Thirst interview transcript
Disclaimer: I left out some parts of the interview that didn’t include Gale directly)
Doug gives brief information about the show and Thirst, then introduces Rachel, Josh and Gale.
Doug: “And of course, the one and only Gale Harold. Welcome, Gale."
Gale: “Hello, how are you Douglas. Thank you for having us. We’re very happy to be here.” (said in a very proper voice)
Doug laughs. “Ah, you’re welcome. Thank you. That’s awesome"
Rachel interrupts, “That’s how he really talks all the time.”
Doug: “Oh, really?”
Gale: (interrupts in a Bugs Bunny kind of voice) “If I can say, if I can say a few words, they come out different every time."
Doug: “I’ll just go with the flow and let you be whoever you want to be. Rachel, for those that are listening that are not familiar with project, and the film, and people that are on with us, tell us a little bit about the film and how it came to be.”
Rachel: “Sure. Yes. Thirst is a short film, we're calling it a modern fable, and it's a story that follows a young man, played by Josh Pence, Billy, who's struggling to, struggling with his addictions and his emotional battles. And he finds temporary work in a derelict bar. And he's just confronted with a really disturbing, potential future. And I guess the film just takes an unconventional approach to telling a story about an addiction and, without telling too much cause the film might, is a 25-minute film, it just shows the audience pain, the pain and hopelessness that comes from lives that are afflicted with addiction. Yeah, with the, we had some incredible, incredible performances with this phenomenal cast as you can imagine, and they just brought so much to helping us tell a really powerful story. So that's a little bit about it.”
Doug: “Oh. Okay. Well, how, you know, about getting together a cast for this project, you got both Josh and Gale, and some others, and you got Melanie Griffith, who I haven't seen for a long time. So how did she part of this project?”
Rachel: “Yeah! Uh, well, we had a really incredible casting director, Ania O’Hare, who really did a fantastic job of getting our script out to the cast. So we were very interested in, and we were lucky enough to cast everyone that we had intended for the roles, so we got very lucky. As far as Melanie, Ania got her the script through her agent, and we were so amazed at how quickly she got back to us. She read the script within a day or two, took a meeting with us, with the writer and myself. We told her about the project, what it meant to us, and she jumped right on board. And, um, it was pretty much the same way with everyone involved. I think the script, it was so beautifully written by Michael Albanese, just resonated with a lot of people. So that's kind of how our cast came together.”
Doug: “Oh, Okay. Uh, I'm really excited, cause you guys just released the trailer, I think it was last week, so, uh, we now have a little glimpse of what's to come, and you say it's a 25-minute short film. Pending that, once you get the rest of the funding down, you know, when will us fans be able to view it and to see it?”
Rachel: “Uh, well, we're hitting the festival circuit. So we're hoping that you'll be able to see it in a film festival very soon. I can't really say which, you know, but hopefully sometime this summer.”
Doug: “That'd be great. Well, if it's anywhere near LA, then I'll definitely come support you and see it cause that'd be fantastic.”
Rachel: “Great. We'll do some screenings as well around Los Angeles and New York. So we'll definitely keep you posted on that.”
Doug asks each of them about the characters. Gale is last.
Doug: “Gale, tell us a little about your character in Thirst.”
Gale: “My character, John, comes into the bar where Billy’s working and seems to be perhaps a regular or someone with something going on inside that room that’s not just about drinking. That’s how it seems to me. Um, I mean as a device, I think it’s very effective and that’s what excited me about what Michael had written. Because I think everybody, personally, family or friends, knows how easy it is to get lost, no matter where you get lost, and to watch-you know what Josh was saying-trying to connect. The young man, [Billy] he’s struggling to find some place. And as good writing does, his place that he finds, he thinks a way out, is in the middle of where he should not be, you know, theoretically and that idea that he’s trying to connect while simultaneously separating himself internally from what’s going on around him.
John, my character, he’s sort of, what would you call him? He’s sort of like, um, sort of a philosophical counterpoint and you’re not really sure why he’s saying the things that he’s saying. They’re so pointed. They seem very direct, almost as if he knows more about Billy-”
Rachel interrupts: “He’s a messenger.”
Gale: “He’s a messenger, yeah.” Says jokingly, “He’s sort of the, he’s the eagle of death metal.” Then he hurriedly adds, “No he’s not.”
Everyone laughs.
