queer-as-folk.it

Gale's chat on Showtime's Talk city

Sunday, February 10th 2001

by: Sho
Source: sho.com
Edited by: Marcy

Moderator1: Welcome everyone! Thanks for signing on for our chat with Gale Harold, who plays " Brian" on QAF. After studying briefly at American University in Washington, D.C. on a soccer scholarship, Gale went on to study Fine Arts at the San Francisco Art Institute. In 1997, Gale re-located to Los Angeles, where he began to pursue his career as an actor. He subsequently completed the Actor's Conservatory Program with A Noise Within classical theatre company, and appeared in several stage productions before starring in QAF. Last spring Gale made his New York stage debut Off-Broadway in Austin Pendleton's " Uncle Bob." Welcome back to our QAF chats for a second time, Gale. Let's get started and talk about the sixth episode of season two!

Gale Harold: Hi!

Linda: In this season your character is very different. Which season did you enjoy doing better?
Gale Harold: He's different, but not radically. But I couldn't say I enjoyed one over the other in terms of the work. It would be odd to compare the two as stand-alone kinds of experiences. We couldn't have season 2 without season 1. I've had more fun because I"ve had more latitude this season being able to play a fuller range of this character's inner life. He's being pushed to deal with more. There's sort of a "love interest" because the character of Brian never really opened up. I guess that's the road in for the season 2 difference. I guess to answer the question it would be hard to evaluate the question 1 over the other.

Yresist:
What are your plans while on hiatus? Do they include a play? A fter the excellent reviews for Uncle Bob and all the media attention for QAF, I would think there would be a lot of interest.
Gale Harold: I don't have any plans for the hiatus at the moment.

KBstickss:
Gale, last seasons dance scene at the "prom" was great, do you have any prior training in dance?
Gale Harold: No, I don't have any prior training in dance. It's the magic of cameras. Of moving cameras, I should say.

Trakkyboy: Hello Gale, Big fan of your character. I was wondering, how has the effect of playing the character Brian been on your life outside of work?
Gale Harold: I can pay the bills now.

Bono: do you like you character? what would you change about your character?
Gale Harold: Yes, I like the character. What would I change about him? I think everybody knows he needs a new car. I might be restless as an actor to do different things with him. I don't know if I would necessarily change fundamentally where we're at, but ... I guess I would hope for, depending on the future of the show, he got pushed into more and more complex ... situations in terms of what his life is about and what he goes through. Moving beyond what we've already seen him do, the world he operates in. Maybe more of his professional life and his extended family of friends. And into his own family. I'd like to see him put into, not to say, conventional circumstances ... Not so much the drugs and sex. I think that will happen because all of the characters are introduced in transitional stages. For example, Brian is going through a major transitional period. I'm looking forward to him changing my nature of the show.

Cosmillo: Is Brian the most challenging role you've ever attempted? If so, why, if not what was?
Gale Harold: Sorry, "by" nature of the show. On some levels, he's been extremely difficult just because of the intense amount of ... sexualized story that we've told. That can be difficult at times. But I wouldn't say he's the most difficult character.

Bridgy101: What was the most difficult scene to film for you?
Gale Harold: I don't think I have a memory of a most difficult scene that I've had to film. There's more challenging stuff, at least in this job, it's all been very good experiences ... and more challenging ... emotionally. But sometimes the difficult stuff actually is doing scenes in nightclubs or bars where ... because of the situation surrounding you having to project everything as if you're talking over loud music ... and after 5 or 6 hours of being in a scene, you've got the two or three other actors ... then you've got a room full of background performers that have been there ... they're typically tired as we all are. It can be kind of a challenge to go from pounding music that gets cut and then ... everyone's miming that they're dancing and you're trying to have a meaningful scene with someone. And you can't really speak conversationally because you're having to project in this odd volume. It can make you very self-conscious. It's almost like performing life, but the people that you're performing to have heard the same thing for the last 5 hours, and you get sick of it after awhile.

Wndrngrl: I have read that you like stage work over film. Is it that you find film more restrictive?
Gale Harold: That may be a misquote. I love them both. Each can be amazing experiences. Live work on stage is always going to have that original, authentic level of reality (hopefully) ... in that the exchange is momentary until the next performance. Whereas film tends to fracture out and you can lose your way and sometimes, especially in a TV series ... you become somewhat a slave to the grind of the schedule. You have to keep making it fresh for yourself. It can be a great challenge too. But also rewarding. But I love them both.

