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by Dennis Hensley
For
many of you, seeing Jonathan Taylor-Thomas on the cover of the Advocate may not be an
entirely foreign concept. Over a year ago, there was a
Internet-bred rumor circulating that the 18-year-old Pennsylvania-born, California-bred
actor, who played Tim Allen's son on the sitcom Home Improvement from 1991-98,
was gay and coming out as such right here in these pages. However, like many such fables that
somehow gain a modicum of momentum -- the Keanu Reeves-David Geffen marriage hoax comes to
mind -- this one simply wasn't true. Jonathan Taylor-Thomas is not gay.
He
does, however, play gay in the new Showtime movie Common Ground, an If These
Walls Could Talk-style trio of vignettes about what it's like to be gay in small town
America in the 50s, the 70s and the 90s. In the middle 70s-set section,
penned by Tony-award winning gay playwright Terrence McNally (Love! Valour!
Compassion!), Thomas dazzles as Toby Anderson, a high school swim star, who, after
enduring the homophobic taunts of his team members, opens up to his favorite teacher, Mr.
Roberts (Jeffrey's Steven Weber) who he senses is also gay. Unfortunately for Toby, his beloved
Mr. Roberts is poised to become the school's next principal and is too afraid for his own
reputation to do much empathizing. After Toby's fumbled attempt to
prove his manliness with a female hooker, the piece builds to a harrowing locker room
scene in which our golden boy is forced to service one of his teammates while the rest do
nothing to stop it. Not exactly the kind of plot points
one would find in an episode of Home Improvement, not even a very special one.
Director
Nicholas Perry, who cast Thomas in his first more adult role, as a bisexual hustler in the
pre-Common Ground, Vegas-set indie Speedway Junky, applauds Thomas's
willingness to turn his teen idol image -- born from eight years on Home Improvement
and film roles like Tom and Huck, Wild America, and the voice of Young Simba in The
Lion King -- on its adorably-coifed head. "It's a brand new Jonathan
Taylor-Thomas," proclaims Perry, whose film hits theaters this spring. "I think what he's trying to do
[with these roles] is show that he's a talented, serious actor and capable of a lot more
things than people think he is." Perry sites as an example a scene in
Speedway in which Thomas has a three-page speech on how to be an effective
hustler. "Because we were running out of
time, I had the inspiration of doing the entire scene in one steadicam shot with no
cuts," recalls Perry. "My favorite moment was that
look on Jonathan's face when I told him what I wanted to do. But then, he just did it and
completely pulled it off."
Common
Ground director, Donna Deitch (Desert Hearts) echoes Perry's admiration. "Jonathan was up for
everything," she says, adding that Thomas was both her and Showtime's first and only
choice for the role. "A great deal was demanded of
him and he was completely committed. He even went for the Speedo."
His
televised state of undress is one of several provocative subjects Thomas addresses in the
following interview, which took place at the L.A. photo studio where the accompanying
photographs were taken. Though long on boyish charm, Thomas,
in person, is more measured and articulate than his Teen Beat image would suggest. "The Speedo wasn't something I
was looking forward to but it was relatively minimal," says the actor, clad today in
jeans a gray sweater, baseball cap and Skechers. Hold on a second, Jonathan, the
Speedo was minimal? "No," he says laughing,
"how much you see is minimal." The ten-year show biz veteran takes
a swig from his Diet Dr. Pepper then adds, "The suit itself is minimal as well, but
that's the nature of the Speedo."
Granted,
Jonathan Taylor-Thomas doesn't need to explain Speedo coverage to the readers of the
Advocate. Luckily, this remarkably thoughtful
and quick to laugh young actor has plenty of other things on his mind.
What appealed to you about Common
Ground?
It was
really well written by Terrance McNally and I like the character because he's very driven,
very smart, and he just wants to be accepted.
I liked that Toby was an
overachiever. Can you relate to that?
Yeah.
He's confident, he's proud, he's smart and he's incredibly alone. I liked that he doesn't want to let
other people's hatred and insecurities prevent him from being the best he can be.
I've read that you're a straight A
student.
Well,
I know I'm capable of it, and I know that if I'm disciplined I can do it and when I'm not
disciplined, I beat myself up later on.
You got to do a 70s thing without
too many bad clothes or hairdos.
Which
was good. When I first read 70s, I was
thinking bellbottoms, Afros, all kinds of wild things. When I got there, there was a little
bit of flair on the pants. Not too bad.
Did you train to do the swimming
scenes?
I had
a couple quick lessons and certainly the camera angles helped.