Gale: “He, um, does these things that seem to be coming from a special perspective and he confronts Billy in sort of a [? ?] way and the very neutral things that come out of Billy’s mouth and why would he respond the way that he does. For me, that’s fascinating because it’s somewhat Greek you know? He’s the chorus there, he’s saying things that don’t make sense, that do make sense. They’re before and after the moment. Um, very confrontational. You wanna know, is he a pimp, is he a drug dealer, is he a DEA officer? Who knows? What’s he doing there? But uh, that’s kind of how I feel.”
Rachel: “Yeah, he’s very prophetic in the way he speaks to Billy. And it’s really interesting the way it played out between the two of them.”
Josh: “It’s kind of interesting, too, because I think he’s, Billy’s projected on him. Right off the bat in the beginning interactions they have, he’s kind of-that, that Gale’s character is not like everybody else in there and like he kind of tries to establish this rapport, in that we are the normal ones, surrounded by all these kind of bizarros. He’s very quick, Gale’s character, to point out that, that, you know he’s like, well, you know, he kind of calls Billy out right away. He’s like, ‘well, what are you, are you normal? We’re all here for a reason.’ And I think it’s at that point that Billy kind of realizes that.... You know, it’s sort of a bit of a wake up call and that he is in there for a reason, and I think it opens him up to experience, to truly experience this whole chapter of his life in a way and kind of begins to change.”
Doug: “Mmm, okay.”
They talk about the meaning of Thirst.
Doug: “This question is for Gale. Ask Gale how is writing is he’s been working on screenplays I’m curious how it’s going for him and tell him we all miss him.”
Soft laughter from all of them.
Gale: “I miss them too. For me, as far as this project is concerned and writing, um, I think getting to know Michael. He and I met by happenstance years ago in a kind of a similar situation that takes place in the script itself, and I’ll let that reveal itself as time passes. But working on the idea that the title of the film sort of raises spirits like Josh was saying, you know, you’re dry, you’re arid but you need something more, and then you take on what you need that you think that you need and that sort of makes it worse. I mean there’s a really simple metaphor for that. You wake up with a hangover, right? Why do you have a hangover? Because you exhausted all of your body’s ability to replenish yourself, because of all the alcohol that’s gone through your bloodstream, and all the air passing in and out of you.
And I think that to kind of go back to the other question and bring in the extreme part, I think part of what John’s doing there is to kind of remind Billy that once you’re in a certain state, that’s where you are potentially forever. And, there’s, you can be thirsty for some way to forget about your problems, and it’s another irony about the state. You may be lonely, you may be miserable, you may be sad, you had your heart broken and you want something to make that better. You can substitute something making that better by taking something that’s gonna make it worse, but then you get on that, that wheel and you can’t get off. And in an odd way, John is sort of, he’s um, in a very crass way he’s upping the stakes by acknowledging how bad it is, very dark, you know? Um, and as far as writing goes, just trying to find a way to bring that through.
I think that Michael has set that up in a very clear way and because of course it’s a short film, it’s somewhat minimal and it has to be very economical, but he’s got Billy trapped in such a place that every angle that he tries to turn further compounds where he is which is very, very extreme directions and so for the writing for me, that’s exciting and very fulfilling to be around. And then as it kind of sticks with you and you wake up one morning two weeks later and you’re having thoughts about the conversations your characters were having, and suddenly they’re absolutely relevant to what you’re going through in that instant. It goes back to what Josh was saying. You know we’re here to tell stories but we’re here to tell the truth and share something. There’s a bit of an oracle aspect to it so I don’t know if that answers the question but um....” Gale trails off.
Doug: “Yeah, um, I’m sure it does. Rachel, did you want to add anything back there?”
Rachel: “I’m sorry?”
Doug: “Did you want to add anything? I didn’t know if you were starting to say something or not.”
Rachel: “Oh, no, no, no.”
Doug: “Okay, um, and then another question for Harold, Gale Harold. Would you mind asking Gale if he does anything else art related, like painting or sketching or anything within the arts?”
Gale: “If I do related what? Sorry?”
Doug: “Art related? Like anything...I think she was talking about painting, sketching, anything like that art related.”
Gale: “Um, I burn books.”
Everyone laughs.
Gale: “No, no I don’t. I mean, uh, I mean I studied photography and printmaking and spent a lot of time etching and screen-printing. I don’t do that anymore. Um-”
Rachel interrupts: “Paper airplanes.”
