Queer as They Come
by Jack Shamama
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Scott Lowell, artist Andy Harding,
and Peter Paige at the Tails of
the City benefit
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Like most people, I was quick to dismiss Showtime's "Queer as Folk"
as not quite up to par with the U.K. version. But having caught a few
of the recent episodes, I've been pleased to see that the show has developed into a
funnier, campier version of itself, making me optimistic for the next
season.
Peter Paige (who plays Emmett Honeycut) and Scott Lowell (who plays Ted
Schmidt) were recently in San Francisco to promote a celebrity mouse
auction. I met up with them to see if I could get any first-hand dirt
from the set. Whereas Lowell was a lot like the dry but occasionally
wise-cracking accountant he plays on the show, I was surprised by the
openly gay Paige, who, sporting thrift-store duds, was not at all like his
retail-queen/fashion victim character, Emmett.
Jack Shamama: Peter, do you like playing Emmett?
Peter Paige: The thing that drew me to Emmett when I first read the
script is: Here's this guy -- he's outrageous, he's flamboyant, he's
definitely the queeniest, but he's lacking in self-loathing. In almost
every
media portrayal you see, the more effeminate a gay man is, the more he
hates himself.
Shamama: How closely is he to yourself in real life?
Paige: I'm an actor playing a role. I'm a lot more grounded, a lot more
jaded. A lot less fabulous than Emmett is ...
Scott Lowell: Well, barely ... just barely less fabulous than Emmett
[laughs].
Paige: In my best moments, I think I have some of the same compassion
and openness that he does.
Shamama: Scott, can you relate to playing Ted?
Lowell: I love Ted. He's kind of turned into every gay man. And I love
that he's a universal character, gay or straight. In my mind, he's the
character that everyone can relate to -- everyone has felt like Ted at
one
point in time or been Ted at one point in time.
Shamama: When straight actors play a gay role and have a sex scene, everyone
always wonders what it's like. But, Peter, what was it like to be gay and
have to do a straight sex scene (as you did on a recent episode)?
Paige: [laughs] I've done infinitely many more straight sex scenes
than I
have done gay sex scenes. It's like doing a stunt. There's nothing sexy
about it. I know that's what everybody says, but it's really true. You're
naked; there's at least seven or eight people in the room. You're trying
to
develop some kind of energy, some kind of chemistry. It's not nearly as
fun
as people might think.
Shamama: Scott, do you have to go to Peter for advice on playing gay?
Lowell: No. Not really.
Paige: Scott's plenty gay on his own [laughs]. [The cast members] all
understand the emotional lives of these characters. Nobody ever wondered
what it was like to fall in love.
Shamama: I guess it's a moot point now since we have so many major actors
playing gay. I mean, James Gandolfini from "The Sopranos" played a gay guy
in "The Mexican" and no one really noticed.
Paige: And the idea that only gay people can play gay characters is
dangerous because it means that I can't play straight characters.
Shamama: Any ideas what's going to go down on the second season?
Lowell: We've talked with the producers and gave them our ideas.
Paige: They're charting out the major plots and twists. It looks to be
quite good -- there's some good stuff down the road -- particularly for
our
boys Emmett and Ted.
Shamama: What's the set like once the cameras stop rolling? I can't imagine
that once they yell "cut," everyone sits around and drinks tea.
Paige: It's certainly a naughty, irreverent set, but it's also a job.
We
keep it very professional.
Lowell: I did break the bed with Roger, the guy I kicked out of bed for
having bad breath. It was my first sex scene, and I was like, "I bet this
doesn't happen with Gale [Harold] during his sex scenes. ... "
Shamama: What about that porn star Ted and Michael hired to save Emmett from
the ex-gay brainwashing? That must have been a fun scene to film.
Paige: He's not really a porn star -- he's an actor.
Shamama: Well, he really had the porn star esthetic down ...
Lowell: Absolutely. And he's a giant. That was one of the harder
episodes not to laugh during -- especially when we were at his play, "Twelve Horny
Men."
Shamama: So, I want to give you guys a chance to quash the rumors that there's all
kinds of catty, backstabbing drama going on on the set, especially between
Peter and Hal Sparks.
Paige: I will happily quash that rumor. I adore Hal and think he's a
wonderful person and talented actor. I am sure most of that is derived out
of one comment he made that was taken out of context, which I've been
asked
to respond to, like, 900 times now. Any idea people have that Hal is
homophobic is inaccurate. Any sense people have that Hal wants people to
know that he's straight is about his career. I think he was thought of as
gay much more on "Talk Soup" than on our show.
Shamama: Maybe because it's a gay show, people just assume that there's going
to be drama.
Paige: We all spend 16 to 18 hours a day together. Considering we never
met
before the show, we get along so damn well it's hard to believe. I know
that's not the most exciting thing to say.
Shamama: I am happy to hear it, but I have to admit ... I wanted dirt!
Lowell: [laughs] Well, maybe we can make something up ... uh ...
Michelle
has a second head that she has to keep under her shirt ...
Shamama: Well, thanks for nothing! No, just kidding. Thanks a lot.
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