But the part where you throw the
race and kind of flounder? You nailed that.
Well,
I can sink well. (Laughs) When I read that scene I went,
'Wow.' I liked that it wasn't a purely
rational thing. It was selfish in a way. I felt bad for the character that he
was driven to the point where he felt he needed to ruin it for his teammates to make a
statement.
Before this project, you did an
independent film called Speedway Junky in which you played a bisexual hustler. I believe your first line was,
"So did you get fucked in the ass today?"
(Laughs)
Right, right, yeah. Nice character.
In taking these roles, were you
trying to shake your wholesome image?
I
thought, 'If I am going to grow as an actor, I need to challenge myself.' I wasn't trying to change my image. I didn't do these pieces for anyone
else. I did them for me. I had an attachment to these
characters.
What about your agents. Were they like, 'It's great that you
want to stretch, Jonathan, but could you maybe squeeze a Disney movie in too?'
They
were completely cool. They understand that my goal is to
have longevity. I'm not trying to tap out and spend
the rest of my years on a beach in Bali. I want to act. I want to get better.
Your mom is also your manager. Was she cool too?
Completely. I watched Speedway Junky
sitting right next to her, where every third word out of my mouth was a cuss word. It was a little awkward but she
knows who I am.
Do you think your Speedway
character made good money as a hustler or was it all talk?
I
think he probably did pretty well. (Laughs) That's what I like about acting; you
get to live out these fantasies and then you go home at night to your normal life, go back
to just being Jon. I love to create characters and be
on the set. All the other stuff is necessary but
it's not why I'm here.
Speaking of all the stuff that comes
with fame, there was a rumor going around about a couple of years ago that you were coming
out as gay right here in the pages of the Advocate.
The
whole thing started on this Web site called CyberSleaze, which should probably tell you
something. I was working at the time and my
agent called me and said, "There's this stuff going around." Then I would get phone calls from my
friends saying, "What are you going to do about this?" What was so odd about it is that
there was no incident that triggered it. It was just a blatant lie that got
put on the Internet, and then it was just like a feeding frenzy. And I'm sure it was validated by my
recent roles. (Laughs)
Did it make you angry?
No. I was completely fine with it until
my grandmother, who is 95 years old, happened to hear a radio station in Pennsylvania
talking about it and she was a little upset. Until that point, I was like,
"It's a rumor, blah-blah-blah." But then it got a little close to
home when she heard it in my hometown. The reality is that it happens to
everybody.
I don't think you've really made it
in Hollywood until people think you're gay.
(Laughs) Exactly. What startled me was how willingly
people accepted it. They were talking about it on the
radio station here, KIIS-FM, and I know Rick Dees, I've been on his show and I was just
shocked at how willingly people went, "Well if it comes up on CyberSleaze..."
Did you ever log on and read it?
No, I
really didn't want to really deal with it and I was working on a film at the time, for
Disney. I'll Be Home For Christmas.
Or as they like to call it on
CyberSleaze, I'll Be Homo For Christmas.
Oh,
man. (Laughs) So that was that. But to be honest, I didn't get
pissed off. It wasn't like, "Shit, I've got
to go on every program and dispel this awful, awful thing." My friends know the truth, I know
the truth, my family knows the truth, and that's what matters.
Do you ever get razzed on at school,
if not for the rumors, then for these recent roles you've chosen?
Part
of being an 18-year-old is, 'Okay, rag on your buddy.' But I gotta tell you, this stuff
never comes up when I'm with my friends. It's just not that interesting. If you're in the public eye, there
is automatically a wall that is built between you and everyone, your friends, even your
family sometimes, and you have to continually fight to maintain a normal human
relationship where it's not celebrity and non-celebrity. It is so important to have people
that you can be with solely for the reason that they like being with you. They don't get a
kick out of seeing you in a magazine or going to a premiere with you.
I think the idea that an actor your
age is sitting here talking to the Advocate reflects how attitudes about homosexuality are
changing. Do you sense your generation is more
enlightened than previous generations?
Yeah. I think people overall are becoming
more accepting, partly because it is more prevalent in the media. Part of what Common Ground
does really well is express the humanity of these people. It's difficult to have any
animosity if you recognize that on so many levels they're exactly the same as you.
What do you think would happen
professionally if a successful young actor like yourself were to come out?
I
don't know but I hope that, like anyone else, they would be measured on their merit and
their talent.
Do you remember your first exposure
to a gay person?
