Broadway, film and television star Cheyenne Jackson talks with
Matt Thomas about making it big in New York without keeping it
straight.
“The way I came to know about theatre was through yard sales. I
was always going to them and buying cast albums for shows like
Annie. I wanted to be the first boy to play Annie,
that was my dream,” recalls 34-year-old triple threat Cheyenne
Jackson, flashing a dashing smile. Since moving to New York eight
years ago, Jackson has carved out a career that rivals those of
the show business icons he grew up admiring. His classic good
looks, crooner’s baritone and leading-man screen presence have
made him a casting agent’s wet dream — an achievement he never
dreamed possible as a choirboy in northern Idaho.
“I’m not really a bondage, tie-up kind of guy, but every time
that Valentine’s Day Popeye cartoon would come on, the one where
he ties Bluto up, it would make me feel weird in my stomach,”
says Jackson. Growing up different in a conservative religious
household in a town of fewer than 1,200 people, Jackson remembers
his rustic childhood well. He describes it as
“very Little House on the Prairie,” complete with
well and outhouse. “I wasn’t privy to a lot of things other kids
my own age who had money were, but what we did have was music,”
says Jackson. He jumped at any opportunity to perform. “The first
time I said a line and everyone laughed, it was the biggest
cliché in the book, but I knew I was home.”
“When I was 13 and in eighth grade, I was obsessed with my best
friend. I was in love with him. He had blond curly hair and he
was a Mormon,” says Jackson of his first crush. “I just thought I
wanted to kiss him all the time, so I thought ‘Hey, I’m totally
gay.’” Jackson waited until he was 19 to come out to his
religious family, including his brother, a preacher once featured
on the 700 Club. He describes the process as
“terrible” and notes it included a suggestion he enroll in an
ex-gay program.
“The idea of the ex-gay movement as a philosophy is one thing,
but the comedic side of me thinks 20 guys staying in cabins in
the woods, all trying not to be gay…. That’s a Sean Cody movie,”
jokes Jackson, who promptly said “No fucking way” to the idea. “I
realized they were grasping. You have to let your parents mourn
the idea of what they think your life is going to be. It’s them
that has to deal with it. We’ve been dealing with it our whole
lives.” His family eventually came around, and he gleefully
mentions that he brought his parents with him when he sang on the
Rosie O’Donnell Gay Family Cruise last year.
Fresh out of high school, Jackson moved away from home. He
eventually landed in Seattle where he met his longterm boyfriend
Monte (“a handsome physicist”) and tried his hand at regional
theatre while working at a local magazine. After a death in the
family and the polarizing events of 9/11, Jackson decided to move
to New York, with Monte in tow, to pursue his Broadway
aspirations.
“I don’t like to tell actors this story, but when I moved to New
York City, I was literally on Broadway in three weeks,” says
Jackson bashfully. Connected with an agent through an actor
friend from Seattle, Jackson was signed immediately and, after
his first audition, scored his debut gig as an understudy
in Thoroughly Modern Millie. Jackson would go on to
understudy Broadway heavyweights like Gavin Creel and Adam Pascal
before getting his big break — by chance.
“Having a $12-million musical on your shoulders is exhausting,”
says Jackson of his starring role as a lady-killing ’50s
heartthrob in All Shook Up, a period jukebox
musical full of Elvis songs. Originally cast as the understudy,
Jackson got the role after the original lead’s contract fell
through. Suddenly he found himself front and centre. “There was a
billboard four storeys high of my face in Times Square. It was
surreal; you can’t really wrap your head around it,” remembers
Jackson.
Jackson casually confirmed he was gay during an interview with
the New York Times, while doing press
for All Shook Up. “I have friends who are in the
closet and I’ve seen it go either way. But I thought, if someone
has the balls to ask me flat out in an interview, then I’ll say
‘yes,’” explains Jackson.
“My people at the time were flipping out, saying, ‘You’re playing
this womanizing great character and you do so many things, and
now people are only seeing you as a gay dude,’” says Jackson, who
later fired his PR team, eventually replacing them with Monte.
“If audiences just see me that way, then first of all, I’m not
doing a good enough job convincing them otherwise, and secondly,
then fuck ’em if that’s the case.”
Jackson’s public admission didn’t affect his career in any way he
feels was substantial. His newfound gay fan base helped ticket
sales for his next musical endeavour: as the lead inXanadu:
The Musical, a stage version of the campy 1980 film starring
Olivia Newton-John. The show ran for more than 500 performances,
was nominated for two Tony Awards in 2008, including Best
Musical, and featured Jackson singing and dancing on roller
blades, sporting a tiny pair of denim hot pants.
“I didn’t want to do it at first. I thought it would be too
distracting because I have a lot going on down there. It’s a
really funny and witty show, and I didn’t want it to be about my
ass,” says Jackson of his costume. Uncharacteristically shy, he
eventually embraced his new sex symbol status and refers
to Xanadu as “the most fun from top to bottom
I’ve ever had working.”
