TR Knight

SEO TEXT: Article Content for Search Engines

.i}il,.Br!'dif PRIDI WWW.ADV(]CATE.COM JUNE I9, $3.99 USA.ssscm.ueer,rllll liilllruililillilllll llitllOO I June 1,9,2OO1 adv0cate com TH E ADVOCATECOVER STORY 'm not going to keep my mouth c losed a nym o re," says T. R. Knight. After more than a week of conversations-in person, by phone, by e-mail-that's the defining statement from the actor whos at the center of the storm of controversy that for the last nine months has engulfed ABCIs Grels Anatomy. From Knight, thats a lot. Speaking out doesnt come easily for him. Raised in Minnesota, he is naturally reserved and averse to talking about himself "Don't get too big for your britches," he was warned as a boy, and hes always taken that to heart. Why would anyone care about him, much less what he thinks? But if you saw Knight on TV at this year's GLAAD Media Awards in Los Angeles, you can't shake the memory of the warm applause that be- carne a standing ovation, his abashed demeanor in the spotlight, and his simple moment of truth. "I'm angry," he said-and paused, caught up in emotion. "I'm very angry at the inequality we face every day." That anger, it seems, is one reason the press- shy Knight decided to sit down vnLhThe Aduocate to give his first in-depth interview since coming out October 19 in a statement released to People magaz]ne. My first meeting with T.R. is over sushi at a Los Angeles restaurant of his choosing. He's late but scores points for politeness when he calls to apologize. He eventually arrives, literally rurrning around the corner. He's coming from a workout session, something he began in eamest this year. His hair is mussed, and he looks nrmpled and dis- arming. His fame isn't the stalkerazzi kind: Al- though people sometimes glance at him from other tables, no one intermpts us. Knight is clearly not accustomed to being inter- viewed. He is a charmingly awkward talker who pauses and frets over his words, stumbling over his sentences and backtracking repeatedly before apologizing for his verbal clumsiness. An innocu- ous question about what his parents do for a liv- ing results in a five-minute explanation of why he doesn't want to discuss that. At first, his answers are vague and nonspecific (perhaps an unintended result of spending a good chunk of his life in the closet professionally). At times trying to get any specffic, personal inforrna-tion out of him feels like dealing with a skittish horse: Move too quickly and he might bolt. And soon he does-he excuses himself to go walk his dog, assuring me that he knows we aren't done talking yet. I hope he means it. or a self-effacing guy, Knight has a job that's about as public as they come--he stars as Dr. George O'Malley in ABC's hit drama Grey's Anatomy, a show that's often the number 1-rated television drama and is set to spin offan- other series in the fall From the outset, Grey'.s has won points as progressive television, notjust for its color-blind casting but also for its atbitudes toward women and other minorities. Like gays. Knight wasn't at the GLAAD Awards in April just to collect applause He was representing Greyt, nominated for Outstanding Individual Episode for 'Where the Boys Are " (The episode won.) Ironically, it was during the filming of that episode-which touched on both gay and trans- gender issues-that cast member Isaiah Wash- ington got into an argument with actor Patrick Dempsey and referred to an unnamed fellow actor as a "faggot " The blogosphere immediately began to speculate about whom Washington meant, but before rumors could spread in earnest, Knight ended the guessing game with this statement to People: "I guess there have been a few questions about my sexuality, and I'd like to quiet any unnecessary rrmors that may be out there. While I prefer to keep my personal life private, I hope the fact that I'm gay isn't the most interesting part of me." Thus began Knight's rol ler-coaster ride. Knight readily admits he'd had no intention of coming out professionally. People counseled him to keep quiet, and if he had, the 34-year-old be- lieves, the questions would have died down as quickly as they arose. Still, he's clear that he doesn't feel he was outed. "I made the decision to make a statement," he says. "I could have not lspoken up]. I could have retreated. But I'm defi- nitely happy I made the decision " Though his friends were "beautifully sup- portive," other people told him, "Don't do it- don't do it now." To his own surprise, he kept moving forward. "I remember saying to someone when I got one of those 'don't do it' Lcommentsl-I just remember hearing my voice being very calm and saying, No, ilis going to happen. It's going to happen. I'm just letting vou know."' Knight was so unused to dealing with the press he wasn't even sure how to proceed He called his publicist and said he wanted to come out, asking, 'What do you do? Is there a phone call you