Not
really. Working in Hollywood since I was
eight, it was never a big deal. Over the years I've working with so
many smart, funny, talented, gay people and you just don't think about it. They're your friends and you have a
common goal; to make the best project you can.
A few years ago, I was at the
Showest convention in Las Vegas and you and Ellen Degeneres were both promoting films. She hadn't come out yet but it was
in the air and I remember her getting on the mic and saying, "Jonathan Taylor-Thomas
won't stop hitting on me."
(Whispering) "He doesn't know."
Right. What was going through your head
when she said that?
I
burst out laughing. I mean, I certainly knew and I
completely got it. But yeah, it was a funny situation.
Do you remember how you learned
about sex in general?
I
think it was just from hanging around grips for eight years. (Laughs) You just hear everything
and it all kind of filters in and lodges in your brain and you just know these things.
What's it like to go through puberty
as an actor on TV? Did you ever think, 'Please God, let
me turn out cute.'
To be
honest, it never crossed my mind. It wasn't like, 'My God, people are
going to see my awkward stage.' I was just out there trying to have a good time.
So what if the make-up girl's going
to have to work a little harder this week...
Exactly. I'm going to have pimples. So what's the big deal?
You left Home Improvement
at the beginning of the final season. Why?
I
wanted to go back to school, primarily. Junior year is a big year as far as colleges go
and I wanted to do well. Frankly, it was just time, but there
was absolutely no hostility.
In all your years in show business,
have you ever thrown a star tantrum?
No,
not that I've never been pissed off because I have.
I've always viewed
people who have done that as being really obnoxious and out of control and I don't want to
be like that. It takes as much effort to throw a
tantrum and be nasty as it does to be nice and just do your thing.
One of your first roles was playing
Greg Brady's son on the ill-fated 1990 series, The Bradys. What do you remember about that?
One of
my favorite things was Florence Henderson went to a Super Bowl and came back and gave me a
commemorative ball. I thought that was incredibly nice
of her.
That explains that Internet rumor
about Mrs. Brady balling her TV grandson.
(Laughs) Exactly. That stuff happens.
Do you have a tabloid story about
yourself that made you laugh?
There
was this one that said Tim (Allen) and I were duking it out on the set over the number of
lines we each received.
I would have loved to have seen
that. Did you and Tim get along well?
Absolutely. I went to work everyday and I knew I
was going to laugh because of him. He's a good guy. He really is.
You were the voice of Young Simba in
The Lion King. Children and gays
must worship you.
I get
a kick out of it when people enjoy it, but my voice has changed. I'm no longer Young Simba. That's very clear.
If they remade it today, what Simba
would you be?
Post-prepubescent
Simba or SAT Simba. (Laughs)
You seem remarkably self-possessed
for someone your age. Where do you think that comes from?
I
don't know. My mom always made sure I got the
things I needed in life. I think in the end, it does all come
down to parenting.
Your parents divorced when you were
eight. Is your father still in L.A.?
No,
he's in Northern California. (Pauses) But I had a mom who was strong
enough to compensate for the losses there, and she raised two kids.
When are you the most juvenile?
When
I'm with my friends. I'm a complete goofball. If you get a group of 17- and
18-year-old guys together in a room, the stuff that comes out of our brains is just
frightening. It's fun sometimes to be with your
friends because you know it's safe. It's not going in any paper.
What's something you'd like to do in
a part that you haven't gotten to do yet?
In a
park?
No, a part, a role. I'm saving the park question for
George Michael.
(Laughs) Oh, in a part. Hmmm, play someone who's crazy. It would be fun to walk around for
three months being nuts.
What's your idea of the perfect day?
Fly
fishing in the morning in Montana, then come home and watch a great football game.
My God, you are straight. Any big movie star crushes in your
past?
Cameron
Diaz in The Mask. I met her really briefly and she
pinched my cheeks and then she told me that I reminded her of her brother and it just
crushed me. If there was anything that I didn't
want to hear, it was that, but she was nice.
Is your prom coming up?
Yeah,
but first there's the Vice/Versa dance in February.
That's where the girls
ask the guys.
Any strong contenders?
Yeah. There's a lot of people that would
be fun to spend an evening with. It should be fun.
So you don't have a girlfriend?
Not at
the moment.
You're applying to colleges now. Do you know what you want to study?
I'd
love to take some theater classes and maybe government, political science, history. I've always been interested in those
things.
So we shouldn't be surprised if
someday we have bumper stickers that say "Jonathan Taylor-Thomas for President?"
(Laughs) You never know. If Donald Trump can do it...
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