Jackson’s performance received a lot of attention. He started
landing roles playing straight guys on TV shows
like Ugly Betty, Lipstick
Jungle, Life on
Mars, Glee (he had to drop the part after
getting violently ill but expects to be back) and most recently
the recurring role of Danny Baker, the naïve new Canadian cast
member of TGS, on 30 Rock.
Like Neil Patrick Harris, Jackson’s had no
problem getting straight roles and is happy to usher in a new age
for openly gay actors. “Last week I screen tested for the biggest
movie of my life with Cameron Diaz. There were five other guys
and me, and I was the only gay dude. We read together and she
laughed, and it made me see that everyone may know my deal, but
they are into what I do as an actor,” says Jackson.
But not everyone in the industry has an ambivalent attitude
toward his sexuality.
“E! Online asked me, ‘In your 30
Rock co-star Alec Baldwin’s new movie, It’s
Complicated, he shows his butt. Do you want to see it?’”
says Jackson. “First of all, it’s a trick question. There’s no
way you can answer that correctly. So I said, ‘Sure, I’d totally
see that. I have a total talent crush on Alec.’ Of course the
headline read: ‘Gay 30 Rock cast member wants
to see Alec Baldwin nude.’” Jackson later told the anecdote to
Tina Fey, who weaved the concept into an upcoming episode.
“Nothing’s funnier than real life,” adds Jackson, shrugging off
the scandal-hungry American press machine.
Jackson says he’s turned down his fair share of “terrible gay
comedies, the ones that are so poorly written and go straight to
video,” but that doesn’t mean he’s afraid to play gay roles. His
first major film role was playing gay rugby player Mark Bingham
in the 9/11 hijack filmUnited 93, and he played a gay
man with a secret hit out on his meth-loving husband in a recent
episode of Law & Order. Jackson also just
landed a major part in It Takes a Village for
ABC, the biggest pilot he’s done yet. The show revolves around
exes Karen, played by Leah Remini, and Howard, who’s now gay.
They struggle to raise their 15-year-old son while juggling
relationships with their new significant others. Jackson plays
Howard’s first boyfriend and says of the role, “Being gay is a
part of who I am, and hopefully I can bring some truth to
it.”
He hasn’t
abandoned his musical roots though, and he grins like a schoolboy
as he lists previous stage partners that include Barbara Cook,
Brian Stokes Mitchell, Idina Menzel and even Meryl Streep, with
whom he sang “Sodomy” from Hairat a fundraiser.
Jackson’s favourite collaborator is Michael Feinstein, the
Grammy-winning, openly gay musical theatre legend who studied
under the Gershwin brothers. The pair, united over a shared love
of traditional musical art form and the American Songbook, have
written shows together, toured together and recently released a
CD of duets, The Power of Two. “As a gay mentor, as
a musical mentor, as someone who has Nancy Reagan on speed dial,
he’s full of bizarre, amazing connections. He’s really
one-of-a-kind, and we’ve learned a lot from each other,” says
Jackson of Feinstein.
Jackson is always busy and has a lot of upcoming projects. A
Mormon-themed musical by the creators of South
Park and Avenue Q is off the table
for discussion due to a gag order, but it’s to be previewing this
summer in New York, and Jackson previously admitted his
involvement to the press. He’s also working on We Have
Always Lived in the Castle, a new musical by Canadian-born
playwright Adam Bock and composer Todd Almond, based on the
Shirley Jackson novel. However, Jackson’s most passionate new
role is as a hands-on international ambassador for amfAR, a
leading organization for AIDS education and research.
“I had a very good friend from Seattle; he and I were two peas in
a pod. We whored it up all through Seattle in our early 20s. We
were like salt and pepper; he was blond and I had black hair. He
recently became HIV positive and it really just shook me to the
core. With all the risky behaviour I partook of in my early 20s,
that could so easily have been me,” explains Jackson when asked
about his involvement with amfAR. “My mom and dad always said to
give back to your community. It’s one thing to say you will, but
it’s another to get your hands dirty.”
Whether it’s the dirt thrown at him from Hollywood or the dirty
costumes of Broadway, one thing is clear: Jackson is totally okay
with being a little dirty if it means being honest about who he
is, and that’s why gay men and the rest of the world can’t get
enough.
Matt Smith
was born, Matthew Robert Smith on 28th October 1982 in
Northampton, England. He attended Northampton School for Boys. He
originally wanted to be a footballer and played at under sixteen
level but had to give up football after a back injury. After
encouragement from his drama teacher he joined the National Youth
Theatre.
The stars were out in force
tonight in London’s Leicester Square as the CLASH OF THE
TITANS World Premiere took place at a heavily-dressed
Empire Theatre. Even a little wet English weather wasn’t enough to
dampen the spirits of these hardened greeks, as the cast came out
in force to greet the fans and press alike and promote the remake
of the classic 1981 fantasy epic.
This weekend sees
the return on the ever popular BEARS EMPIRE in Rome.
