Photos credit: John M. Heller/Getty Images for Logo Features
AE: What about you Jensen, in regards to Wade?
JA: When we
first met Wade, you know a lot of people said he was straight. The
character wasn’t straight; you were just able to see him starting his
first relationship and really getting comfortable with himself. During
this movie you see this character not being so apologetic for who he
is. He’s definitely comfortable with himself, and there is some
confidence that comes through, not only confidence to take the lead
that he always seems to push for, but to allow someone else to take the
lead as well.
AE: The most surprising thing about this movie is that it takes a
completely nonchalant attitude towards gay marriage. Was that a
conscious decision on the part of yourselves and the filmmaker?
DS: The universe of Noah’s Arc
really comes from a place where gay is not the issue. The point is that
these are people who have friendships and relationships and jobs, and
children and issues that everybody else has. The legal and civil rights
aspect of gay marriage isn’t even our concern. We’re already
established that we’ve gone out of our state to get married. That’s the
one nod to how ridiculous that in the United States of America same-sex
marriage is not legal in most states.
But beyond that, the movie is about…when you’re committing yourself to
someone, you’re committing yourself to them in a lifelong loving
relationship. You have to deal with all these issues about whether or
not you’re ready, about whether or not this person is “the one”,
whether or not your friends are going to support you. It’s not really
about the fact that these are gay people. Yeah, these are gay
characters, yeah, they’re black men, but they’re living the same lives
that everyone else in the world is living.
AE: Alright. Switching gears a bit, tell me a bit about the dance
scene in the movie. It was a fun surprise. How did that whole thing
come about?
DS: The dance scene was in the script, part of a
montage. Christian Vincent (who plays Ricky) had read the script, and
asked Patrick-Ian [Polk, the director] what we were going to do about
this whole “voguing” thing, because none of us had ever vogued. Some of
us, Jensen included, have dancing backgrounds, but no voguing
experience, so Christian and Patrik discussed it, and Christian
actually choreographed that sequence. It was fun, and cute.
AE: Everyone [in the theater] seemed to get a big kick out of it. I
know that you were in Canada shooting the film for about 3 ½ weeks.
What is your favorite memory from making the movie?
DS: Being inside!
AE: Because it was cold?
DS: It was so cold, I mean you
don’t understand. As an actor, you put yourself in different scenarios.
I mean, I’ve been on sets where I didn’t get along with the other
actors, I’ve been on sets where the director doesn’t know what he’s
talking about, or I’ve been on sets where I really hate the lines that
I have to say but I have to grit my teeth and do it anyways. This
scenario was perfect in every sense, but [the weather] one. If anybody
has issues with the acting, we are acting our asses off, because you
can’t even tell how cold we are.
JA: It’s funny because the cold always seems to come up. I was
talking to Patrik, and he asked me to stop talking about how cold it
was. I just finished reading an article on Phoebe Snow who’s also a
part of the movie, and she talked about how cold it was.
AE: So I guess it’s not just Darryl. I guess it really was very cold.
DS: It
was no joke! You know how I talked about wanting to be slimmer as Noah?
Well, I was probably heavier because we had to wear about 3 or 4 layers
under the costumes to keep from shivering.
AE: Ok, so it was cold.
DS: It was cold!
JA: You know,
Darryl reminded me of something that happened earlier when I did get to
see all those guys at the airport on our way to production. That was a
great moment.
DS: That was actually my favorite part of the whole thing.
AE: So you all get along, no behind the scenes diva antics?
DS: Not
at all. This is one of the loveliest casts I’ve had the experience of
working with. Everyone gets along so well, it’s shocking.
From left to right: Noah (Stephens), Wade (Atwood),
Chance (Douglas Spearman) and Eddie (Jonathan Julian)
