'Queer as F*ck' from XY Magazine (Nov 2000)

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'Queer as F*ck' from XY Magazine xymag.com/blog/
by Benjie Nycum; courtesy of dicaprio69; [published in the November 2000 issue]



Justin is 17, He goes to a private school in Pittsburgh. He has wild sex with 29-year-old Brian-- on television. And that's just the beginning of Showtime TV's new series Queer as Folk.

Queer as Folk is a scorching hot new series based on the runaway successful British version. Now the show's been made America, moved from Manchester to Pittsburgh, and everybody's favorite blonde hottie 15 yo Nathan Maloney has become 17yo Justin. The part is played by the real-life Randy Harrison, who-- though he's 22-- could easily pass for 15. In the first episode, to air Dec 3, Justin has his first sexual encounter with the 29yo Brian, which changes his life. He's smitten and develops an emotional attachment, but both of them are really after the sex. And unusually for American TV, they get it. This attachment is complicated by Brian's friend Michael [who always loved Brian.] Of course-- we saw this coming didn't we?-- Michael starts to reset Justin, and one can only image the delicious drama unfolding from there.

If you're familiar with the British show, this will all be familiar. But remembering from the British version that Brian character [Stuart] is sometimes a total dick, I ask just how it might be possible for Justin to fall for him so completely. "Well it's a great study in the mechanics of desire" Randy says. But unlike the British version, in the American version the actor is gay. Randy came out to friends and family when he was 16 . "I wrote my parents a three-paged letter and left it on the kitchen table before they woke up one morning," he says. "Then I left, came out to my girlfriend of three years, and returned that evening to deal with my parents. I thought it was important that they had some time to deal with it individually before I stepped in. It turned out they were completely supportive. My dad said he'd never been more proud of me."

In fact like his character, Randy went to a conservative private school, "where it didn't seem worth it to rock the boat by making some huge declaration." He knew he'd soon be out of there, so he only came out to close friends: "All the friends I told reacted ideally," the says, "but then I'd never have gotten close with anyone who would have rejected me. "I'm very slow to trust." Randy is a graduate of the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music where he studied theater for 4 years. He has been acting since he was 7. "It was always something I loved. Even my mom was worried I'd become a stage kid, but the fact is I love acting, and I get depressed when I'm not doing it," he says.

Though he hasn't seen the British Queer as Folk, when he heard about the series, he knew he wanted the part. "I immediately knew I was perfect for it, even though Justin is quite a different person," he says. He got the part after two auditions. But he's not going to watch the UK version until after taping is done: that way he thinks he can keep his Justin role as fresh and unfiltered as possible.

A big question on people's minds: will gay teens relate to Justin? "Yes, I think they will," Randy says. "I think It will be an enormous comfort to suddenly see a gay teen depicted on television with such candor and complexity." But he's also careful to mention that Justin isn't intended to represent all gay teens. "Justin is NOT a depiction of all gay teen life. He's just one 17-year-old gay boy and it's just his one specific story. He's not intended to represent the 'typical gay teen experience.' The writers wisely steered clear of 'representations', choosing instead to focus on these specific human beings and their individual lives."

The British Queer as Folk raised age-of-consent eyebrows [to say the least] and since Showtime's version will show a 17 year old having sex with a 29 year old, that same reaction is assured here. Randy doesn't care. "Frankly, I've never know the age of consent to prevent an adult and a minor from having sex of there was a mutual attraction and consent, within reason. It will definitely leave many people thinking about age of consent laws. Can we really determine an age where one becomes capable of dealing with the implications of sexual interaction? Do we ever really handle sex like adults?"

There will be 22 episodes of Queer as Folk and Randy has been making one episode every 7 working days . That rigorous schedule doesn't allow him to get to his New York home very much to enjoy the company of his boyfriend. "It's very hard to manage my personal and working life, especially living so far away," he says. But at a time when gay actors are less and less afraid to be typecast as gay characters for the rest of their lives, he isn't too concerned. He's sure this was one really good career move for him. We can already tell he's going to be sensational.

Will the very controversial Queer as Folk catapult him into gay teen hero status? Randy won't guess. But, he says, "I'm not not excited. I just want to be a good actor and I'm really proud of the work I'm doing. Queer as Folk shows important things to a big audience and it's about time these characters existed on television. And I'm just really happy about that.











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@темы: 2000

Comments

[yennifaire]

мммммм!!! ура!! какое фото (этя про первое)!!)) и новое место))
еще ничего не читала - но уже радуюсь)) урраааа!!!)))

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yennifaire

мммммм!!! ура!! какое фото (этя про первое)!!))

ыъ)))))

еще ничего не читала - но уже радуюсь)) урраааа!!!)))

you're welcome!!))