River City article from AfterElton

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Langford on Soaps: Will's Dark Side Could Cost Robbie His Life on "River City"

Posted by Anthony D. Langford on June 20, 2012

River City

RC by SOAPYSTUFF

Ah well, I should have known Will was too good to be true. I am so not happy about the direction this show is taking with Will, even if it might be dramatic television. It’s obvious that Will’s violent nature is going to affect his and Robbie’s relationship, I just wish the show wouldn’t do it. I rarely gripe when television shows portray gays as less than perfect, even when they make them the bad guys.

I usually enjoy that. But I suspect Will’s headed to a place that the character won’t be able to come back from, at least not without some skillful writing. Up until now he’s been such an appealing character, but with these latest plot twists, it’s clear he’s not long for the show. Shame.

Out gay actor Gary Lamont hopes his gay domestic abuse storyline will help viewers….

Domestic violence between gay couples isn’t your usual fare for television, mostly because there aren’t that many gay pairings out there and television usually only wants to portray them in the most positive of lights. But last year Hollyoaks took the chance on a risky, edgy storyline with the dark relationship between Brendan Brady and Ste Hay. However, despite its original intent of showing a young man escaping and moving past his abusive lover, that show took the disturbing route of attempting to make Brendan and Ste a viable couple despite their violent history. Another show is tackling such a storyline, and it seems unlikely that they’ll take the Hollyoaks’ slant of glossing over gay domestic violence.

Scottish soap River City begins a new arc this week when Robbie is attacked by his lover Will, a cop he only met a couple of months ago and recently moved in with. Viewers have seen over the past few weeks that Will has a barely-hidden violent side, which exploded when he beat up a criminal who’d been able to slip through the tentacles of the law. And this week, Will takes his rage out on Robbie only minutes after asking Robbie to marry him. But while Robbie will forgive Will this time, the story will continue to unfold over the next several months, playing out until the fall as the abuse gets worse.

Will’s dark side is about to be revealed…

Gary Lamont, the openly gay actor who plays Robbie, says he hopes this storyline sheds light on a subject not often talked about.

“I hope a storyline like this opens up a dialogue for people if they need it. It could become a catalyst for conversation.” Lamont told the Scottish Daily Record.  “People tell me they watch River City with their mums, a lot of guys especially.”

Lamont relishes playing this dark storyline, which is a change for his usually campy and brash character.

“…For the last two years, Robbie has been very stereotypical, two dimensional, a heightened version of a TV character where you have artistic license to camp it up a bit. But this storyline shows a bit more depth about him. It shows his more human side.” Lamont said. “…This storyline gives me the chance to play him from another angle. There’s depth to the story of where people are at with their sexuality and how that impacts their day to day life. But it also highlights something harrowing which does exist. I have to make sure I pitch that right - there’s a huge responsibility with that and I hope we’ve done it justice.”

Gary Lamont Talks River City Gay Domestic Violence Plot

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Gary Lamont Talks River City Gay Domestic Violence Plot

Published on Jun 16 2012

River City actor Gary Lamont has discussed his characters current storyline and how he hopes it will encourage other gay men to come out to their families.

Lamont plays Robbie Fraser in the BBC Scotland soap having joined the cast in 2009. A forthcoming storyline will see Robbie become the victim of domestic violence from his partner Will Cooper (Scott Ryan Vickers). Robbie will first see the darker side of Will when he is pinned up against a wall by his boyfriend moments after proposing.

In an interview with the Daily Record newspaper Lamont has discussed the storyline and his character and how he hopes it will help others come out to their families. “I hope a storyline like this opens up a dialogue for people if they need it. It could become a catalyst for conversation. People tell me they watch River City with their mums, a lot of guys especially.”

Lamont discussed his own experience of coming out to his family telling the Daily Record “When I first told my mum it was mortifying, there were a lot of tears. Mum’s biggest thing was worrying what people would say about me, without really knowing me. But it’s all fine now. It’s just one part of my life, one aspect of my character. It’s not what defines me.”

The actor has not previously talked about his own sexuality explaining “I’ve never really felt the need to mention it before, but I’m in a relationship with a man and I’m very happy…I don’t talk about my partner publicly, because this is work and he’s not part of that.”

River City is not the first soap to tackle gay domestic abuse; Hollyoaks has tackled the issue through the characters of Ste Hay (Kieron Richardson) and Brendan Brady (Emmett J. Scanlan) with the storyline also touching up manipulation as well as physical violence.


River City: Robbie & Will