Dream Wired
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Celebrity
  • DramaAlert
  • Gossip
  • Movie
  • TV
  • Music
  • Comics
  • Shop
  • Home
  • Celebrity
  • DramaAlert
  • Gossip
  • Movie
  • TV
  • Music
  • Comics
  • Shop
No Result
View All Result
Dream Wired
No Result
View All Result
Home DramaAlert

Why Melrose Place Star Doug Savant Refused to Reveal He Was Straight While Playing Gay Character

rmtsa by rmtsa
December 1, 2024
in DramaAlert
0
Why Melrose Place Star Doug Savant Refused to Reveal He Was Straight While Playing Gay Character
74
SHARES
1.2k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter


The straight actor took the role seriously in a time when he was the only major gay character on television, explaining why he refused to come out publicly as straight throughout his run on the hit Fox sudser.

Doug Savant was a straight man playing a gay man on television, which wasn’t exactly unprecedented. Nevertheless, the Melrose Place star made the decision at the time to not come out publicly as straight, despite public interest and media scrutiny.

“I was asked, in every conceivable way, whether I was straight or gay. And I would then say, ‘Well, it’s interesting, just that that’s the assumption,” Savant said on the latest Still the Place podcast with costars Laura Leighton (also his wife), Courtney Thorne-Smith, and Daphne Zuniga. “No one asked [Andrew Shue], ‘You’re playing Billy, does that mean you’re straight?'”


Getty

11 Celebs Who Won’t Publicly Label Their Sexuality

View Story

He added, per Entertainment Weekly, that when they’d try to sidestep a direct question by asking him something like, “What do you have in common with the character?’ I’d say, ‘Well, we’re the same height and we both have a sense of humor.'”

Savant said he had a feeling that his sexuality would matter when he first landed the role of Matt Fielding, which he would portray across six of the Beverly Hill, 90210 spinoff’s seven seasons in the 1990s, but that his publicist didn’t get the significance.

According to Savant, when he asked how about how to handle the sexuality issue, his publicist told him, “Well, no, it’s not a big deal. You’re an actor, you’re just playing a character.” His thoughts on that were, “Oh, clearly she doesn’t get it.”

The media did quickly get it, though, which didn’t surprise Savant at all, who noted that he was the only gay character on TV at the time. “We had Billy Crystal [in Soap in the late ’70s and early ’80s], we were about to have Mitchell Anderson on Party of Five, and Bill Brochtrup, a friend of mine, on NYPD Blue. But at the time, [Matt] was the only one,” he said. “So there was an enormous amount of interest.”


X/OUT

Reporter Reacts to Wicked Interview Going Viral, Explains What ‘Holding Space’ Means

View Story

You might also like

Matthew Perry death: 2nd doctor to plead guilty to supplying ketamine – National

‘The Never Ever Mets’ Reunion Trailer [Exclusive]

BIG3 Opener Turns Wild • Hollywood Unlocked

EW noted that Savant did miss a few, including Al Corley’s character on Dynasty, and Wilzon Cruz’ groundbreaking role as the first queer character played by a queer actor on My So-Called Life. But the fact that he wasn’t far off shows just how low representation had been to this point.

It was because of this that Savant said on the podcast he pushed back when he was finally called into the offices of MP creator Darren Star and the PR team where they encouraged him to go ahead and publicly come out as a heterosexual.

Savant explained the reason for his refusal, saying, “I was not going to make my living playing a gay man, but then say, ‘Oh, I would never be associated with that.'”

The way he interpreted them wanting him to come out as straight was that they believed “it would be somehow more palatable to the American public if they could avail themselves of the reality that I was actually a straight man.”

“I thought that was morally reprehensible,” he said. “I just couldn’t morally bring myself to say, ‘I’m going to come to work and I’m going to play this character, but I should distance myself from it.'”


Getty

RHOC’s Alexis Bellino on How Her Transgender Son Miles Impacted Her Beliefs

View Story

In fact, he said that he was setting out every day in his job to do just the opposite of that. “My intention with Matt was to say he is your son, he is your brother, he is your friend,” he explained. “He is every man, he’s your neighbor. He’s a regular guy who happens to be gay.”

