Q: You have a good singing voice. Have you done musicals? If not, do you want to do one?
GH: I haven't. I'm an extreme novice. I'm so out of my league.
Q: How did you enjoy your role in Desperate Housewives?
GH: I enjoyed it. It was something very different, very new for me. The way that Marc Cherry writes, the way that he sees what's going on...it was challenging. I'm not a comic and didn't have a lot of experience doing comedy. In that project, there's that fine line between comedy and dark drama. The things that are funny are not horrifying, but shocking or troubling. There's a very specific idea of timing and the way it works. And I immediately realized I had to say, "Marc, tell me, direct me, because I'm not sure where I'm really at!" It was fun.
Q: Are you more challenged with stage work than with doing film?
GH: In theatre, you go up, you do a performance each night, and you have things that change from night to night... the house, the way they're responding, the vibration that's coming back to you, or how they are not responding, your own nervousness, the fun of just being able to let it run every night. The other side is keeping your energy up, keeping your perspective clear. There's the challenge of making sure that you're playing each scene as if it's happening for the first time. On the other hand, I love films and working on film sets. And there's something that really fascinates me about getting into the light someone that may be over in 18 days or however long you're working. What seems banal is challenging. I love it all. If the material is good, and if the people that are putting it together are motivated and have a sense of humor and aren't afraid of really pushing each other to uncomfortable places, then there's nothing better.
Q: Good! What do you think is the real success of Queer as Folk? Why is it still so popular in rerun?
GH: It represents for many people something new and the way to have their voices expressed. There is a combination of...the way the original was (the British version), there's a bit of an anarchic: life is short, don't get put in a box, don't be scared to make choices that are not based on someone else's ideas, stay true to the things that you believe in whether they are good or bad, right or wrong. There's a bit of soul survivor, as in the role I was playing. That ideology was in the original and to some degree in ours, and also there's a lot of sex. Anytime you have something with a lot of sex, you're going to have fans. It's human nature. The American version had a bit of camp built into it. If you can hit the bullseye and make it funny and make it relevant, but still have some soul to it...
Q: What do you feel is your most important mission as an actor?
GH: Oh, God, I would hope it would be to ...on some level whatever the job is, whatever the part is ...to try and find the truth in whatever you're doing. Nonjudgmental truth. And then communicating it so that it is believable, even if it is a lie, and that it is true for each person that watches it. Everybody knows eveybody on some level. We can all imagine. And that's why the arts, drama is so important, because it continually tells our story. It allows us to revisit and live on through it. Be a storyteller and get it out there so that it can be understood, make sense and do its job.
Q: Anything up and coming for Gale Harold?
GH: It's all pretty much up in the air at the moment.
Based on seeing this man in Orpheus Descending and talking with him, I sense that it won't be up in the air for long. He's a serious actor who is not afraid of taking risks, big risks and is therefore bound for glory.
Posted by Don Grigware at 11:42 AM 12 comments 
