Dylan McDermott talks to The Advocate about “Steel Magnolias,” being hit on by guys & his gay following

Who didn’t love Dylan McDermott as passionate attorney Bobby Donnell on The Practice all those years?

I sure did and was already familiar with the handsome actor from his role as Julia Roberts’ husband on Steel Magnolias which, we learn in this interview with Brandon Voss for The Advocate, Dylan was not aware has a HUGE gay following.

Now starring in the series American Horror Story, Dylan talks about all kinds of topics of interest to the gays in this outstanding interview. Here are some excerpts:

On onscreen nudity and his refusal of a body double for American Horror Story: “I knew going into it that there was nudity and that a lot of people would be watching, so I knew I had to be in really good shape. I’m no fool, so I hit the gym and watched what I ate. Actually, when I first got the role, production called me and asked, ‘Who’s your body double?’ I said, ‘Oh, hell no. It’s going to be all me, baby.’”

On whether he hurries into a bathrobe or “let’s it all hang out” between takes:
“I’m probably somewhere in the middle. When I’m in the role, in the moment, I’m comfortable. After they yell ‘cut,’ I don’t need to put my balls in someone’s face.”

On whether he gets hit on by gay men: “Oh, yeah. Honestly, I’m cool with everyone, and people pick up on that. I’d say, ‘I’m not gay, but it’s all good.’ It’s kind of like going to Paris when you don’t know the language; some Americans get into trouble over there, but I’m just like, ‘Sorry, I don’t speak French.’”

On working with Ryan Murphy: “I believe that Ryan Murphy is a genius. His instincts remind me of Andy Warhol. I recently went to the Warhol museum in Pittsburgh, and you can see a lot of echoes of Andy in Ryan’s work. Like Andy, Ryan’s finger is so on the pulse of culture that he’s ahead of culture. Their aesthetic and their vision of the world are very similar. Ryan is also so unafraid. Most people in show business are so afraid to fail that they don’t take any risks, but all Ryan does is take risks. He puts himself out there all the time, and it’s his bravery that really separates him from everybody else.”

On his dream project: “I had this idea — I actually brought it up to Ryan Murphy — that I wanted to play Halston. I think that would make a great movie, because his life was so interesting and complex. I was trying to develop that for a while, and Ryan was kind of mulling it over. We’ll see.”

On whether he knew that his 1989 film Steel Magnolias was a major gay favorite: “No, I had no idea. You have to tell me about it. … That’s hysterical. I swear to God, I did not know this.”

Seriously? You haven’t lived until you’ve been to a Steel Magnolias viewing party with a bunch of gay men. I’ve literally seen it played on a loop in gay bars.
That’s hysterical. I swear to God, I did not know this. That was my first really big movie, and I loved making it. I’d just made Hamburger Hill in the Philippines, where there were no trailers, and somebody died while we were making the movie. It was a brutal shoot. All of a sudden I’m on the set of Steel Magnolias, where there’s more pink than I’ve ever seen in my life. I was working with movie stars who each had their own hair and makeup people, we only worked eight hours a day, and everybody was always partying and laughing. It blew my mind.

Quoting dialogue from Steel Magnolias is a national gay pastime. What’s your favorite line?
Well, I’ve maybe seen the movie twice. It’s hard for me to watch my own movies, because I look back and think, Oh, my God, I’m a different person. Watching myself is a little unnerving.