Over the years, Hollywood's played home to many a hero and many more a homo, but rarely have they managed to merge into one neat package like Robert Gant. A Tampa, FL, native and Georgetown law school grad, Gant initially came to Los Angeles in 1993 as a lawyer for Baker & McKenzie. As fate would have it the prestigious firm soon thereafter shuttered its L.A. office, granting Gant the perfect chance to pursue his greater passion of acting. Numerous TV roles ensued, including extended stints on Caroline In The City and the camp classic Popular. In 2002, Gant burst onto the greater collective gaydar as Ben Bruckner on Showtime's Queer As Folk. He then made an even bigger splash by bucking taboos to come out as an openly gay actor.
Fresh on the heels of QAF's recent denouement, the 37-year-old and currently single Gant's penchant toward personal renaissance is once again unfurling unfettered. While continuing his passionate advocacy for a plethora of gay causes, he's added writing and producing to his already varied repertoire-the later in the form of Mythgarden, the homocentric film and TV production house he cofounded with Chad Allen and Christopher Racster.
INSTINCT: Queer As Folk had an amazing run. Were you sad to see it end?
ROBERT GANT: I was sad, but happy too. Sad because the gayest voice on television has now ceased to exist other than in reruns or on DVD, and I think it was an important thing for the country-certainly during this time when we've needed strong representations of gay folks. But [I was] happy that the show ended on a really high note, and happy personally because I was anxious to get back to my life here in Los Angeles.
INSTINCT:Tell me more about Mythgarden. What are you guys working on?
We have three feature projects in development right now. The first one-the one that really started the company-is called Save Me, which is based on Craig Chester's original script and set amidst the backdrop of the ex-gay ministry. Chad [Allen] will play the guy who goes into recovery, and Judith Light, our co-producer on the film, will play the woman who runs the place-a wonderful turn for her in light of her being so supportive of the community. I'll play the guy who essentially goes to rescue Chad, wherein the whole love story commences. Another film we have is called The Way Out. It's about an older gay man whose lover dies and he has to go live in a retirement home, where he faces all the generational issues attendant to people of that age group-especially the rampant homophobia. Our third film is called The Dunes Of Overveen, and it's the story of the only successful resistance attack effort that took place in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam, conceived and carried out by two gay men-a writer/painter and a costume designer for the Amsterdam Opera.
INSTINCT:You've done a lot of charity work, especially with the GLBT elder organizations. Why is gay aging such an important issue for you?
Well, the most important thing for me was to find a way to be of service and to put this platform that was given to me via Queer As Folk to use. So I really thought about the things that were dear and important to me. Lambda Legal is important, because I believe they're one of the most vital organizations-if not the most vital organization-for the acquisition of our rights going forward. But the issue that really has drawn me since I was a kid is that of aging, I think because of the fears that are heaped upon us gay folks as children-ultimately, the fear of being gay and old and alone. I think we've done a beautiful job addressing many of the key issues facing us as a community, such as the youth issue, but I think that aging issue is probably still where the youth issue was 10 years ago. It's high time we start treating our elders with care and with love, because aging is truly the one thing that affects every single one of us. The sooner we embrace it individually and as a community, the stronger we're going to be.
INSTINCT:Speaking of joyful things, what was it like to be picked as one of People's "12 Sexy Men Of The Moment" this year?
It was fun. I thought it was kind of cool that they very inadvertently mentioned the word "boyfriend" in the profile, rather than just pegging me as "The Gay Bachelor" or something similar. I thought it was a real sign of our progression.
INSTINCT:And to think none of this would've happened if Baker & McKenzie hadn't closed their L. A. office.
No kidding! But it might've happened anyway, because I was already seeing my life flash before my eyes in that office. I don't think I was meant to be sitting in a library researching and crafting court documents and whatnot. A friend of mine once said I was far better suited as the subject of litigation than somebody who's litigating it.
Courtesy of instinct Magazine: http://www.instinctmag.com/