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Gay brother in CBS’s “The Good Wife” is cast: It’s stage actor and “The L Word” alum Dallas Roberts
CBS, which had woeful LGBT representation on its scripted shows last season, has decided on who will play the gay brother of Alicia (Julianna Margulies) on The Good Wife.
Entertainment Weekly reports that the role has gone to 40-year-old stage (Nocturne, Burn This) and movie (Walk the Line) veteran Dallas Roberts.
Executive producer Robert King told EW that viewers should not expect a bunch of dram over his being gay: “We just thought [it would be interesting] if it didn’t matter. … Everybody around them thinks it’s an issue between them, but there’s no issue. We kind of like that it voids expectations of what will happen between them.”
“What this character allows us to do is access more of Alicia’s back story,” King added. “She was always the good older sister, he was always the younger, more free-spirited brother. And, we’ll see a little bit about what their parents were about.”
Roberts has taken on gay roles before, most notably opposite Colin Farrell in 2004′s A Home at the End of the World. He also had a recurring role on Showtime’s The L Word.
Comments
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Meg Monahan says:
As a devoted watcher, I think the casting director is charmed. Dallas Roberts is wonderful in the role. His sense of timing and good looks made me think of John Ritter, believe it or not. He is your typical sarcastic brother who just so happens to be gay…and we could care less. I salute the fact that the scriptwriters do not have to wrap the sexual nature of the character into the plot, clearly a first. Dallas Roberts is great outside the bedroom and coming through the box into my living room.
Meg Monahan says:
POST SCRIPT: Read another review of the character and it lambasted plugging in a gay character for the mere advantage diversity may bring…. Well it reminded me of “Julia” the first TV show that featured a black woman on television. All the hype that went with it and after all was said and done, she could have just as well been white. What I mean to say is we could all relate to her, her “blackness” was not an issue in the script as I recall. (Yes I am that old). We have reached a milestone when we have sexual diversity on the screen without having to have sex be the central feature of the character. It has been a long time coming.
marge says:
Thanks for the observation! I’ve been wondering the same thing…if he is related to John Ritter. The physical similarities and mannierisms.