source]




6/28/09 at 9:53 PM

Michael Urie on
Playing an Activist
and Assistant on  
The 
Temperamentals
and Ugly Betty




Most people know Michael Urie in his role of Marc, editrix Vanessa Williams's bitchy assistant on Ugly Betty. But Urie is also an accomplished stage actor, and he's showing off his theatrical chops right now in The Temperamentals, Jon Marans's moving, often hilarious play about the Mattachine Society, a gay-male activist group born in the closeted atmosphere of the early fifties. The show features Urie as Rudi Gernreich, an early founder of the group who left before he could be outed to become a fashion designer so influential he made the cover of Time in 1967. Urie spoke to us about his character's future on Betty and why he's so private about certain issues.

What are you up to today?
Well, it's raining and my dog won't poop or pee in the rain, so generally what happens is, we both get drenched, then the second we walk indoors, shit just starts flying out of her ass. She's a Brussels Griffon. Her name is Sprouts. Her full name is Dame Lady Colonel Brussels Sprouts the First. She's a colonel because she fought in the dog-cat revolution of aught-four.

So she's a highly decorated vet?
She's a very decorated vet but we don't use the word V-E-T, because that means something else.

So who is your character to you?
He's an activist but also an artist, and oftentimes, artists have to be activists with their work rather than with their actions, and ultimately that's what he becomes. He paved the way for [fashion] flamboyancy of all kinds, and although he was never out publicly, he was a huge influence on the community and on freeing yourself. But this is also a love story, about how Harry and Rudi start in one place and, by the end of the play, are in very different places.

In the context of this play, it's almost impossible not to ask
you about your own sexuality. You've never really publicly declared it, but on your own website, you identify yourself as "a member of the LGBT community" and say that organizations that help people with HIV/AIDS or people who are LGBT are "A-Number 1 in my book!" So what's the deal?

Well, that's my M.O. I'm interested in keeping — you know, actors have to be able to do lots of different things, and while I'd say there's an ongoing theme [to the parts I play], I'm also not interested in having any real publicity about who I am and what my private life is and things like that. I'm an actor and I don't want to be a [fill-in-the-] blank actor.

Do you really think that saying "I'm gay" would stop you from getting an array of roles?
That's not really the point. By using publicity to say something like that, it could become a person's M.O, and I'm not interested in that. I really think this article should be about The Temperamentals. I understand where you're coming from and why you think this is important and that this is a play about being true to yourself. But artists and activists are not quite the same thing, and I feel like support can come from lots of different ways.

Do you get sick of reporters asking you about this?
They don't ask about it as much as you might think. Actually, it's been a long time since anyone asked it. I don't think it's really newsworthy if the gay guy from Ugly Betty is gay or not.

So, speaking of the world of Betty, it looks like Marc's career at Mode hangs in the balance on the upcoming season, with Betty having beat him out for that editor position.
Well, that's something that's great about TV. Characters change, but over the course of years. My character started off being a one-line bitchy gay assistant, and now we see he has career ambitions and love and affection for other people. I have a feeling there's going to be some serious rivalry between Marc and Betty this season. I've always thought of Ugly Betty as classical theater. The stakes are very high.

Wednesday 4 March 2009

An article from AfterElton

[Source]
Beyond the Gay Role
Posted by Jim Halterman on March 4, 2009

Given the fact that Sean Penn just nabbed an Oscar for playing gay rights pioneer Harvey Milk, surely there is still no stigma attached to playing gay, right?

That’s an easy assumption for many viewers – gay and straight – to make, but what do the men who play these roles believe?  

AfterElton.com talked with a number of actors who have played gay roles past and present for their thoughts. Do they think playing a gay role can help, hurt or have no real effect on their careers? How has that changed over the years? What do their peers think? And have we finally moved beyond the stigma a gay role once carried?

Their answers might surprise you.

Surprising reaction to gay role on “Raising The Bar.”

On TNT’s hit legal drama, Raising the Bar, Jonathan Scarfe plays Charlie Sagansky, a law clerk working for a powerful female judge (played by Jane Kaczmarek) with whom he has sex, in part to keep his legal career on track. What makes this plot point run even deeper is that Charlie is a deeply closeted gay man, fearful the revelation about his sexuality would permanently stall his political aspirations. 

In talking with Scarfe about taking on the role of Charlie, the straight actor said, “The sexuality of the character didn’t matter to me at all. It wasn’t the most interesting thing about the part. Usually when you get hired on a TV series, you’re getting hired to be a cool version of yourself. Charlie was so different from me. … I’m a guy who can’t keep my mouth shut and I don’t hide anything. [Charlie’s] the opposite of me in that way and that’s intriguing.”