make?" After our initial meeting, Knight and I sit down for a second go at it, this time at the )As Dr. George O'Malley, Knight has become a heartthrob to both men ano women. lO2 | June 19,2OOl a0vocate com THE ADVOCATEI I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I"l wasHollywood Forever Cemetery on Santa Monica Boulevard. If,s not a haunt of his: He chose it be- cause it would be easy for me to get to from my hotel room- -once more proving what a gentleman he is. It's a lovely afternoon, the grounds are quiet, and we find a bench near the tombstone of a great-grandmother named Berta. Walking the grounds, Knight is dressed casual- iy again, this time in warm-up pants and a T-shirt For a Minnesota boy, he's eager to talk-without making his job more difficult or blurting out too much personal information. At one point he stops to straighten a bunch oftipped-over flowers on a grave srte. "This is something thaf,s bigger than [my ca- reerl," says Krright, trying to describe his feelings about coming out. "How selfish it would be to only think of myself and my life as an actor when you are weighing it against the severe homophobia that [coming outl addresses." He's quick to add the humbling qualifiers. He doesn't deserve any special credit; this is not a sacrifice. But he does hope his action encourages others to follow suit. And there are people he'd like to help "I guess, specifrcally, it's younger gay peo- ple," he says. "I wish I'd had more people to look at-and I'm not talking about any sort of role models-just more people to look at, rnorestories, more honesty, less hate." He realizes there's no telling how it might af- fect his career. But after ali, there have been re- wards. For one, Rosie O'Donnell sent him a toast- er. "It makes great toast," he laughs. heodore Ra5nnond Knight is loath to talk about his family and friends. His reluc- tance is wrapped up in his struggle with being gay-or more specifrcally, struggles with how society treats people who are gay. Some gay actors cite "privacy'' as a convenient excuse not to come out professionally, even though they love to suck up the spotlight in all other aspects of their lives. Knight isn't like that. "The reason I act is-" he pauses, starts again. 'You can disappear and not be yourself. You can get out of it for a while. You get away from you. That's what I liked about acting." Maybe one thing Knight wants to get away from is the pain he felt growing up gay. At age 5 he was acting at Minneapolis's famed Guthrie Theater. flis first role was Tiny Tim in A Christ- mas Carol (Adorable, right?) While he realizes that any theater kid will get teased at school, the taunts he received were more severe. In particular, T R remembers this: When he was in junior high, someone donated a wooden play set for the kids to use. Shortly aft,er it arrived another student spray-painted it all over with slurs including T.R KMGnr IS A HoMosEXlJAr. "Someone came up to me and said that there was something written about me, and I went out and looked at it," says Knight. "I didn't...I don't think I even reaily knew what it was about, but I knew it was not good. I knew it was wrong. I tried to scrrb it off first, and it wasn't coming off, be- cause it obviously was black paint on wood, and then I went asking [the janitorsl, and they took care ofit." To Krright, the most upsetting part wasn't the juvenile name-calling but that the people who were running the Catholic school did nothing. He wasjust expected to keep quiet. He took refuge in his acting ambitions. He got serious about the crafb in high school. At 25 he moved to New York City to try to make it as an actor. The first thing he learned was how to sur- vive on $20 a week. "I'd buy a bunch ofbroccoli, a can of Campbell's cream of mushroom soup, a box ofnoodles, and one or two cans oftuna, and you mix that all together, and that would last me three days, and that's what I'd eat. And you'd space it so i1/d be like two meals a day." Working in theater, Knight naturally was being asked out on dates by men. Friends asked ifhe was gay, and in time he was ready to come out in his private life. He lost some friends over that and walked away from others who said they had prob- lems with his sexuality for religious reasons )raised to be modest- thats where I focus, rather than being 'proud'of something." lO4 I June I9,2OO7 aovocale com THE ADVOCATE"l wish I had more vl people to look at when I was young More stories, more honesty, less hate."It's likely that Knight also paid a personal price for coming out professionally. Though he's leery of mentioning other people in his life, even those with whom he's not friendly any'rnore, it's reasonable to assume that any friends who are closeted would ilet about having been seen with Knight in public. Since he came out, even banal photos of him shopping at the mall with lliends get posted on the Web. All the drama is jttst so not