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Gale Force

Queer as Folk’s feisty Gale Harold takes aim against homophobia, fame, and critics of his personality, Brian

By Michael Rowe
From The Advocate, February 5, 2001

The tall, slender guy locking his bicycle outside an unpretentious Toronto restaurant is wearing a fedora tilted down over his eyes in a way that suggests a craving for great distance, as though a veil of inviolability has been drawn about him love an invisible cloak. On someone else, the hat might be a bohemian affectation. For 32-year-old actor Gale Harold, it’s a practical strategy. Anonymity—or inviolability, for that matter—has become a unique commodity in the 13 months since his character, Brian Kinney, the queer white shark of Showtime’s Queer as Folk, seared himself into gay awareness and pop culture.

If Harold could stamp off more intimate territory—for instance, never do another star profile—he would. Questions about what it’s like to be a straight bloke playing gay or what it feels like to be so handsome exasperate him beyond distraction. He doesn’t appreciate fame or believe its motivati

As alter ego Brian Kinney, he's gotten head in a nightclub, devirginized a 17-year-old young man, and shoved his tongue down dozens of men's throats-just another day at the office for Queer As Folk's Gale Harold.

Gale Harold is afraid to out himself.... as a straight man. The impossibly gorgeous 31-year-old plays Brian Kinney, a smokin'-hot sex fiend who beds five men a week on Showtime's anal-positive, gay sitcom Queer As Folk. Since the exhibit began, Harold has given millions of hungry gay men (and women) a delicious taste of his naked body-we've seen scrotum and cotten-candy lips. He's gotten head in a nightclub, devirginized a sweet 17-year-old boy, and shoved his tongue down dozens of men's throats-some of the most graphic guy-on-guy action ever seen on TV (Shaving Ryan's Privates not included).

So the first genuine question I request the rising luminary, when we met on a brisk afternoon at a quaint wine lock in the West Village, was, appropriately, "Gay or straight?" He takes a bite of his goat cheese panini and points to my tape recorder, motioning me to shut it off. We sit in silence. He turns his head away, rests his square-toed brown boots on the window ledge, and c

Out of the Box Interview with Gale Harold

David: The premise of this clip is that the medium of television is stronger than most people ever understand, either when they’re watching it or when they’re in it. And when I started this film, years ago, it was to see the world through the eyes of people who were playing parts, where it used to be called “Playing Gay” before it became “Out Of The Box.” I always mind that playing a same-sex attracted part, particularly for a non-gay actor, was going to teach you something, you were going to learn something that you couldn’t possibly know any other way until you inhabited that. There are a lot of parts like that, you engage a murderer, you perform a doctor, you comprehend something. So that’s how this all started. We’ll come to that in a minute. I’d love to start with where you started. You started growing up in Atlanta, am I right?

Gale: Yup.

David: First fifteen years of your animation, you lived in a very, maybe the synonyms is constrained environment? It was defined by religion? Is that a unbiased statement?

Gale: To a certain degree.

David: Remember that I am cut out of this, so any

Gale Harold, best known as Brian Kinney from Showtime's Queer as Folk, has also appeared in numerous plays, films and television series such as Desperate Housewives and The Secret Circle. Observe for his latest film, currently in production, called The Entity Experience. Photo by Robert E. Beckwith.

Gale Harold of Queer as Folk weighed in on what was once the most controversial character to portray.

Ilana Rapp: You gave us quite a scare when you had your motorcycle accident during your Desperate Housewives run. Has the accident changed you regarding how you feel about life and your career?

Gale Harold: The accident was a definite mortality verify. Afterwards I had to re-think life from almost every angle. I learned how lucky I am not only to be alive, but to be surrounded by the wonderful people in my life who came to my side, looked after me and gave me an anchor to rely on. Their presence was fundamental in my recovery not only physically but psychologically. The places I went to were the worst and most terrifying I've ever experienced. I really believe that seeing the faces and hearing the voices of these people made it possible for me to discover a way