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GAY WIRED.COM
by
Duane
Wells
Exclusive Q&A with Chad Allen
It’s
unclear whether controversy just finds Chad Allen or whether
he seeks it out, but with his latest role as producer of Terrence
McNally’s highly controversial Corpus Christi it’s pretty
clear that Allen is perfectly at ease with a little (or a
whole lot) of controversy in his life. Probably best known
for his portrayal of the super butch, super hunky Matthew
Cooper on television’s Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, Allen has
been dodging the media’s zings and arrows ever since he was
outed by The Globe a few years back. Since that time he’s
morphed from a teen idol into a serious and very busy young
actor who not only rediscovered his love of theatre and independent
film but also says he has found the greatest peace of his
career as an openly gay man, comfortable in his own skin...
doing the thing he loves most. Last month, Allen was positively
beaming at the Los Angeles premiere of Corpus Christi, a brilliant
play which parallels the New Testament and tells the story
of a homosexual Christ-like figure named Joshua, whose radical
notions of love and tolerance ultimately lead to his demise.
Despite the protestors who showed up on opening night and
whose chants throughout the show threatened to disrupt the
performance, Allen’s face disclosed nothing more than unabashed
pride in his association with the play. I caught up with Allen
a few days after opening night. Among other things, we discussed
Christianity, Corpus Christi and life as an out gay actor.
Here’s a little bit of what he had to say: doing the thing
he loves most. Last month, Allen was positively beaming at
the Los Angeles premiere of Corpus Christi, a brilliant play
which parallels the New Testament and tells the story of a
homosexual Christ-like figure named Joshua, whose radical
notions of love and tolerance ultimately lead to his demise.
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Despite the protestors who showed up on opening night and
whose chants throughout the show threatened to disrupt the
performance, Allen’s face disclosed nothing more than unabashed
pride in his association with the play. I caught up with Allen
a few days after opening night. Among other things, we discussed
Christianity, Corpus Christi and life as an out gay actor.
Here’s a little bit of what he had to say: doing the thing
he loves most. Last month, Allen was positively beaming at
the Los Angeles premiere of Corpus Christi, a brilliant play
which parallels the New Testament and tells the story of a
homosexual Christ-like figure named Joshua, whose radical
notions of love and tolerance ultimately lead to his demise.
Despite the protestors who showed up on opening night and
whose chants throughout the show threatened to disrupt the
performance, Allen’s face disclosed nothing more than unabashed
pride in his association with the play. I caught up with Allen
a few days after opening night. Among other things, we discussed
Christianity, Corpus Christi and life as an out gay actor.
Here’s a little bit of what he had to say:
Duane
Wells:
So how did you come to be involved with Corpus Christi?
Chad
Allen:
I had heard of the show and knew of its reputation before
I read it. So I took it home and read it and when I read it,
I found it to be an incredible play. It single-handedly seemed
to give me back a concept of Christ and a concept of human
divinity that I had long since lost. I knew then that it was
not at all the show that I read about in the tabloid articles...and
I thought that people needed to see it for what it was.
DW: What do you
think is the single most important message of the play?
CA:
It’s one line in the play. It’s early on when God is talking
to his son before Joshua comes to realize himself as the son
of God and [God] whispers to him, ‘All men are divine.’ And
he [Joshua] says, ‘What? I can’t hear you?’ And he [God] says,
‘All men are divine. That is the secret that you will teach
them.’ [Then] Joshua says, ‘What if I don’t want to teach
them?’ and God says, ‘You won’t be able to keep the secret.’
That’s the message of the piece as I see it. That we are all
capable of the same kind of divine relationship with God that
Joshua comes to find.
DW: Corpus Christi
is not a play without its share of detractors. What do you
say to those who claim that the play is an attack on Christianity?
CA:
Well first of all I say to just about everybody who comes
to protest the show, ‘Read the play’ or ‘See the show.’ I
simply cannot have respect for individuals who choose to show
up and protest something or make negative claims [about] something
they know nothing about. I have yet to talk with any one of
them [protesters] who knows anything about the play. As far
as I’m concerned it’s up to every individual to decide for
themselves what their view of this play or any other work
of art is, for that matter, or any subject at hand. Beyond
that I view [Corpus Christi] as a deeply Christian play. I
constantly find myself reminding people that Jesus Christ
is not a character in this play. This is not written as a
historical account or meant to be a historical account of
Jesus Christ. What it does is it asks us all, ‘Can we see
ourselves as Christ? Are we all capable of that same kind
of relationship with God?'
DW: You’re one
a handful of openly gay actors. How is life as on out actor
versus life as a teen pop idol?
CA:
It’s a different world and for a lot of reasons. Not just
because of my openness about who I am, but also because I’m
thankfully much more of a man now than I was then. Acting
as a very young man was fun. Then it became really hard. Through
the teen magazine years...I hated those years. There were
times when I was just a confused teenager and the whole world
wanted to believe that they knew who I was and they seemed
to have a very good idea of who I was. Everybody [did] except
for me. I remember sitting back and reading thousands of letters
from boys and girls all over the country telling me how wonderful
they thought I was and thinking, ‘But they have no idea. I’m
just so lost and so confused and so scared. Why can’t I talk
about that? No one wants to hear about that.’
DW: Do you feel
like you’ve had diminished opportunity in Hollywood because
of your openness about your sexuality?
CA:
It’s so funny. That’s everyone’s favorite question. The truth
is I don’t know. I can’t tell you for certain that I’ve lost
opportunities or that I haven’t lost opportunities. Do I think
that it means that I have to be a better actor? Yeah probably.
It sounds ridiculous to say this but I heard Sally Field a
long time ago in an interview talking about how they would
tell her when she was young that she wasn’t pretty enough
to be a leading lady and how she knew then that she had to
be better than most. I’ve reminded myself of that a lot of
times through what has sometimes been a difficult experience.
Now, I’m actually happier with my career than I’ve ever been.
All I know is that right now, I’m the best actor that I can
be. I do my work well. It seems like people respect that and
I’m working on projects that I want to work on.
DW: One last question. I found out that your
birth name is Lazzari. What does that make you?
CA:
It’s Italian. I’m almost completely Italian. When I was young
they had me drop my last name because they said I simply didn’t
look Italian enough to have such an Italian last name, so
we kept it short and simple and used my middle name which
is Allen. And there you’ve got it.
And there you’ve got it. From Chad’s mouth to your ears. Corpus
Christi runs through October 21 at the Lillian Theater, 1076
Lillian Way, in Hollywood, California. Tickets available through
Tiffany Tickets, 310-289-2999. For more information see www.corpuschristila.com
(C) 2001 Gay Wired; All Rights Reserved
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