Part of the reality in taking on a gay role for any actor is dealing with the reaction of acting peers as well as agents and managers. Asked if his agent had any hesitation about his taking a gay role in a highly publicized Steven Bochco drama, Scarfe laughed and said, “My agent is gay so he thought it was awesome.” 

The actor added, however, that many of his actor friends did not possess the same enthusiasm and, instead, many of them are fearful about playing gay roles.

Scarfe owned up to initially not understanding where the fear of his friends came from. “When you’re a guy like me, you’re just an actor trying to play a role whether it’s Jesus, a gay role or Custer. I’m just being an actor. … I can only see it as a positive when people respond to your playing a role, gay or straight. [However], a lot of friends I have who are gay and actors would shy away from [the part of Charlie Sagansky] because they’re uncomfortable with being fully out publicly. I’ve always said ‘You’re crazy!  It’s 2008.  It’s Hollywood!  Nobody gives a shit!’ 

Scarfe (left) with Raising the Bar castmates
Jane Kaczmarek and Mark-Paul Gosselaar

However, after shooting the first season and playing Charlie, Scarfe said he unexpectedly gained insight into his friends’ apprehension when he received some on-set ribbing from members of the Raising the Bar crew.

“It was shocking to me,” he said. “The number of gay jokes I got in a day just because I’m playing a gay guy. Nobody was being malicious or mean in any way, but that’s the sort of natural reflex. It made me go back to my good friend who I’ve argued with for ages on this subject, telling him ‘you can’t hide this’ and ‘it’s bullshit’ and, instead, I had to tell him that I finally got what he’d been saying.”      

Scarfe also mentioned another issue facing successful actors: how being on a long-running series can impact the way in which an actor is perceived by audiences and the Hollywood community, whether the role is gay or straight. 

Scarfe cited Eric McCormack, who played Will Truman on Will & Grace for eight successful seasons as an example. “I’d argue that Eric is suffering not for playing a gay role but a role on a long-running sitcom.”

“I’m very proud of Will,” says Eric McCormack.

Though it may not seem as though McCormack is struggling, as Scarfe implied, McCormack, promoting his new TNT drama, Trust Me, voiced little worry to AfterElton.com that his long association with the gay character of Will would keep audiences from seeing him as any other character.

“When I started to shop around again and meet with some of the people at the networks to see what the next step might be, they weren’t presenting sitcoms to me and they weren’t presenting gay roles. There was a lot of leading man roles so I think I managed to play that role [of Will] and still circumvent that. I certainly hope so.”

No matter how audiences respond to McCormack playing a straight, married-with-children ad man on his new series, the actor has no regrets about the role that made him famous.

“I’m very proud of Will and that show but I think people know that that was a role I was playing and hopefully give me a chance to be [Trust Me’s] Mason,” McCormack said. He then added, “I guess we’ll find out.”

Trust Me premiered with ratings lower than expected and, in regards to the ratings for its second episode, Variety reported a 65% drop in viewers from its lead-in, the popular Kyra Sedgwick series, The Closer. It has continued to struggle in the ratings since.

Tom Cavanagh (left) with McCormack in Trust Me

(AfterElton.com put in a request to interview McCormack’s Will & Grace co-star Sean Hayes for this article but Hayes’s representatives said he was unavailable.)

Bill Brochtrup not blue about being gay on NYPD Blue.

While McCormack’s Will Truman role lasted eight years, Bill Brochtrup played the role of openly gay receptionist John Irvin for ten years on ABC’s gritty police drama NYPD Blue.

The year was 1993 and what was supposed to be a two-episode role highlighting the homophobic side of gruff Detective Andy Sipowicz (played by multiple Emmy-winner Dennis Franz), turned into a ten-year run on the acclaimed series. Brochtrup pointed out that this happened at a time when gay characters were only just beginning to take on more prominent and visible roles on television shows such as Roseanne, My So Called Life and Melrose Place.

Brochtrup compared his role of John with another gay role that was gaining much attention at the time – Doug Savant’s gay role of Matt Fielding on Melrose Place.

The two roles, Brochtrup said, were quite different in how they were used on the show but they were equally important in breaking ground for how gay roles were portrayed on television. “[Savant] never played that part as a joke and fought all the time to have that character have the same kind of romantic ups and downs as everyone else on the show. He fought very hard for that.”

NYPD Blue may not have explored John’s romantic relationships as Melrose Place did but it broke new ground with another kind of relationship. Working closely in the police station with the gruff, homophobic Detective Sipowicz, Brochtrup said, “We were able to show, I think, the kind of relationship we hadn’t seen or even not quite still seen in this detail with a gay character who impacts a [straight] guy at the workplace.”