While he was able to portray a gay character in the 1990s on television, it wasn’t as LGBTQIA+ characters are seen today. He was able to avoid many of the worst stereotypes of gay characters on TV, but Matt never got a love scene, or even kissed another man on camera.

The closest the show got was a planned same-sex kiss for an episode in 1994, but EW notes the episode backed out of showing it at the last minute, instead cutting away for a reaction shot from another character to insinuate the kiss without showing it.

Clearly, there was a lot of work to be done yet, which is why Savant was so adamant about not muddying the waters of this gay character so many viewers had embraced with his actual sexuality for fear it would diminish Matt and what he might represent for people.

You can check out Matt’s full appearance with his Melrose Place costars below.

Everett Collection/Getty



Source link

Tags: CharacterDougGayMelrosePlacePlayingrefusedRevealSavantstarStraight
Share30Tweet19
rmtsa

rmtsa

Recommended For You

Matthew Perry death: 2nd doctor to plead guilty to supplying ketamine – National

by rmtsa
June 17, 2025
0
Matthew Perry death: 2nd doctor to plead guilty to supplying ketamine – National

A doctor charged with giving Matthew Perry ketamine in the months leading up to the “Friends” star’s overdose death has agreed to plead guilty, authorities said Monday. Dr....

Read more

‘The Never Ever Mets’ Reunion Trailer [Exclusive]

by rmtsa
June 17, 2025
0
‘The Never Ever Mets’ Reunion Trailer [Exclusive]

OWN’s The Never Ever Mets reunion airs this FRIDAY, and BOSSIP has your first look at the trailer! Source: The Never Ever Mets A press release announces that...

Read more

BIG3 Opener Turns Wild • Hollywood Unlocked

by rmtsa
June 16, 2025
0
BIG3 Opener Turns Wild • Hollywood Unlocked

BIG3 Opener Turns Wild As Dwight Howard And Lance Stephenson Throw Hands Dwight Howard and Lance Stephenson’s BIG3 debut was supposed to be a celebration. Instead, it turned...

Read more

That’s Amore With Josh O’Connor & Girlfriend Alison Oliver in Portofino, Italy

by rmtsa
June 16, 2025
0
That’s Amore With Josh O’Connor & Girlfriend Alison Oliver in Portofino, Italy

Josh O'Connor British Bae All Over His Bikini Babe In Italy!!! Published June 16, 2025 11:51 AM PDT Josh O’Connor’s been grinding since "The Crown" -- but now...

Read more

Was Elon Right? Lawsuit Questions Accuracy Of 2024 Election

by rmtsa
June 16, 2025
0
Was Elon Right? Lawsuit Questions Accuracy Of 2024 Election

by Sharelle B. McNair June 16, 2025 Judge Rachel Tanguay ruled the allegations were serious enough for the litigation to move forward. Almost six months into President...

Read more
Next Post
Donna Kelce Nods to Travis Kelce, Taylor Swift in Holiday Touchdown

Donna Kelce Nods to Travis Kelce, Taylor Swift in Holiday Touchdown

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Browse by Category

  • Celebrity
  • Comics
  • DramaAlert
  • Gossip
  • Movie
  • Music
  • TV
  • Uncategorized

CATEGORIES

  • Celebrity
  • Comics
  • DramaAlert
  • Gossip
  • Movie
  • Music
  • TV
  • Uncategorized
No Result
View All Result

Recent News

  • June 13-15 Box Office Recap – ‘How to Train Your Dragon’ flies to a fantastic $198M worldwide debut, the best in the franchise. ‘Materialists’ opens with $11.3M, the third best debut in A24’s history. However, Neon’s ‘The Life of Chuck’ disappoints with just $2.3M.
  • Matthew Perry death: 2nd doctor to plead guilty to supplying ketamine – National
  • 5 Must-Watch Netflix Miniseries You Should Binge in June 2025

Copyright © 2023 DramaWired.
DramaWired is a content aggregator and not responsible for the content of external sites.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Celebrity
  • DramaAlert
  • Gossip
  • Movie
  • TV
  • Music
  • Comics
  • Shop

Copyright © 2023 DramaWired.
DramaWired is a content aggregator and not responsible for the content of external sites.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In