DNA, Playing Justin (# 58, November 2004)
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Playing Justin
The star of Queer As Folk talks about those sex scenes and why he's not at all like his character, Justin.
http://www.dnamagazine.com.au/default.asp?section_id=307
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Queer as Folk is back on SBS this month. Fans are calling it the best season yet, and critics praise the maturity of the writing and depth of character development. This season, Justin Taylor, played by 27-year-old Randy Harrison, picks up a gun and joins a gay vigilante squad. Matthew Myers spoke to Randy about Justin, those sex scenes and life after QaF.
DNA: There are some great character developments in the new season. How do you feel about Justin's?
RH: I think they are dramatic but justified. I mean, it makes sense that he hasn't entirely dealt with having been attacked. Then, when he watches a close friend of his not defending himself, he becomes extreme, goes in the other direction. It was definitely fun to do, just because the material was so different. After three years, I certainly didn't expect to be handling guns and doing combat scenes on Queer as Folk.
DNA: As a vigilante, Justin has a military style buzz cut. Was losing your blond locks a difficult decision?
RH: It wasn't a decision I had to make. If the producers write it, you kind of have to do it. But I was fine. I couldn't care less about my hair and it had been long for a while, so I was ready for a change.
DNA: One of the long-running characters dies this season. Did that storyline have much impact on the cast?
RH: I think it did. Especially because we were losing an actor who had been with us for three years. We shoot in Toronto and most of us don't live there. I live in New York and so does the actor who's left but he's no longer on set with us, so that's sad.
DNA: The new season features testicular cancer, street violence, loneliness, death and even ghosts. Is there a feeling among the cast that the characters are maturing?
RH: Absolutely. I definitely think it's the aim of the writer and producers to move the show forwards, certainly as far as the kind of issues that the characters are being confronted with. They're all growing up and getting older. Now they're starting to deal with aging – not me, particularly, yet!
DNA: Do you hang out with any of the cast outside of work?
RH: Not really. I mean, we all get along and are all friends, but we don't hang out.
DNA: The sex scenes are always pretty hot. How do you and Gale Harold prepare for them?
RH: We don't prepare for them really. Actually, a lot of it is the trick of the camera, the lighting and music that they put on it. Generally we do it as quickly as possible and it depends on how elaborate it needs to be. They sketch out what needs to be done physically like you would choreograph something ahead of time.
DNA: At DNA we get mail from people confusing Justin the fictional character with Randy the actor who plays him. Do you find this too?
RH: Yeah, I do. Fan mail is odd, though. I think it may be normal for TV actors. People have spent four years seeing me playing this one character and they may never see me do anything else. People often confuse me with the character and, yes, I get fan mail addressed to Justin.
DNA: How different is Randy Harrison to Justin Taylor?
RH: I'm very different. We have very little in common, actually.
DNA: We wouldn't find you hanging out at a club like Babylon, then?
RH: No, I don't go to dance clubs. I don't listen to that type of music or go to gay bars. Although, I'm an artist in a way, I'm not a visual artist. I'm an actor. You know, my hair's a different colour.
DNA: What? You're not blond?
RH: [Laughs] No. That's fake hair! They bleach it for the show. My real hair colour is a dark blond or light brown.
DNA: You did a photo shoot for Vanity Fair with the stars of Will and Grace, Queer Eye and Boy Meets Boy. What was that like?
RH: It was fun. It happened really fast. It was right before we started shooting last year. It was great to meet all those people and they were all really kind. We all got glammed up in a studio in Los Angeles.
DNA: Queer as Folk has pushed many television boundaries. Do you feel like you're part of an historic gay era?
RH: I definitely feel that since the show started the amount of gay subject matter on TV has just skyrocketed. I wonder if it will completely shift the paradigm, or if it's just sort of a fluke. But it seems to me as if television has changed with it. I don't know necessarily if Queer as Folk is responsible, but it's good to know that you're a part of it in some way.