The cast of NYPD Blue

Brochtrup added that over the course of ten years, the relationship between the two characters deepened. “The end of the first season, I shook [Sipowicz’s] hand, which was a very big deal for him. A couple of seasons later, he stood up for me when somebody made a homophobic comment. … A couple of seasons later, I was babysitting his son and the last season I officiated at his wedding so there was a huge deal for that character to go.”

Brochtrup admitted to believing that typecasting does happen when playing any role that last as long as his character did on NYPD Blue. “I think it may contribute to people thinking you don’t have the versatility that you have [as an actor]. I think being on a long-running television series, you get typecast no matter what the role is. Before NYPD Blue, Dennis Franz played tons and tons of cop roles on shows. People want to typecast you into something if you’ve been on a show for a long time. I don’t know if you can say this is because it was a gay character or because I’m gay myself. I think it’s more about being on a television show for a large amount of time.”

Despite the typecasting of playing a long-running role, Brochtrup shared his thoughts on gay roles having a sense of legacy to them. “Guys who came generations before me made it easier for me and I hope now there are guys in their 20s who think it’s not even a big deal to play a gay role.”

That said, the actor admitted, “I don’t necessarily see that happening as often as I’d like, to tell the truth. Because every time there is a character who is gay on television and film, the actors talk about what a challenge it was and how brave they had to be … I think it’s still an issue but less of an issue than it was.”

Finally, Brochtrup commented on one popular genre on television that is making bigger strides with featuring gays – reality shows. “They include gay characters from every different walk of life,” he said. “Lesbians, gay. On every show they’re just part of the mix. Survivor. The Amazing Race. All the Home and Garden television shows. It’s the gay couple next door and nobody really makes a comment about it. And I think in a funny way it’s those shows are the most advanced as far as that goes. They show the full circle of gay life. They show the little femme-y guys and the big hulky guys and the bodybuilding guys … every kind of person. And then on MTV with Road Rules and The Real World there’s always the gay guy and [he is] just one of the bunch. I think scripted television needs to be like that more.”

“…I have to work a little harder,” says Wilson Cruz.

For Wilson Cruz, playing gay roles is something he’s been doing since he first burst on to the television scene in 1994 with his portrayal of Rickie Vasquez on ABC’s My So-Called Life. Cruz most recently appeared in a recurring role on Raising the Bar as a potential love interest of Scarfe’s closeted character.

Having played gay roles on these two shows as well as on the series Noah’s Arc and the recently released, He’s Just Not That Into You, Cruz has a lot of insight as to how his career has been shaped due to the gay roles.

“I don’t feel like I’ve been limited,” he said. “But I do feel I have to work a little harder. The roles that have been interesting to me have been roles that I have played. There have been some times when there have been roles I didn’t get … I don’t necessarily think it was because I’m gay. There was one role in particular that was a gay role that I didn’t get because I was too old. That hurt more than anything.”

Cruz in My So Called Life (left), and
more recently in He's Just Not That Into You
Asked about what he’s seeing in the Hollywood community regarding actors taking gay roles, Cruz said, “I don’t hear so much from people that they’re worried about taking a gay role. What I hear more than anything is gay actors who are just afraid to come out.”
 
Often contacted via his profile pages on social networks such as Facebook and asked advice on coming out or staying in the closet, Cruz said he has a method for advising those who reach out to him.

“It’s such a personal decision to come out … I have them ask themselves a series of questions that will hopefully come to a personal decision. I feel for them. I understand it. This industry is so much about perception that it’s not so much about its own homophobia. It’s really more about the fear of being limited in any way in their creativity.”

Cruz also talked about Sean Hayes, another Will & Grace alum who saw his career take off while playing the popular supporting role of Jack McFarland. Though Hayes has worked steadily since the series went off the air, nothing has been as high profile as that breakout role

“As far as Sean Hayes is concerned,” Cruz said. “I think that’s by choice on his part. I think he’s doing more behind the scenes and producing and that kind of thing.”

Christian Vincent jumps the stigma.

While Logo’s television series Noah’s Arc is enjoying a successful run with its latest incarnation as the movie Noah’s Arc: Jumping the Broom, Christian Vincent, who plays Ricky in both projects, offered his take on playing gay roles.

“From my experience with Noah’s Arc,” he said, “there were a lot of people who would not audition and agents who didn’t recommend their clients for the show. I’ve had agents who didn’t want me to continue with the show. That’s the truth of the matter. I’m not going to say that it has been easy, but I wouldn’t change anything.”

