GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE

APRIL 17, 1998

Evenings Out

Unrequite love storie are always best kind

BARRY WETCHER

by Tim Nasson

Los Angeles—In The Object of My Affection, Jennifer Aniston plays quite a different character than the likeable Rachel on her hit NBC sitcom Friends. In this big screen venture, she plays Nina Borowski, a deeply troubled young woman who falls hard and fast for George Hanson, a charming, handsome-but decidedly gay-young man, played by Paul Rudd, best known to film audiences as Alicia Silverstone's stepbrother in Clueless.

The film, which opens in wide release on April 17, is based on a novel by gay author Stephen McCauley. Nicholas Hytner, who like the author is also openly gay, directs the film, and promises, "There are no limp wrists and no slit wrists-in this film.”

Nina is in love with George, and determined to make him feel the same way, even though she knows he's gay.

"I know some screaming queens, and I am friends with many of them, but you won't see any in this film," Hytner said. "Thankfully, Hollywood as well as the moviegoing audience has changed, and gay characters in films no longer have to be stereotypical."

There were some changes made from the

BARRY WETCHER

book to the film, such as updating it from 1988 to the present. One of the bigger changes was the addition of a scene in which George and Nina teeter dangerously on the verge of having sex.

"During a test screening in New York City, a particularly evil gay couple began hissing at the screen when Paul and Jennifer began kissing and making out," Hytner said. "I wanted to shout out, 'Wait, you fuckers, and just see what happens,” he adds, grinning.

Lead actors Aniston and Rudd took time on a Saturday afternoon to discuss the film and the impression they believe it will make on audiences around the world.

"First of all, many people will be shocked to see Rachel pregnant, without a husband and in love with a gay guy, Aniston-said. "Once they get over those three things, I am sure they will warm to the story."

Tens of millions watch Friends each Thursday night and see Aniston as a woman trying to make it in the Big Apple. In that show, she has companions and roommates constantly surrounding her with support and advice.

In Object, Nina is by herself, making decisions on her own, some of which don't seem too bright to the average person. For instance, why would a gal in her right mind drop everything-including a boyfriend and the father of her expected child-for a gay man?

"It made total sense to me," Aniston said, adding that she knew she wanted to play Nina as soon as she read the script. "People experience what Nina experiences every day. Many deep friendships turn into sexual attractions. They are the reason for many marriages and romances. Plus, she added, “Unrequited love stories are always the best kind and most exciting."

For Aniston, the situation was one she could truly relate to. She admits having fallen in love with a cute gay boy while in high school.

Nicholas Hytner

"I never told him, but I did want to go out with him," Aniston recalls.

Twenty-nine year old actor Paul Rudd said that although he is straight, playing a gay character was "not a big deal."

Playing George was an "enjoyable" experience, said Rudd, who grew up as one of the few Eastern European Jews amongst the farm boys in Kansas City.

"I know that the story is a very common one. People fall in love with people who don't feel the same about them every day. This time it just happens to be a woman in love with a man who is gay, and [she] is determined to make him feel the same way about her at any consequence."

Getting inside this character was simple for Rudd, who said, "I certainly didn't need to do research to play a gay character. If I was playing someone who had been in prison for years, I wouldn't spend six months in jail to get a feeling for what it's like."

"I felt no responsibility to promote a gay character. I felt the responsibility to create a great character. Gayness is so not what [George] is all about. He is a person, and that is how George is depicted on screen."

Playing George did require him to kiss another man in the film (newcomer Amo Gulinello), as well as Jennifer Aniston. When asked who was the better kisser, Rudd replied slyly, "I wouldn't be a gentleman if I said, would I?”

With Object in the can as the first bigbudget gay Hollywood film of 1998, Hytner and the entire cast can now only wait to see if audiences, gay and straight, will warm to the story. Chances are, it will do well, Hytner says, mainly because it's target audience— those under thirty-“thinks of homosexuality as no big deal."

Hytner adds, "Though there is a long way to go, many battles have already been fought and won."

Tim Nasson is a Boston writer who can be reached at TNasson@aol.com.