DNA: In Australia, we have a lesbian storyline on a prime-time drama called Neighbours. It's a big thing because it's on at 6.30 pm and it's a very unadventurous show.
RH: Yeah. On All My Children, which is a big soap opera here, there has been a lesbian storyline happening for awhile, maybe even before Queer as Folk started. And the lesbian is one of the lead characters.
DNA: Had you every watched Sharon Gless in Cagney and Lacey?
RH: [Laughs] No, I haven't. I think I've seen half an episode recently. I knew who she was and I knew of Cagney and Lacey, but I haven't actually watched the show.
DNA: You were in a film about high school shootings called Bang, Bang, You're Dead. Can you tell us about your character?
RH: I played Sean. He was based on a combination of real life characters: Kip Kingle, who killed his parents and then himself after he had gone to school and killed a bunch of people, and also a mixture of the two Columbine killers, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold. I did a lot of research on those people and it was really difficult shooting that movie. It was painful and frustrating. I mean, I'm satisfied with it, but it was just really difficult having to live there for the duration of that movie. Having to think and feel that way and try to examine the world that those people lived in.
DNA: On a lighter note, you were once in a stage production of Grease.
RH: [Laughs] I was in the ensemble of Grease when I was 17. I actually got my Actor's Equity card in Grease. In St Louis there's an enormous outdoor theatre, which I think is one of the biggest in the country, and I was cast and became an official actor!
DNA: How long does it take to shoot one episode of QaF?
RH: We're shooting the fifth season now and we're shooting one episode in eight working days. But in past years we did it in seven.
DNA: Will this season be the last?
RH: We don't definitely know yet. We're waiting to hear.
DNA: How cool is it for a gay man like yourself to be living in New York?
RH: I love New York City! I might be biased, well, of course I'm biased! I love it. For the past five years I've been in Toronto all winter and then for the spring, summer and fall I live in New York. It's ridiculously expensive to live here though. I may have to leave Manhattan and go to Brooklyn!
DNA: It's reported that public appearances and autograph signing that the QaF cast do are like Beatle-mania! Is that true?
RH: It is! It's insane. It's actually the one time of the year when we can go out and connect with the audience and the people. I don't know about in Australia, but the fan base here is small but loyal. They love the show and know every episode and everything we have done in our careers. So it feels good to actually meet those people who have been with the show since the beginning. It is like Beatle-mania and it's very draining.
DNA: Australia Russell Mulcahy directed the very first episode of QaF. How did you find working with him?
RH: Oh yeah, Russell's incredible. He came back in the second season as well for a couple of episodes. He's an incredible man. He's got such energy and he's capable of shooting so much more film in a day than anybody else. He's just fanatically shooting all the time. And he's funny.
DNA: Have you seen the British version?
RH: Yeah, I saw the first episode of the British version but not until well into shooting our first season, after I had already shot that portion I also liked Bob and Rose, the series that Russell T Davies, who wrote QaF, did later on.
DNA: How do you see the future for openly gay actors being cast in straight roles?
RH: I honestly don't know, but I hope it's going to be great. I don't actually think I've had that much of a problem. I can't imagine what a gay actor will have to do in order to be cast as the straight male lead in a film. I mean, I'm sure it will happen eventually. But I think actors always have to fight to prove themselves – for any role. I think being gay is just something that people, who would be arguing against you in a role, could try to use against you.
DNA: After QaF what types of roles would you prefer to have?
RH: Immediately, I really want to do something classical or period, something very far away from Babylon. I'd love to do something classical on stage too.
DNA: Is there one QaF episode that's your favourite?
RH: Yes. My favourite is still the last episode of the first season.
DNA: The prom?
RH: Yeah. Getting my head bashed in! It was the most fun to do, but it is still kind of upsetting when I see those pictures of the bloody scarf and all that.
DNA: But before that scene, it was all about Justin and Brian dancing together. That was great. It was a very powerful image.
RH: Yeah, it was like a little musical number in the middle of this dramatic series. It was out of character for the show but at the same time it worked perfectly!
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