Gale Harold, who played bad boy Brian Kinney on Showtime's Queer as Folk, is missing the cast's first official reunion since the show ended its run in 2005.
But he wants his fans and his former co-stars to know that he very much wanted to be with them in Cologne, Germany, this week for Rise n' Shine 2012, where the reunion is currently taking place.
'I’d love to be there to celebrate with you,' he says in a lengthy statement. 'Obviously QAF changed all of our lives. And that fact is more than just the echo of a well-worn phrase. In the years since the series completed, one thing has become very clear to me; there were many lifelong transformations that I, and I think my cast-mates went through while living through our characters.'
The series followed the lives and loves of a group of gay friends living in Pittsburgh and Harold was in the cast for the entire five-year run of the show.
'I had been greatly looking forward to attending the convention, reuniting with all my old cast-mates and meeting all of you,' he added. 'A wonderful work opportunity has only recently come my way and unfortunately the scheduling of that project does not allow me the time to come to Cologne and join you. This disappoints me just as much as I fear it will disappoint many of you. I hope you will all understand and forgive my absence.'
Harold, who has gone on the have a recurring role on ABC's Desperate Housewives and starring roles on NBC's Vanished and in The CW shows Hellcats and The Secret Circle, reflected in his statement about the impact of the series.
'I can remember when we started to hear the stories from those first watching the show,' he said. 'I will never forget being told by some of my brothers and sisters in the gay, lesbian, bi-sexual and transgender community that they were hearing their own voices and seeing themselves, some for the first time, on screen.'
'Not everyone in the community saw, or even liked the work we did,' he added. 'But there were many who found hope and solidarity in the stories we tried to tell. I’ve heard that directly from many of those who did. That is undoubtedly what I treasure most. The best we can do as story tellers is tell the truth and find someone to listen to us and respond; however it affects them and however we get there. We told the truth.'
Meanwhile, at the reunion in Cologne, Randy Harrison was interviewed:
Since QAF ended you only worked on theater. Is there a reason for?
R.H.: “Because I prefer it. (laughing) And also because the ending of QAF wasn’t that good for me in case of my TV experiences. I got a lot of similar offers for other TV shows and movies, while the offers from theater were more different and versatile. And so it was an easy decision. I wanted to develop as an actor and I think that’s easier while working on stage. With every rehearsal and every new co star I learn something new.”
But you don’t regret your work on QAF, do you?
R.H.: “Absolutely not! I am really thankful for being a part of a show that still catches up peoples fancy and that people still appreciate the work we did. I guess that’s because before and after there had never been a show like QAF.”
Do people still recognize you? And if they do, what are they say to “Justin”?
R.H.: “In NY, where I live, people barely recognize me. And if they do, it’s always nice! Because these people are really lovely and sometimes they tell me how much Justin meant to them and that the show helped them with their lives.”
While playing Justin, what did you learn about yourself? Would you two like each other?
R.H.: “I learned how to act in front of a camera. I barely had any kind of experience about that before. Unfortunately I accustomed some really bad things in those five years of QAF. Like to “underact” the lines when I thought Justin wouldn’t talk like that. That’s stupid of course! I should’ve play out every single sexual ambiguity the writers wanted to put into the character! Justin could’ve been a lot more plastic (?) if I would’ve been more gamier with my acting back then. After all Justin wasn’t my idea, it wasn’t my character, it was their doll to play with, so to say. Back then I took everything a little bit too personal and that wasn’t good for my acting. It wouldn’t have been necessary. And no, I don’t think that Justin and I would really like each other. But we also wouldn’t not like each other. I think we wouldn’t really care about each other. His implicit Will to follow hetero normative examples of roles and relationships is not who I am. Bull**** like that bores me.
Do you regret your openly coming out during the show?
R.H.: “No. The more actors are openly out, the better.”
Does QAF shows the real Gay scene?
R.H.: “The gay scene in QAF is the wishful thinking of the writers and creators. It’s a could be/should be. I wouldn’t say it doesn’t exist, but it’s only a small part of the gay scene. The real gay scene is a lot more versatile.”
Are you happy to be with your former Co-Stars again?
R.H.: “Sure! (laughs) We’re all still friends and see each other from time to time. But since I do live on the east coast and all the others live at the west coast I don’t see them as much as they see each other, unfortunately. For example: I haven’t seen Hal [Sparks, playing Michael] since the day we stopped filming QAF. I excited to change that now.”
You were Justin for 5 years, you know him. Where would he be today?
R.H.: “I think, he’s still in NY. But he’s not a popular artist. I mean, he made some Photoshop stuff on the computer in Pittsburgh an then printed them on Photo paper to show them to galleries. That only proves that he had no idea what was really going on in the art scene in 2005. And that makes me think that he wasn’t a very curious guy at all. Today he would work in a good position in a graphic design company or maybe he’s doing some advertising work. He’s good with the Computer, with Photoshop and illustration and maybe even with Flash Animation, so I think he would make some good money. He would have a partner who makes a lot more money than he does and who’s a lot older than he is. Justin does totally maintain a father complex. Unfortunately! (laughs) They married as soon as gay marriage was allowed in NY and they live at Chelsea or Hell’s Kitchen in Manhattan and they don’t like people who live in Brooklyn. Justin never had been in an Off-Brodway-theather. I could see him and his husband looking out for a surrogate mother for their child. Because of course they are narcissistic and rich enough to reproduce even though there’s an overpopulation in Manhattan. Justin thinks he’s one of the top 1000 gays of New York and he’s really proud about that! Things like that got very important for him lately. If he comes back to Pittsburgh for visiting, he makes his old friends feel bad about themselves – even though that’s not his intention. (laughs) And… do you know that feeling when you are completely drunk and then have sex with someone and the next morning you wake up and think O my god, how could this happen? and then you feel a little sick when you remember all the details of that night? That’s how Justin feels today when he’s back to Pittsburgh for visiting his mother and then accidentally meets Brian. His husband would make fun about their former relationship. And even though Justin would object piously a little bit – in the end he would laugh about it.”
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It's a shame Gale was not able to attend but at least he still appreciates and celebrates working on the series!