him. His best f?iend on the set of Grey's is Katherine Heigl, who plays Dr.Izzie Stevens. Her description of how he came out to her sums up Knight perfectly. "He actually didn't just flat-out tell me," says Heigl. "There came a point where we were close enough Iliends that he would just talk about dates or about other guys. It was revealed injust a really natur- al way-a 'this is the way it is' way. I wasn't shocked or surprised, like, 'Oh, my God-you're really gay?' It was more just like, 'Oh, OK. Now I know why you don't want to go out with me."' Knight insists that his gay life isn't exactly headline material anyway. "Not that I've had the most successfirl dating experiences," he laughs. "I won't say lfears of being outedl didn't register with me at all, but it wasn't enough to keep me from going out. I have to live my life. It wasn't going to be some sort of, you know, cloak-and-dag- ger thing." He says he's currently single but woritcomment on whether he was dating anyone when he decided to come out last October. Now that Knighf,s out to the world, the rules have changed. "It probably wouldn't be a good idea to date a closeted celebrity," he jokes. On the plus side, now that everyone knows he's gay, the reticent Knight could find himself fielding a lot more potential boyfriends. Asked to talk about whether he's noticed any changes, T.R. laughs and says he stili assumes people aren't interested in him Then comes his qualifier: "Too much ag- gression isn't a good thing either." espite some solid credits and the occa- sional commercial that kept him afloat frnancially, the 1990s were a struggle professionally. Then he hit rock bottom. Knight was frred from an off-Broadway show and lost his agent a few months later. If he'd looked like Brad Pitt, he was told, agents might have been able to sell him better. As for the show. a Restoration comedy, Knight was professional butjust didn't click in the role for director Doug Hughes. Typically, Knight agonizes over men- tioning Hughes (the director of Doubt and the current hit revival Inherit the Wind), although he's a great admirer of the director and doesn't harbor any ill feelings. When he got an offer to star inAmadeus at the Guthrie back in Minneapolis, Knight decided he'd come flrll circle. He wouid do that final role and then move on from acting. But he was urged repeatedly by supporbers at the Roundabout Theatre Company to come back to New York and audition for a Broadway revival of the British farce Noises Off. Knight could barely afford the ticket, but he made the trip and won the role of frazzled stage manager Tim Allgood. Sud- denly, he was being taken seriously. More roles quickly followed, capped by the soon-canceled sit- com Charli.e Lawrence starring Nathan Lane. In 2005 came the big break, Grey's Anatomy. Knight insists he doesn't see himself as hitting the lottery vuit}r Grey's, mostly because he's condi- tioned to expect the worst. Eventually the show will come to an end, who knows if he'll build a long-term career afber this success, and so on. For now, he is on a hit show that has won critical ac- claim. It s an actor's dream. At least it was. With its utopian outlook on matters including race, it s ironic that Grey's Anatomlt ended up at the center ofa nasty controversy based on bigotry. At frrst it seemed to media observers that the show's creator, Shonda Rhimes, was more con- cerned about putting the episode behind her than dealing forthrightly with what happened and tak- ing the proper steps. She said it was a briefinci dent and that everyone had moved on. When it was later suggested that another black actor might replace Washington, she took offense. ) 106 | June 19,2OO7 aovocare com THE ADVOCATECOVER STORY "l don't want to get into a word companson, they are all soaked in blood. Whatever word it is, if its the last one someone screams before yor/re killed,That seemed to be all until Washington stirred the pot again, lying to reporters at the Golden Globe awards by denying what he had said. Ifuight then went on The Ellen DeGeneres Show (Ellen and T R. share the same PR frrm) and made it clear that Washington had indeed called him a faggot, a word he described ironically to EIIen as "awesome." Washington then issued an- other statement of apology, entered rehab or counseling, and is now reportedly planning a pub- lic service announcement for GI,AAD But what about Knight? When asked if Wash- ington had apologized to him personally, Knight initially responded, "Which time?" Then, when pressed, he said, 'What a lovely blue sky.,'When queried about whether Rhimes had come to him and asked what he wanted to happen, he paused thoughtfirlly before saying, "I like blueberries. Do you like blueberries?" Washington's publicist declined an inter-view request. Rhimes also declined an interview. She did send The Aduocaife this statement: "T.R. is an in- credible actor and an amazing person. From his ability to play comedic moments to his work in the episode where George's father dies, his range is a writer's dream. We are equally proud of his decision to come out. He is an inspiration." That still doesn't tell us any'thing about what really happened. But this much is true: Whatever went down has inspired T.R. Krright to come out of his shell. Halting as he might be on some sub- jects, ask him about intolerance. and his words come out in a torrent. He's riled by the hypocrisy of certain religions that teach God loves everyone but then excludes gays (and other groups) . 