I was out with my family but you know that was certainly a rocky road. And ah out, out with my family simply because my mother listened in on a phone call. I have one of those moms, ya know?...I love you mom! Because I know she's gonna be listening to this! No, she's amazing. But, but after a long period of time they finally come around.
Well, I first, I was in the fifth grade when I clued in, and I ahh and I think I was about twenty years old when she listened in. I had just broken up with my first boyfriend and ah...
Yeah. Well, it was a scary thing. A lot of people said that I absolutely should not...they cautioned me against it because prior to this, I pretty much always played the leading man type guy opposite different women on "Caroline in The City," and "Friends" and "Popular"--ya know, different shows. Mostly comedy, but I was told that you can't be openly gay and the leading man type in Hollywood, and I have to say that it's been amazing because I get emails from all over the world...and apparently women don't care!
I love that...I love many things about Ben. I love that he's spiritual. I relate to him in a lot of ways...ya know we're both very focused on literature. He's a literature professor. The character description originally said that Ben is just as comfortable on the dance floor as he is in front of the classroom and I definitely relate to that!...and ahh...but really more than anything, as you can see I have my little Buddha on. I have definitely started to focus on spirituality in my life a lot, and that's something that I love.
Ya know, I say that it's been a blessing in many ways to get to play the character for that factor. One, the less important reason I suppose is that as an actor I get to go places that we very seldom get to go. I had a whole storyline about steroid use. and ya know Ben's' lover who had infected him died, and he ya know he spins out over that and so that has been amazing. I've had to reach into places and pick wounds to really experience some that, but more important...You know, gay people don't have much of a voice as it is. It's growing! It's growing a lot actually!
I agree, but more important then that, people who are HIV positive certainly don't have much of a voice and so I love getting to be the mouthpiece for a lot of people who are otherwise voiceless.