Melrose PlaceDoug Savant remembers why he dodged questions about his sexuality while playing gay character Matt Fielding in the surprise 1990s teen drama, saying he “felt a responsibility” not to distance himself from his on-screen portrayal.
“I think the most shocking revelation was when the call came from inside the house,” Savant began telling her former co-stars — wife Laura Layton, Courtney Thorne-Smith and Daphne Zuniga — on TV. The place is still there A podcast about what it was like to play a gay character as a straight man amidst a television landscape that still lacks diversity.
the Desperate Housewives The star recounted an example with a publicist working for Pat Kingsley's company PMK, who represented executive producer Aaron Spelling, where he said she didn't understand the seriousness of acting. “I said to Sam, our publicist, would you care to talk about how we handle this going forward, that there's a gay character? I knew it was an outlier, and I thought people would be interested in it. She said, 'Well, no, it's not Big problem. You're an actor, you're just playing the character. And I said, 'Oh, she clearly doesn't get it.'
On press tours, Savant said he made a personal choice not to address his sexuality publicly, claiming that Spelling, the Fox network and creator Darren Star were not fans of the decision, which led to an office meeting with executives Kingsley and Star. “We don't see why it's a big deal, and why you don't say, 'Well, it shouldn't be a big deal, but I'm heterosexual,'” he explained. “I said no.” I didn't want to make a living playing a gay man. But then I say, “Oh, but I'll never be associated with that. That's not me.”
As Savant pointed out, his character was among the first LGBTQ+ characters on television, following a smattering of queer characters that existed in the 1980s. the Teen Wolf The actor said he was encouraged to reveal that he was straight because “it would be a little more palatable to the American audience if they could capitalize on the fact that I was actually a straight man.” And I thought that was morally reprehensible and I said, 'You're not allowed to prostitute me in my personal life for the benefit of our show because you think it's somehow more politically correct.'
the Godzilla The actor said he was asked “in every way imaginable” about his sexuality, questioning the assumption of being straight as a default status. When asked how similar he and Matt were, he said, “Well, we're the same height and we both have a good sense of humor.”
He added: “I felt responsible for that at the time. Will Smith was about to walk out on John Goyer Six degrees of separation [film] -The character is gay and he came out at the time, “Well, I would never kiss a man on screen and I would never do this.” [he later admitted his refusal to kiss a man, as written in the script, was “immature”] – He distanced himself from every actor who did that. I couldn't morally bring myself to say, “Every week, I'll come to work and I'll play this character, but I have to distance myself from it.” With Matt I meant to say he's your son, he's your brother, he's your friend. He's every man, and he's your neighbor. “He's a straight guy who happens to be gay.”
While Savant said that Matt was received in a “mostly positive” manner and that he was still appreciated by gay fans who looked up to the character, he added: “What became painfully clear was that there was no single character that was going to represent the diversity of the character.” The entire community. So to think that Matt Fielding, as a single gay character, could afford to represent the entire community – was an impossible task. Now, we see a much greater diversity of gay characters, and aren't we all glad to be here?
To Savant's credit, Spelling, Star and Fox “should be applauded” for moving forward with Matt as a character in the face of a letter campaign organized by the Christian Coalition and the Moral Majority calling for an ad boycott of the show.
