Gays of our Lives (February 23, 2009)

CHATTING WITH … SRI RAO

I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Sri Rao, the former head writer of last year’s best soap opera on either daytime or nighttime television, General Hospital: Night Shift. In addition to discussing his work on that gay-inclusive, critically acclaimed show, Rao also shared his thoughts on the depiction of gay characters in the genre, who should write gay characters, how As the World Turns handled the Luke and Noah storyline, as well as news about a new project very close to his heart.

[While very interesting and worthwhile, this interview is five pages long. To skip directly to this week's IN MY HUMBLE OPINION, GOOL NEWSBEAT and SCOOPS AND SPOILERS click here.]

Sri Rao

Photo credit: Entwined Studio

AfterElton.com: You were the head writer for General Hospital: Night Shift. Had you written for soaps before that?
Sri Rao: No, this was my first foray into the soap opera genre. I had been watching General Hospital for my entire life. I’m a long-time fan of the show so I was very familiar with it. I grew up watching General Hospital with my mom and my older sister, so I’ve been watching it longer than any show on TV, probably for like twenty-five years or something.

AE: What made you decide to take the job?
SR: I never thought that I would write for daytime, honestly, but when this opportunity presented itself, it was kind of like in some ways a dream come true, only because it was General Hospital and that’s a show that I grew up with and I loved watching as a fan. That’s sort of, in some ways, a fan’s dream come true. I kind of had to jump at the opportunity when I thought about it that way.

The cast of “General Hospital: Night Shift”

AE: Why do you think the Kyle/Eric storyline was so well received with the audience and the critics?
SR: We had a great team and I really think that is what translated on screen. Starting with my writing team and then into the production team as well. Then of course the actors. Kimberly [McCullough, Dr. Robin Scorpio] and Jason [Thompson, Dr. Patrick Drake] did some fantastic work. And then the new actors as well, Carrie Southworth (Dr. Claire Simpson) and Adam Grimes (Dr. Kyle Julian), then bringing in Chad Allen (Eric Whitlow) . . . We were really lucky to have a great talent pool working on the show, behind the scenes and in front of the camera. And I think that that is what resonated with viewers.

AE: Despite the fact that you did so well, you were not nominated for a GLAAD award, and in a lot of fans’ eyes, you should have been. How do you feel about that?

Adam Grimes (Dr. Kyle Julian) and out actor Chad Allen (Eric Whitlow)