'You are taught you are wrong, that you are bad [So] you don't do anything, and you wrap yourselfin a little straitjacket, and you put your- self in your little room," says Knight. "'Don't do jf! Don't look at someone, don't touch them, don,t kiss them, don't do anythingl'Then maybe it's OK. I mean, sure, that plagued me all through childhood, you know, irl so many ways, arrd that's stuff that's hard to get away I?om. But you have to, and eventually, you know, you do." Another topic that gets him going is marriage equality. "I still get angry because we shouldn,t even be havhg this conversation," he says. yes, he sees signs of progress. "But we shouldn't be having this conversation ot all. It disgusts me.', ack in TV land, Knight's character recent- ly married Dr. Callie Torres (Sara Ramirez of Broadway's Spamalot). As of now his character has slept with his crush, Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo), as well as his best ffiend, Izzie (Katherine Heigl). That's quite a bit of"action" for a gay actor, arrd it should provide at least a bit of encouragement for other actors lurk-ing in the closet in order to protect their status as romantic leads But this season-which in- cluded the death of O'Malley's father-was overshadowed in real life by "the incident." Luckily, Knight has good friends on the show. Heigl looks out for him. Tired of hearing him idly wish for a dog, she gave him one-a Lab mix he named Arrow-for his birthday this year. Finding the puppy in his downtown apart- ment is still a bit of a surprise for Knight. "We're still looking at each other llke, Why are you here? I'mllke, Don't cop an attitude. It's me. I was here first. And she says, Iin more itn- portant than you. And looh at me when I looh o.t you with my cute little eyes. Don't you feel sorry ror lne( In other words, he's besotted. So Knight looks forward to going home every day. But does he look forward to going to work? "I'm showing up and doing my job," says Knight flatly, after yet another thoughtful pause to choose his words "I'm getting paid to play this role, and myjob is to do it to the best of my ability, to pretend as best you can You know, that's acting; that's why they hired me, and that's what I do." Many have suggested that if the roles had been reversed-if Knight had directed a bigoted slur at Washington-it would have seemed ob- vious that Knight at least deserved to be fired But Knight isn't interested in a debate over which word is worse than which. "I don't want to get into a word comparison- this word versus that word," says Knight ,,All those words are soaked in btood. Whatever word it is, if it's the last word that someone screams at you before you're killed-whether it's about your sexuality or your religion or your race- that's hate. That's all this is about And if people need to learn that when it comes to sexual ori- entation, then they need to learn that. 'You can't say one word is worse than anoth- er unless you say one life is worth more than another. You need to keep on educating and ed- ucating the ignorant until they listen and hear And understand. Not tolerate. But understand." Knight is sure to be more politically active in the future But getting him to talk about what he's proud of isn't easy, even if he is more willing to speak up than ever before. "I'm proud of a lot of things," says Knight. "I'm proud of some of my decisions this year There are some I haven't been proud of, but I'm proud of the ones pertaining to being gay." He laughs "I'm not happy with what I ate this morning." I Giltz is a reguktr contribtttor to seueral periodicals, including the New York Dailv News.thats hate," 1O8 | June 19,2OO7 advocate com THE ADVOCATEFROM THE READERSFOR BREAKING NEWS GO TO ADVOCATE,COIVI PRIDE 2OO7 I loved the interview with T.R. Knight ['T.R. Knight Is Just a Regular Guy," June 191. He has always been my favorite char- acter on Grey's Anatomy, and it is great to find out what he is like as a real person. I was especially impressed with his state- ment "I don't want to get into a word com- parison. . .. All those words are soaked in blood. Whatever word it is, if it s the Iast word that someone screams at you before you're killed-whether it s about your sex- uality or your religion or your race-that's hate." It seems hate is the gteat equalizer in terms of victimization, and