Gale: “Paper airplanes. Yeah. Paper airplanes laced with razor blades.”
A couple of unintelligible words. Everyone laughs.
Gale: “Um, uh, yeah, I’m a fan. I’m, uh, an observer of traditional and not so human style art, and I won’t really tell you what that is but uh I don’t create too much besides trying to be um, a somewhat convincing performer at the moment.”
Doug: “Yeah. Um, just to give the audience, um, how this interview came about, um, I recently thought I’d pull out my Queer as Folk box set, and I watched the whole five seasons right back to back, and I literally just finished watching the finale just a few minutes before this show, and I’ve been on the air for two years and I thought why-I’ve had all kinds of celebrities on and I said why don’t I reach out and see what the cast of Queer as Folk is up to. I’ve got two reunion shows coming up, one with Michelle and Thea, who played Melanie and Lindsay, that’s gonna be coming up this month and also with Scott and Peter, who played Emmett and Ted. So for all you Queer as Folk fans, be sure to turn in to those.
Um, before we end, I just wanted to definitely tell you Gale that you are part of one of the best television shows of all time. It was such a ground breaking, ahead of itself. You know, that was over thirteen years ago when it started and you know, that film, that show now, I wonder what it would have been like now, with social media and with the way that the LGBT community has moved on to having like fourteen states I think now that allow it, and things are so different now than it was back in 2000 so I just wanted to tell you that I’m so glad you part of such a ground-breaking show and that you entered all of our lives, you know, every week on that show. And I didn’t realize until social media, bringing up this show today, how obsessed the fans are. They still are, all these years later. They’re still watching it, they’re still...there’s fan fiction going on about what happens after the show. I didn’t realize all this existed out there. So what’s it been like for you? I’m sure you get stopped or you get noticed a lot. I mean, how has that community been like to you?”
Gale: “Um, well first of all, thank you for the kind words, and I’m glad that you’ll be speaking to some of the other people that were involved. Um, it was intense...initially. Um, I was really inspired by the original show that Russell T. Davies had made and with Aiden Gillen’s performance as the character that my character was based on, and I really never thought that it would be possible to do something like that in the United States? Um, but we did accomplish something I think and for the duration of making it, I kind of went in and out of being able to even understand what was going on because it took its own, it took on its own life and uh, I think I should have known that. And I was very, very nervous about representing other people’s existence and their lives and going so deep into a place where a lot of people had suffered, suffered a lot, died, been beaten, um, hurt, uh, had to deal with a legal system that was not very kind to them, and we can look at Russia right now and see it in its extreme.
Um, so a lot of people that I think connected to what we were trying to do were relieved on some level to be able to see themselves presented as a valid part of life as it is. And it’s, it’s sort of unusual to have to say that because we’re all human beings, and we all deserve to live and to live the way we want to live, regardless of what anyone else thinks about what we feel life is. But I’d never personally experienced that intensity as a kid growing up. I had to my friends, but not directly personally, and so without making this an epic answer, um-“
Doug: “No, go ahead.”
Gale: “I think that it took me some time after the show was over to really be able to take a step back and begin to really be proud of what we’d done, you know? Because the intensity of the response was a little bit, um, discombobulating, you know? It was euphoric and it was incredibly fun and really challenging, and the relationships that I made with the people that I was working with are some of the most important relationships in my life and will be until the day I die. But it was hard to put it into perspective for me, you know? And I’m like probably grappling with thirty percent of the intensity of some of the other actors that we were working with what they were going through.
So I think that, you know, to answer your question, this response and the impact that it’s had on people is a result of people being able to see a version of their own life or a mirror for things that they were going through, that for better or worse, wasn’t allowed to be acknowledged. And sometimes we got it right and sometimes we got it wrong. But I think for the most part, I’m very happy that we were able to, you know, ratify some people’s ideas maybe, to encourage them, to inspire them, to make them angry, angry at us or the ideas we were trying to put across? Because you know, as an actor, you’re just telling a story as another person. In that project, specifically, I was trying to tell things for people that were fast, some of which I could relate to directly and some of which I couldn’t. And um, I’m just glad, uh, that we were able to make it through and that it has sustained some of that original energy.”
