Catching up with multi-talented Peter Paige

What most impresses me about Peter Paige is that he makes his own opportunities. While we will forever love Peter for his role as Emmet during five seasons of Showtime’s Queer as Folk, since the series ended, he has continued to blossom into a triple threat as an actor-writer-director.

He starred in the 2007 Los Angeles production of The History Boys at the Ahmanson theatre and directed and starred in his own movie (Say Uncle). Peter also did one of the more memorable guest spots ever on Grey’s Anatomy as a patient with a brain tumor who had no censor and would say whatever popped into his head like telling Dr. McDreamy that he’s HOT!

When I saw Peter at the GLAAD Media Awards in Los Angeles recently, I asked: “What are you working on? You’re always up to a million things.”

Ain’t it the truth. He replied: “I’m still up to a million things. Leaving Barstow, the movie I directed with Michele Clunie, that’s coming out this year. My writing partner and I have sold three different things and one is a feature to the guys who made Being John Malkovich and we’re really excited about that. I’m ramping up another movie I’m going to direct probably early next year and I’m guest starring on some stuff – just did a CSI Miami and Raising the Bar on TNT. I’m having fun!”

We talk about the hotness of Bar star Mark-Paul Gosselaar is for a minute (well, I talk about it and Peter agrees) then I ask Peter how he has managed to go from actor-for-hire to wearing so many different showbiz hats.

“What you realize when you do one(movie)  is that you can make it happen,” he said. “The only difference between people who make movies and people who don’t is that they make movies. That sounds cheeky but I really mean it. You learn that far stupider people have accomplished far greater things so get on about it, make it happen. That was the big life lesson for me out of the first movie I made.”