T.R. has hit that nail on the head! I expect T.R. will continue to be an inspirationl ANDREA L.T. PETERSON Woodbridge, Va. Can't tell you how much I enjoyed the piece on T.R. Knight. Ttre best part, for me, was that he named that adorable dogArrow. I too have a dog named Arrow; he was named for the companion of Oblio in Harry Nilsson's classicThe Poinll Although Mr. Knight is not old enough to know of Th.e Point! whenitwas introduced, I hope he grew up hearing arrd seeing it and named this gorgeous puppy aft,er the faithfirl Arrow. For a 60-year-old male partnered for 28 years, it was a pleasure to read. HUGH CALIAHAN Beverly Hills, Fla. It is strange that the cover ofThe Aduo- cate declares T.R. Knight a "hero." The tltle of hero is awarded to those who go above and beyond to create a positive out- come for an individual or a group of indi- vidua-ls. Being called the /word does not"l s impressed with IR. Knight's statemer:t WF:atever WCITdif it's the last word that ssmeone surearns at yor.j terms of victimization, nnd T,R" has hitthat nail *ffi the head!" -ANDREA L.T. PETERSON, Woodbridge, Va. make you a hero, nor does having the media out you in response to being called the f word. Although the interviewer tries to set T.R. apart from the other gay actors who cite "privacy" as a convenient excuse not to come out professionally, we must remember that until Isaiah Washington called T.R. thefword, he actually roos one ofthose actors who chose to hide his orien- tation professionally. While I have no doubt that T.R. will now do extraordinari- ly great things for the LGBT community, we must be careful whom we label a hero. CHRIS WEBER San Jose. Callf. The subhead for your June cover article on T.R Knight is '"T.R. Knight tells his storyl How the f word launched a hero." If being called the /word is all it takes to be called a hero. we are all heroes. and no TV actor should be applauded for something that a great number ofus do every day. S.J. PETERSON San Francisco. Calif. $ $** rptm*= c'* ft:a..*ka I nearly choked when I saw the headline for your story'TVhere's Our Sharpton?" lJune 19]. I wou-ld thinkyou could've come up with a more appropriate role model than this big-mouthed bufoon whose main purpose in life is to get in front of as many cameras and into as many news articles as he humanly can. Recall that he "convicted" the Duke lacrosse team well before the sit- uation was really looked into and, when they were totally exonerated, didn't have the guts to apologize. Some role model. RICHARD KINZ Atascadero. Calif. Al Sharpton began his so-called advocacy career through slander and lies by perpe- trating the Tawana Brawley hoax in the late 1980s. His income stems from dubious sources. He concentrates his outrage on racist-baiting white-on-black crime, while ignoring the outrageous black-on-black crime that plagues our imer cities and destroys the lives ofyoung black men and women and their families every day. Who the hell wants a gay spokesperson liJ<ethat? Why don't you just call the North American Mantsoy Love Association rep- resentatives to the flont ofthe Lirre? Dis- gracefiil. PIEIRO ALLAR NewYork. N.Y. I don't care how many vapid, straight, uninspired, and irrelevant-to-the-gay- world people you put on your covers-as long as you continue your recent trend of filling your pages with intelligent, interest- ing, out-of-the-box reporting like your sto- ries on Daniel Tammet ["The Smartest Man in the World Is Gay," June 191, the gay autistic savant; and Christine Daniels ["Girl, Internrpted No More"], the trans- gender Ins Angeles Times sports reporter. TODD PICCUS Los Angeles, Calif. It's nice toseeThe Aduocale jumpingon the autism awareness bandwagon without resorting to the rhetoric ofcharacteizing autism as a terrible tragedy, as something that needs to be cured at any cost, or call- ing us a blight on society. As a gay autistic, I am equally as proud ofmy auhism as I am ofbeing gay, and I do not want to be cured of autism any more thal I want to be cwed of being gay. Unfortunately, the arti cle made no mention of the current state of autism politics today, which is very similar to GLBT politics ofdecades ago. Like the GLBT community, many autistics have objected to the pathologizing ofdifferences. We believe autism is a valid expression of human diversity and that we deserve firll inclusion and acceptance-not to the degree to which we can appear normal or become nonautistic but as we are now. CHARLES SMITH Carle Place. N.Y. Daniel Tammet is not the smarbest man in the world. If he lived in the U.S., he'd be a self-hating Log Cabin Republican. His ob- vious mistakes? He feels marriage should be reserved for straight couples, whereas those of us fighting for equality see mar- riage as a legal contract, not a religious, moral, or historical mandate. Tammet > I July 17,2OO7 aov0care com rHE ADVOCATE

📄 TR Knight

SEO TEXT: Article Content for Search Engines