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Jason Ritter talks to Greg In Hollywood about his roles in “The Class” and “Happy Endings”

http://sp0.fotologs.net/photo/16/50/81/_hotguys/1166557482_f.jpgJason Ritter’s latest film Peter and Vandy, a story about love set in Manhattan, opens in theaters Friday (Oct. 9).

In the second-part of our interview, which will be posted early tomorrow, is all about this film in which the 29-year-old actor plays one of the title roles.

But first, I wanted to share with you the portions of our conversation that centered around two of my favorite things that Jason has ever done: the late, great  CBS sitcom The Class and the independent film Happy Endings.

The Class was a wonderful Monday night comedy that aired during the 2006-07 season and Jason played Ethan, a guy who throws a party for the girlfriend he’d met in third grade and invites everyone from their third grade class even though he had not seen most of them for eons.

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The girlfriend dumps Ethan but friendships are formed and the resulting tight-knot group made for a wonderful ensemble with Ritter the glue holding it all together. The cast also included Lizzie Kaplan, Jesse Tyler Ferguson (now on ABC’s Modern Family), Sean Maguire, Sam Harris, Cristian de la Fuente, and Heather Goldenhersh, among others.

“We’ve all kept it touch, it was a special thing for all of us,” Jason said of the show which had respectable ratings and won the People’s Choice Award for favorite new comedy.

“We were all so excited to be on a show and we were having so much fun.” he added. I’d love to do another television show. Hopefully it would be one that I feel passionate about and comfortable with. I liked all the messages The Class was putting out, not that it was some heavy-handed message show, but just the world that it was perpetuating was one that I could get into and get behind. The Class was an incredible experience and I wouldn’t trade it for the world.”

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The show initially featured Maguire and de la Fuente as a gay couple but when the latter actor left the show, most of Maguire’s scenes (he played Kyle) were with Ritter with writers putting them together in an appealing gay-straight friendship.

“I loved that aspect of the show that the gay character wasn’t the gay character,” Jason said. “It was that we all were just friends and there wasn’t a big deal made out of it. Just like it should be in real life.”

“We were all so upset (about the cancellation) because we ended the show on a giant cliffhanger so I guess that was the series finale instead of the season finale,” he said. “They were a great group of people. It’s all golden memories to relive.”

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It was on The Class that Jason was able to show some comedy chops and there were moments when he reminded a lot of people of his dad, the late John Ritter who won an Emmy as the lead in Three’s Company and also starred in the comedies Hearts Afire and Eight Simple Rules.

“Any comedy that I had ever done had been hidden in a dramatic thing but on The Class, the purpose was getting laughs,” he said. “There were times when I would recognize something from growing up and having my instincts be shaped by both my parents. It was interesting to see some of those come out.”

A few years before landing the lead in The Class, Jason had one of his best film roles to date as closeted gay guy Otis McKee in the Don Roos-directed indie film Happy Endings.

“That was such a beautiful script,” Jason said. “I auditioned for it and it took maybe a year or something before I heard that I actually got the part. I had heard I was in the running then I heard Jesse Bradford got a part in it and I assumed he had gotten my part because we had gone out for a couple of the same roles. I was extremely nervous because I have such respect for Don Roos and [co-stars] Maggie Gyllenhaal and Tom Arnold and I was just hoping I could survive through it.

Otis was a closeted band drummer who desperately does not want his father to know that he is gay. He hires Maggie Gyllenhaal’s character to be his band’s new lead singer and she ends up seducing him! She then becomes involved with Otis’ dad (Tom Arnold) and it all gets rather complicated.

http://www.ericdsnider.com/images/HappyEndings.JPG“I found Otis’ struggle to be such a beautiful one,” Jason said. “How do you admit who you are when you’re terrified that the one person in your life, your father, might not love you anymore. It was really beautiful and I love that in that movie when he finally does tell his father that his father, of course, loves him and doesn’t throw him out like you hear about sometimes. I really enjoyed that character and as we were going around to film festivals, I talked to people who said they really identified with my character and had a difficult time coming out and admitting to themselves who they were – especially if they had no idea if the people around them in their immediate family would accept them. And sometimes the story would be that they didn’t accept them and that was a big source of pain for them.”

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Jason doesn’t insist on only playing good guys but he does want to portray someone whose struggles he can understand.

“I think one of the things that I’m always looking for are the things this person is struggling with. Is this a character that I want to fight for? I did this movie called Education of Charlie Banks where he’s a real bully and a mean guy. But I still think at the heart of it, what he’s trying to do has a level of honesty in it and truth.”

Here is a scene from Happy Endings and it’s a good one: Otis finally makes out with a guy. S-weet!

Tomorrow: Jason talks about his new movie Peter and Vandy!

FILE UNDER: Interviews

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One Remark

  1. I met Jason Ritter, and his Dad, John Ritter, at a fundraiser for Project Angel Food about two weeks before John died. These were two very kind, approachable, good-natured gentlemen. John even took time to hear about statistics on LGBT Youth and Suicide and the work of the Trevor Project. I wish Jason all the success that he deserves.

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