Vincent believes different roles have different impacts. “It all depends on what the project is. If it is an A-list show or film, I believe the impact it has is less negative as opposed to if it’s not such a well-known venue or as big of a film or television network. It’s a catch-22. … I won’t lie to you and say there aren’t negative effects to it. … I’m not going to pretend there isn’t a stigma attached because there still is.”

As for his acting career beyond his gay role as Ricky, Vincent admitted that he’s had more success with obtaining roles on the other side of the United States’ northern border. “In all honesty, I audition more in Canada … because I have been on a series here [and] I think the casting out there has been more creative and I’ve gotten more roles.”

Having landed roles on successful series such as the CW’s Smallville and ABC Family’s Fallen, both of which are shot in Canada, Vincent said, “I have found that in Canada [playing gay] has not been a problem and it’s just been about what you can do and what you can bring to the table.”

Vincent (far right) with his Noah's Arc: Jumping the Broom castmates

There is still much frustration for Vincent, who believes the gay-role stigma is alive and well in Hollywood. However, he was equally hopeful that the stigma will continue to disappear thanks in part to the recent Presidential election race. Interviewed before Barack Obama’s election to the U.S. presidency, he said, “The way the country is going right now, you have two females who had the possibility of being in a major office and now a man of color in the main office. It’s not the status quo. If people continue to overcome these stigmas, it will continue to change the world.”

Vincent did add that if fear exists in taking a gay role and subsequently having some residual effect, it’s inevitably up to each individual actor to be as fearless as possible.

“As an actor, I want to act and if it’s a good role, I’m going to do it. As far as fear of whether I get another role, that’s up to me. There may be casting directors and people who, because of my role on Noah’s Arc, may not want to see me. There are others that will, [and] if there are negative ramifications, I feel that my belief in what I can do will overcome whatever negativity or stumbling block may be there.”

“Blood”-y good gay roles for Nelsan Ellis.

Before taking the role of Lafayette Reynolds on Alan Ball’s new HBO series, True Blood, Nelsan Ellis had his share of reservations. “I had concerns because being a black man playing gay characters in Hollywood … there’s a risk of being pigeonholed … there’s a risk of people not being able to see you outside the character which, of course, you don’t really want.”

Before taking the role, Ellis did his share of research on the character of Lafayette Reynolds in the Charlaine Harris books on which the series is based and found that the gay role was one that was miniscule in the books. “I’m glad Alan Ball, who is a genius, has taken liberties because Lafayette in the books is one I would not be interested in playing at all. I was glad that Alan was adamant in making him very different. In the books, he’s not even a minor character. He just comes on the scene, has six or seven words – the description of him is longer than what he says – he’s really, really flamboyant and he wears makeup and he’s in a sex group and gets killed by someone in the sex group. That’s a little too stereotypical and … you seldom get respect playing a role like that.”
Ellis as True Blood's "Lafayette"

Thankfully, Ellis said, there are many more layers to Lafayette and that is what makes him more exciting to play. While True Blood has been renewed for a second season on HBO, it remains to be seen as to whether Ellis will be a part of it since Lafayette’s life was in limbo at the end of the first season finale.

Playing gay in and out of “The Office.”

When he signed on for the American version of the BBC hit The Office, Oscar Nunez didn’t know that his character Oscar Martinez was gay until gossip to that fact circulated around the set.

“Halfway through the first season,” he said, “there was a rumor going around that they were making Oscar gay. And sure enough there was suddenly a script and [executive producer] Greg Daniels came to talk to me and said, ‘We’re thinking of making your character gay.’ But I knew the script was already written so what was I supposed to say?”

Nunez, who is straight, has no problems with playing a gay character and feels fortunate to be a part of such a successful series. “It’s a great show and a great place to be. People know who you are around town.”

In fact, he said, “regarding the gay thing, nobody seems to have an issue with it. Kids even come up to me and Oscar’s sexuality doesn’t really come up at all.”

As for future roles outside of The Office, Nunez has already tackled a role that is very different from Oscar Martinez but, ironically, is also a gay character. Halfway Home was a sitcom that aired ten episodes last year on Comedy Central. The series focused on a rehabilitative halfway house and the eclectic group seeking treatment there including the very out Eulogio Pla.

Nunez in Halfway Home (left) and The Office (right)

While The Office’s Oscar Martinez is wound a bit too tight and often is the butt of jokes made by Steve Carrell’s Michael Scott, this other gay character was very different. Eulogi, Nunez explained, “happened to be a male prostitute who had delusions of grandeur. He was older but thought he was hot but he’s not.”