Gale Harold reflects on “Queer as Folk”

In the latest issue of Rage Monthly includes a really terrific interview with actor Gale Harold who played Brian Kinney for five seasons on Queer as Folk.

Gale and The L Word’s Jennifer Beals were honored earlier this month at The Center Orange County 2010 Gala Celebration for their contribution to the LGBT experience due to their roles on these landmark Showtime dramas.

Of Queer as Folk, Gale says: “There are hundreds of specific memories but I think in terms of overall memory that comes back to me is how invigorating it was to be working on that role. It was frightening to me taking on that part because I’d seen Aiden Gillen in the original [UK version] by Russell T. Davies. I’m glad that I did but it was such a strong performance, I wanted to bring something that could stand up to it. It was such a bold character and a bold performance. I needed to let everything happen as it should and try to be honest at all times. That’s one of the things I really remember. … It was a little touch and go at first because I just had to make choices and not let myself be swayed by my own self-editing or nervousness. It was very clear to me that I was taking on an important responsibility, but I didn’t want myself to get bogged down by trying to do the right thing. I didn’t want to live up to a bunch of expectations that would be unrealistic to the life the character was leading.”

Gale shares what is his favorite scene that he did and it was opposite Sharon Gless who played the mom of his best friend Michael (Hal Sparks): “There’s a scene that Sharon and I did in my loft smoking a joint. … I feel it’s some of the best work that I did in the show. It’s a moment where Brian is so alone. He actually gets to jack into someone in a way that’s just about love, you know? It’s about what he couldn’t get from his own family; he got it from his best friend’s mother. I think that’s a beautiful thing. It’s kind of how life is more often than not. Sometimes we have to take love where we can find it. He was fortunate to have Michael as a friend and then to have Michael’s mother Debbie give him some heart. He didn’t have a lot of it in his own home.”

The actor, who is straight and played Teri Hatcher’s boyfriend on ABC’s Desperate Housewives, was asked by the magazine what he thought of the recent Newsweek article in which writer Ramin Setoodeh contended that openly gay actors like Sean Hayes and Jonathan Groff are not convincing in heterosexual romantic roles.

“I think that was ill-conceived and a little strange for someone who should be supporting his comrades to take a shot like that,” Gale said. “But, hopefully, he’ll learn a lesson when he goes to Glee school and understands things better. To take a shot at Sean Hayes who has a really established career on stage and screen. Someone who now is a successful, out, working actor and to take a shot at him in Newsweek just seems so petty, you know?”