Liongirl: Gale, how did the gay-bashing show affect you personally?
Gale Harold: The show didn't necessarily affect me personally. Maybe I'm interpreting that different from the person asking the question. As an actor, it was fairly intense episode. Personally, even now when I see clips of that ... I just saw a clip of Justin being hit in the head ... that one shot where the bat comes and makes contact ... it can still kind of make my stomach roll a little bit. And certainly for the weeks leading up to that episode and afterwards when we were working on it. And trying to build that reality up in my mind. Not pleasant in the least, but I'm happy with the way the episode turned out. I think it was fairly believable.

Missmystery10: this season Brian seems to be in love with Justin...how do you the two of you make it look so real?
Gale Harold: That's a different take on the character than I have. I'm not sure how we make it seem so real. It seems to me that there's different ways one can interpret the relationship this year. It doesn't seem to me to be clear-cut, as "in love" or "not in love". And I think that Randy and I are just playing facets of that relationship simultaneously. And as the characters become more realized, hopefully it will become clearer to people even what the characters ... don't understand about themselves. By seeing that and the performance, it may become clearer that Brian certainly has strong feelings for Justin, but ... I don't play it as " Brian's in love." I think there are so many things in the relationship that he's dealing with and trying to sort out. It's pushed him a lot closer to Justin in many different ways. And that can be interpreted even by some of the other characters.

Cathy13: Is it hard to "unwind" in your spare time? It seems like playing Brian could take over, emotionally.
Gale Harold: No, I don't have much trouble unwinding.

Qtpie26sjmt: Do you think portraying a gay man will typecast you for future roles?
Gale Harold: No.

Missmystery10: what was your favorite episode since the beginning of the show?
Gale Harold: I think that's a hard question. I don't necessarily have a favorite in my mind right now. I really, really liked episode 5. It's fresh in my mind because I just saw it. But I think there's good stuff about every episode. Episode 5 seemed to really flow. It was even ... and I don't mean boring. And I don't know why that is. And I'm sure another one will come to me.

Karmine_Ghia: what city do you call home
Gale Harold: The one I'm in ... Toronto.

Poohbearjtm: Hi Gale have you ever seen the British version?
Gale Harold: Yes, I loved it.

Mia: Apart from "paying your bills", has "fame" changed you in any way?
Gale Harold: I'm sure it has on some levels, maybe more subconsciously. It hasn't been intensely bad or good. It's just different and sometimes very strange. But we're still pretty bush league, so it's not that intense. We're still small fry, is what I'm trying to say. What I'm trying to say is, we're only "small fries."

Sugarmaude: Gale, how have your friends/family reacted to your being in this role?
Gale Harold: Pretty good! Nothing too drastic. I think they're happy that I'm doing well and at least in terms of paying the rent. And I think they're happy for me that I'm being paid. I think they're slightly amused at all of the promotion and the surreality of that. Seeing your face plastered around.

LilBigMan: Gale, great work as " Brian"! Are you able to move around Toronto without being recognized by fans? Gale Harold: Yes, I'm able to move around with my cloak and helmet!

Isabel949CA: Brian is extremely confident... are you that confident in real life?
Gale Harold: No way!

Peanutgallery: Hey Gale. Love your work. What is your weekly filming schedule like? Hours per day?
Gale Harold: We work Mon-Fri ... I work anywhere from 3 to 5 days a week. And anywhere from 8 to sometimes 16, 17 hours a day.

ADRIAN: I read that you had a soccer scholarship at one time, did you have aspirations of becoming a professional soccer player? What happened to make you change your direction?
Gale Harold: The funny thing about that is my dreams of playing professionally became more intense after I basically gave up playing. Funny how that works! But it was probably still quite a long shot. And I got out of it initially because I just wasn't ready to spend such a large amount of time in a college ... athletic environment. Philosophical differences made it impossible. And I was probably a little too immature to see through what I perceived as intolerable conditions. What I'm trying to say is that at the time, I was under the impression that athletics ... it just wasn't cool. I wanted to do other things. It was a silly state of mind to get into. Because I still love the game. It's a brilliant game.

Heather: what position did you play back when you played soccer? (I Love soccer and played it from elementry school until the end of hs). do you still play soccer occasionaly?
Gale Harold: Mostly I played midfield and stopper, outside right. I played stopper, outside right back and midfield. And I do try to play when I can. But these days I end up watching more than playing. I'm actually [watching?] Roma vs. Juventus right now. I think they're going to tie.

Firefly319: Gale, do you think that we will ever find out what the cowry shell bracelet the Brian wears means? Or do you think that they will leave us to make up our own interpretations?
Gale Harold: Everyone even remotely connected to this TV show is contractually bound to secrecy. But not about that. So who knows?

