Greg In Hollywood chats with the three “90210″ actors whose character might come out as gay this season
We know that a male character is going to come out as gay during the next season of the CW’s 90210.
What we don’t know is who the character will be.
But it’s a safe bet that it will be one of three characters: Liam Court (Matt Lanter), Teddy Montgomery (Trevor Donovan) or Navid Shirazi (Michael Steger).
I chatted with all three actors at last night’s CW/CBS/Showtime party in Beverly Hills and point-black asked each of them if their character was the one.
The trio was too smart to let it slip!
“I do know. I, however, cannot say,” Matt said. “I guarantee you someone is watching over my back right now. It’s a big secret. They sent us all emails and made sure we were very aware that we were not to talk about that secret.”
But Matt did have some thoughtful things to say about the plot development: “I think it’s a good thing. I think it’s an issue that is becoming more and more real in schools today, people are coming out more and more. I think it’s something that teens deal with and it can be done in a real way.”
“However they do it, I hope it holds some weight and I hope it’s not just like a one episode on, one episode off kind of deal,” he added. “I hope it’s something that they take seriously and I think they’re going to. That’s the plan so we’ll see.”
Matt has not yet played a gay role but he said he does not have an objection to doing so: “I think you have to find the right project to do it. I don’t think it’s something that you want to take lightly. I think it’s something that if you’re going to tackle as an actor, that you’ve got to do it right. You’ve got to give it your all. What [Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal] did with Brokeback Mountain was I really think changing for the industry, I think it really was. They’re both regarded as tremendous actors and they got a lot of respect for that and I respect them for that too.”
Trevor would also be glad to play gay and is impressed so far by how the show is developing the storyline.
“It’s exciting because the way they’re explaining it, it’s going to be written in a way where it’s really going to focus on the struggle of coming to fruition of who he is – whoever he is,” he said. “To tell you the truth, I would be honored and flattered and excited if it was me. Because not only would it be a great opportunity to sort of display and showcase your acting chops, but it’s also a great opportunity to struggle of coming to that fruition, the realization.”
“From what I understand, it’s going to be a process, it’s going to be an arc just like it is in real life, coming to terms with it and coming out,” Trevor added. “It’s a struggle and they really want to show that struggle. It’s not just, ‘Oh, I’m gay’ and show like the shock value of two guys kissing on network TV. They are going to write it intelligently and it’s going to be interesting.”
Regardless if Navid is the gay character, Michael will be playing gay on television anyway. He will guest on the Aug. 12 episode of HBO’s True Blood and his character is gay.
As for the 90210 plotline, he said: “I think it’s going to be interesting because last year they dealt with Adrianna [Jessica Lowndes] experimenting. This year it’s going to be on a much more serious level and it’s going to run a while arc of the show so it’s going to be much more compelling for audience members and they’re going to be shocked to find out.”
Okay, we’re heard from all three. I’m going to put my guess/prediction out there: Teddy Montgomery will be the character who comes out.
But whoever it is, it will be fun and, I hope, gratifying to watch.
Comments
(All comments are reviewed before being published, and I review submissions several times per day.)
Richard says:
Greg: You have a typo in the super hunk Liam’s (Matt Lanter) first name…
Would love to hear more from the cast about what The CW’s plans (if any) to provide more ongoing promotion to “90210″ and definitely avoid that horrendous three-month gap between original shows last season.
Nothing can kill a show’s momentum more!
AdamEve says:
I love Trevor and Teddy with Silver but I’m kind of hoping it’s him because it will make him have is OWN story line separate from the rest. Plus he’s super HOT and that body is just ridiculous
Silky says:
Trevor is poppin my woohooo Love me some white meat