The globally-minded scamps over at Queerty found an interesting interview at gay South African site Mamba with Noah's Arc lead Darryl Stephens. In the interview, Stephens claims that he's through playing gays for a while (he says it's a "moratorium", which sounds a bit severe; isn't that kind of like when Disney stuffs its ticket-sellers back into the vault?), and then goes on to explain why he and his cast do not discuss their sexualities publicly:

"The one thing I can say is that the straight actors on this show [Noah’s Arc] are not saying "we’re straight, playing gay". In the same way that the gay actors aren’t saying "we’re gay". No-one [on the show] is talking about their personal lives. We sat down – all the actors sat down – and said that the straight actors are not going to get all the press because they’re being “so brave” in playing gay."

Um ... okay ...

Stephens' interview reads to me like a guide to running career damage control while still making a living off of gay fans and audiences. I'll be the first to admit that I had assumed this actor was gay, but that's because I'd only seen him play gay roles in gay projects -- I could really care less either way. I'm not sure I agree with his argument that coming out about who you have relationships with in your personal life will lead to more grievous typecasting than the fact that you've played gay characters almost exclusively.

Stephens later notes that he's of course up for a movie version of Arc, adding, "Noah is a great character for me. A lot of people relate to him – he’s a gift. I won’t give up playing this character."

Thoughts?