June 15, 2001 GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE

Throwing off Sparks

"Queer as Folk' co-star plays gay in a most effective way

by Kaizaad Kotwal

Queer as Folk has fast become the highest-rated program in the history of Showtime. Since debuting last December, it has developed a faithful following.

At weekly Sunday gatherings, groups of friends gather to watch the latest shenanigans of a group of gay and lesbian Pittsburgh residents as they navigate the sexual, personal and professional waters of their troubled and often exotic existences.

24,

The current season will climax on June

but next season is just around the corner. Queer as Folk has been helped in large part by a sharp and effective promotional campaign unleashed by the cable network. Before critics and enemies of such frank programming had the chance to launch their arrows, the series' ad campaign proclaimed that the show was too hot to handle.

Hal Sparks, one of the stars of the series, spoke with Gay People's Chronicle from his trailer in Toronto, where the show is filmed.

The affable and giving Sparks shed some light about this ground-breaking show, its impact on pop culture and the people who are queer as folk. Sparks, a straight man, plays Michael Novotny, probably the most interesting and complex of the series' characters.

Michael is out to his friends but in the closet at work. At 30, he is a romantic at heart

Hal Sparks

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and has long carried the flame of unrequited love for Brian, the hunky hedonist who gets away with anything and everything. Michael has the boyish good looks of Justin (the 17year-old neophyte on the show) bundled with maturity and a sense of responsibility to friends and family.

Yet he also has a childish innocence, obsessed with comic book characters and embarrassed by the double entendres of his sassy mother, played to campy perfection by Sharon Gless. In essence, Michael is the one you would most likely take home to your family; the most dateable one on this show.

So why does Michael continue to be friends with Brian, a self-absorbed, egomaniacal, sex-obsessed S.O.B.? Sparks says the relationship is complex, based in a lifelong friendship and undying love.

"As the series progresses, Brian grows up a bit," says Sparks.

Sparks is hopeful that the series will be renewed from year to year. "We have standard TV contracts and potentially could be in it for years." Based on current ratings, Sparks' dream may come true. But he knows the show's longevity depends on the "audience's desire" and passing the "scrutiny of the core audience." (Showtime has ordered 20 more episodes for next season.)

I ask Sparks what it was like to play a gay person on a series that is so frank in its sexuality and depiction of sex. On one level, Sparks believes that playing a gay person isn't that different from his experiences as a straight man.

"It's about who he loves, about his level of self-esteem and that isn't all that different." On the other hand, Sparks admits, "The physical stuff is all new to me." And there is a lot of physical stuff for these actors to pull off. Sparks' concern is that he come "across as real and that it looks like there's true emotion behind him so that you end up caring for him."

The show's no-holds-barred portrayal of sex, with oodles of nudity, tantalizing close-ups

and slick camera work, would be a challenge even for the most seasoned, uninhibited of performers. For Sparks, those scenes are "very medical, very clinical.

"It's all about hitting your mark, staying in the right light. There's much less emotional content in those scenes than in the relationship scenes, you know, the ones about the unrequited love."

Sparks is also very candid about the fact that everyone from the producers to the audience "has an agenda" about the controversy of the show. Sometimes, Sparks goes head to head with the creative team about choices that his character makes.

"I have to protect the character stuff," he explains, "because it can't be gratuitous. If Michael starts to have sex like Brian, in back alleys and at all times, in all sorts of places in every conceivable position, then it becomes completely unreal."

It seems that the producers, in wanting to keep the hype of controversy and full-fledged sex acts going strong, sometimes lose clarity about the authenticity of the characters and the story lines.

"I am the voice of Michael," Sparks says, "and not that of all gay men. There is a lot of pressure to be risqué. A

lot of people were concerned that the American one wouldn't go as far as the British series. So," he adds matter-of-factly, "you get a chip on your shoulder and you try to keep pushing the envelope."

Despite the more liberal standards in Europe, Sparks reminds us that "the British series was on broadcast channels and we are on cable," giving the American series even more carte blanche.

As we talk in his trailer between filming shots that evening, Sparks wants to talk about another issue. "I feel a lot of pressure to be a spokesperson for the gay community now that I am playing this guy on television. And there is no way that I can be that. I can't pretend."

Sparks recounts the bizarre experience he had at the series' New York première, which he attended with his girlfriend. "There was a lot of talk from the press, the gay press in particular, behind my back, about how I had showed up with a woman in tow."

Apparently, the press and some of the audience were disappointed that their image of Sparks' character didn't match that of the man on the red carpet that evening.

"I was just being honest about who I am in my life," says Sparks. "I think it would have been really insulting to the gay community and worse for me to have shown up at the première by myself, to be ambiguous and to lure the audience into a false sense of fantasy and security."

It's quite obvious that the gay community can be as prejudiced and inane in attacks on celebrities as can the mainstream media.

Sparks and I then turned our attention to the fact that a controversial and frank show like Queer as Folk has its fair share of detractors from the religious and political right; even some from within the gay community.

The former are concerned with the moral decline of America and their vision of modern-day Gomorrahs. Those within the community are concerned about the perpetuation of the stereotypes of gay men as promiscuous, drug-popping, bar-hopping sluts obsessed with designer underwear, full-body depilation and penis size.

Sparks is very aware of the agendas of both sets of detractors. "The danger," he says, "is of only watching the show initially. Of watching the pilot, glancing at it out of curiosity and making such gross judgments." For Sparks, there is much more going on.

"If I were a gay person, I would be concerned, but it needs to be remembered that these are the realities of these seven people and the club scene and not of all gay people. Their real lives, concerns and loves far outweigh the stereotypes of the drugs and alley

sex.'

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Sparks is aware that "the danger is always from those who don't watch but hear bits and pieces from here and there."

Sparks, who came by his fame doing the funny and irreverent Talk Soup on the E! cable network is charming, funny, intelligent and extremely astute. His smile can light up the room and his boyish face exudes charm, sassiness and warmth all at once.

It is clear that he is having a ball playing Michael Novotny. He turns in a solid performance week after week, and in some ways is the grounding force of a group of characters that sometimes become very flaky; even unbelievable.

Gless, known for her role in the 1980s police drama Cagney and Lacey, is a hoot to watch. Her character accepts gay people more openly than anyone else on the show-including the gay characters themselves.

"She is like a rock, and I can always count on her," Sparks says. "She is the pro of the one-hour drama, and we are really like mother and son on the set."

Sparks also has high praise for all his costars, referring to them as "fantastic."

Our interview ends when Sparks must return to shooting. As the season winds up, he will be returning stateside to work on other projects. He'll go back to Toronto in late summer to start shooting a second season of the series.

He promises great things to come as the series progresses, and says he is willing to come back and chat with us again. We certainly hope he does.

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