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“I Do” star and writer David W. Ross recalls his past life as member of British boy band Bad Boys Inc.
I first noticed dreamy David W. Ross in the 2006 film Quinceañera and I never forgot him.
So it was great to have him resurface in a major way with the outstanding film I Do which was a sensation on the film festival circuit, was released theatrically earlier this year and just came out on home video in the UK today.
David stars in the film which he also wrote and produced. He plays Jack, a British gay man living in NY. When his green card marriage goes wrong, because he can’t marry the man he loves to stay in the US, he has to make an impossible choice.
The film hit theaters just as the US Supreme Court was deliberating on the DOMA case so it could not have been more timely.
David, who is openly gay, is profiled in the UK’s Metro and in part of the article, reflects on his younger days as a member of the boy band Bad Boys Inc. which had six top 40 hits between 1993 and 1995.
Here’s an excerpt:
You couldn’t be out back then. In 1993, it was illegal to have a boyfriend if you were under 21 and HIV was affecting the gay community very badly. It was a very dark time.
I was told not to walk down Old Compton Street in Soho because there were ‘rumours’ about me and I was told not to flick my hair on TV because it looked gay. It wasn’t just our career that would have suffered if I’d come out – thousands of pounds were spent on us and many people’s jobs depended on us.
I was living with my boyfriend at the time, a photographer who was quite well known around London. I wasn’t paranoid about people finding out I was gay but I was f***ing miserable – that’s for sure. I lied a few times. I did a magazine interview where I was pointedly asked if I fancied men and I said no. That really upset some of my friends. What was I supposed to say? It’s not as if I was in Erasure – I was in a boy band. There was no space to get activist-y about it – it was a case of do you want a career or not?
Comments
(All comments are reviewed before being published, and I review submissions several times per day.)
RichB in PS says:
I saw ‘I Do’ last week and was going to suggest to you this impressive man would be great as man of the day — but do not know if was best to suggest to you. Had no idea of his background and just how talented he is until I googled him.
Sam says:
David did a stellar job in I Do and is totally swoon-worthy. Great to know he’s an out and so multi-talented.
Biggles says:
I’m interested in seeing this film. I enjoyed reading David’s frank account in the Metro about his time in Bad Boys Inc. I wish it had got wider press, it’s a shame more young people in pop music fandoms may not have seen it? I think it would open their eyes and explain some of how the showbusiness world used to, and still does, work. There’s this perception among young people that all young performers can just ‘come out’ now, and it’s still so untrue. Even bigger money is now involved. And the only current ‘out’ boybandmember is Jaymi of Union J – just because it would have been impossible to refute all the internet photos of him and his partner.
Socially, the wider climate IS much better (legalization, marriage equality in the UK and several US states) but there’s still mammoth pressure to closet in music if you are a viable male heartthrob type, and it starts early.
I don’t think audiences or fandoms really are the problem, for example, Union J’s fans adore Jaymi’s boyfriend, Olly. It’s the people that put these outfits together – many management and PR teams are from an older generation who still have old school ways of doing things. I think they’re the people that need convincing!