Boy Trouble from Spin Magazine by Benoit Denizet-Lewis [December 2000]
read moreLike most young actors making their television debuts, 22-year-old Randy Harrison would like the parental units to settle in and watch the two-hour premiere of his series, Queer as Folk. At least, he would in theory. But since the first episode features a very long, very explicit sex scene between Harrison's character, a 17-year-old named Justin, and a 29-year-old man, whose name Justin doesn't know, the actor is understandably anxious. "I've been trying to prepare them for what they're going to see," says Harrison, who is openly gay. "But I don't think they can really fathom what I'm saying. I'm not sure my dad's ready to see that."
Harrison's father may not be the only one. In what is being billed (quite believably) as the most daring American television program ever, Queer as Folk—which originated two years ago in the U.K., where it became a pop-culture phenomenon—begins airing this December on Showtime (clearly looking to compete with the buzz generated by HBO's Sex and the City). "People want to assume that American television won't have the guts to do what the British did," says Harrison. "But they're wrong."Still, Harrison admits that he was not pleased when the producers decided to up his character's age--from just 15 in the British version--to a more palatable 17. "That kind of bothered me," says Harrison.
read moreBut he was heartened once he realized it was otherwise very much like the original: a smartly written, very witty prime-time soap opera about a close-knit group of gay men and lesbians that's concerned more with personal relationships than polemics. And even though the show caused controversy here before a single frame was show (many companies have refused product placement), Harrison says he gives very little thought to any potential fallout. "I mean, I do have some nights when I worry about it," he says. "But ultimately, I couldn't care less."