IndieFILMMAKER: what is it like working with the incredible Sharon Gless?
Gale Harold: It's incredible! It's exciting and fun and hilarious and very easy because she's so open and extremely giving person and actor. She's got the chops and the years of experience to be able to walk the line between ... being a really good person (just a person on set at work), and still being totally connected to her character ... and to the characters that she's working with and the story that she's telling. So I love it and I wish we had more scenes together. I guess that kind of goes to that earlier question about changing Brian's character. Not fundamental changes, but increasing the number of scenes he has with Debbie. It would be very interesting because I think there's a lot there in that relationship. It's really loaded with stuff that you kind of see through Brian and Michael. And she is a stepmother for Brian. Sort of. I think actually she's really more like a guardian angel in a way., She calls him on his bullshit. She does that for everyone, but I think there's some really interesting things in that relationship ... because I think Brian's past experience growing up with his mother was rough. Even though she wasn't conscious of what they were doing ( Debbie) ... they have this great unspoken dynamic going. I think what we see is that she gets really disappointed by his behavior but she understands why. And it's a great kind of functional/dysfunctional relationship because he knows that she cuts him slack. Just as much as she takes him to task. And I think that kind of dynamic has become a constant in his life. Something that he can depend on. Even though Michael has been hurt in the past. I really like to work with Sharon. I really, really do.

Teri: Gale: which actor on the show have you learned the most from and why?
Gale Harold: I've learned the most from Randy Harrison. Because of his fantastic imaginary world filled with bizarre friends. He is constantly giving us good advice.

1014nyc: would you be interested in directing one of the episodes?
Gale Harold: Yes, I'd love to! But I think there's a line forming. People already have their bids in. I haven't really pushed for that. It would be great if that could happen some day.

Catwoman: Have you ever done or wanted to do comedy?
Gale Harold: I've never really done anything that's full-on comedic. But I would love to try.

Jody21: Gale , I graduated from American University a few years ago...Did you enjoy your time there and in DC (even though it was short-lived)? Would you ever do theatre back in DC?
Gale Harold: Yes, I had some fun in D.C., definitely. The school wasn't really right for me. But I met some great people there. Actually one of my oldest friends, I met there. And we decided to move to San Francisco together. If there was a good project that I had the opportunity to go to D.C. I'd go. Being that close to the guy (you know who I'm talking about), would make me nervous.

Sasha: Do you think Brian will ever really settle down with Justin, and do you think he should?
Gale Harold: Objectively, from the outside, I could never see it happening. It doesn't make sense to me. And in terms of what my backstory is, my own personal way that I see Brian ... and also, in light of what I've been led to believe is that the concept of the head writers for his character. But who knows? They may have something up their sleeves that could change all that. I would be surprised. And in my opinion, as an outsider stepping back and looking at it, ... it's not more would it be right for Brian, but would it be right for Justin. And I don't think it would be right for Justin.

Siennalake: Do you have any film projects in the works?
Gale Harold: Not at the moment.

SupremeGoddess: What made you decide to try for and accept the role?
Gale Harold: First of all, you've got to go to every audition. I pursued it because it was challenging and interesting.

AnnaSeattle: How long do you plan on sticking to television before you hit the big screen?
Gale Harold: 15 minutes!

Raddoc: Who is your role model?
Gale Harold: I'm a little disorganized as a person to have things like role models and goals sorted out and in place ... but I always try and keep my eyes open to see who is doing the kind of work that I'd like to be doing ... and doing it in sucha way that it has an affect on me and the way that I feel. And I kind of just try to keep a running list of those things in my mind. There are just so many that it's like being asked who is your favorite actor. I'm always inspired, impressed by things that I see Willem Dafoe working in and on. And things that he says about the process. What the purpose is. It's potential. I think he has a pretty amazing perspective on what it can be. When it's really happening. Thanks for the great questions. And happy Monday!

Moderator1: Thank you for chatting with Gale Harold. We hope you've enjoyed the chat and the sixth episode of season two of QAF. Tune in to SHOWTIME next February 17 at 10pm ET/PT for an all-new episode. Keep visiting the all-new queer.SHO.com for more insight into QAF, and come back next Sunday to chat with Michelle Clunie who plays " Melanie." The chat room will open at 10pm ET (7pm PT) so that you can chat with other QAF fans during the episode! If you missed tonight's episode, tune in to SHOWTIME on Tuesday at 11pm ET/PT to catch the encore play. See you next time! The chat room will be closing in two minutes, but you can head on over to the message boards and share your thoughts about this weeks episode. The chat room is now closed. Thanks for joining in on tonight's chat. Copyright © 2002, Showtime Networks, Inc. All rights reserved.