Doug: “Yeah, it sure has. Um, like I said, I literally just finished the series finale and I only saw it, that series finale, the day it aired. Watching it all these years later for the first time was like reliving, was like really watching it for the first time since it’s been so long and that final scene was with you dancing all by yourself was...I just gotta tell you, I was just bawling, like I was just crying. I had forgotten the intensity of that relationship between Brian and Justin. So, um, you did such a great job. So I’m very, I just wanted to throw that out there. Um, I’m sure you get that a lot but I just wanted to, as a fan myself, just uh, you did such a great job. And I’ve also followed your other films since then and with Thirst. You’re such a diverse actor. You can do it all. And one more question before we get back to Thirst from somebody. Ask Gale what it was like working on Desperate Housewives.”
Gale: “Um, it was fun. It was really fun. It was a completely different world for me to be in and um, that was in an odd way, one of the most unusual things I’d done because it was a format and a style that I wasn’t used to. I can tell you that the first time I saw Kyle McLaughlin, I almost lost my mind because Blue Velvet destroyed my brain in the best of ways. I saw that and (??) and I just couldn’t believe that I was in the same room with him and that we were talking to each other as real people. And then we were playing pool and my knees were knocking. So when I think about Desperate Housewives, that’s the thing that I always think about first.”
Josh: “That’s cool.”
Doug: “That’s awesome. Uh, go ahead, Rachel.”
Rachel: “I was just going to comment on what you were saying about the...just touching on Queer as Folk and the fans...we’ve really been so humbled by Gale’s fan base all over the world, and he has such devoted fans and it’s for a good reason. He’s a super talented actor, and all of our actors were so giving of themselves and really just went to all lengths to play the roles and bring so much to the characters. You know, these characters just evolved in front of our eyes on set. They became so much more than how they were even written and so we’re very thankful for that, for all of Gale’s fans, Josh’s fans, Melanie’s fans, and everyone that’s just been backing our little passion project.”
Doug: “Yeah, you’ve got quite a crew there and once it hits the circuit, the festival circuit, you’re gonna be, I guarantee awards and everything’s gonna be coming your way because it’s just, I mean even without seeing it, just by the energy around it and with speaking with each of you, it’s gonna be big. Now with some short films-you know, this is just foreshadowing-some short films, I watched one called Dare one time. It was a fifteen minute short film, and it ended up becoming a full movie. Is that something that you could do in the future perhaps?”
Rachel: “It is definitely something that we have talked about. Michael the writer and I have definitely thrown around the idea. We have another feature film in development that we’ve been working on, but we’ve gotten so involved in Thirst and really consumed by it, that it’s definitely something that’s on our radar and that we’re considering putting into a feature length script.”
Doug: “Okay, that’s fantastic.”
Doug asks Josh if there’s anything his fans can look forward to in 2014. Then he asks Gale the same question.
Doug: “Gale, the same question to you. Besides Thirst, is there anything that we can look forward to, any projects, films or anything else that you’re working on in 2014 so far?”
Gale: “Um, I’m just beginning rehearsing a film that I’m that gonna begin working on in the next week, um, playing I can’t, wanna give it away but sort of playing kind of a jive talking, shit-stirring disciple of Satan, and uh, the film is somewhat based on the myth of the angel and the devil. They sit on one shoulder. That’s why I’m a parrot and (? ?) uh, they’re attempting to influence a young girl to do what they believe is the right thing that she should under the circumstances. It’s sort of a play on morality vs. right and wrong. It’s sort of an anti-morality tale. That’s kind of what I’m doing at the moment.
And there’s a film that I was in that will be coming out this year-I’m not sure when-The Field of Lost Shoes. It’s a historical period piece about the Civil War, and um, I got to work with one of my heroes, Jason Isaacs. And it’s a tragic and compelling bit of our country’s history that’s not the most comfortable thing to get considering what was going on but I was tickled pink to work with him and hopefully didn’t destroy the Irish dialect completely. And uh....”
Doug: “Go ahead.”
Gale: “Uh, no, that’s all I have to say about that.”
Doug: “When you were talking about that other film when you said like the devil disciple or something, it just gave me a flashback to when you were in Gray’s Anatomy and you had the swastika, the swastika on you. Um, in that two episodes that you were on in there, um, that was intense. You did some amazing work there. That was a very intense, I mean it was probably an intense role to play itself, but it was intense to watch, too.”
Gale: “Yes, intense to have a swastika on your chest that’s as big a dinner plate. It doesn’t make you feel good about yourself but you just have to be that person, right?”
Doug: “Yeah, exactly. And I definitely want to tell you though The Secret Circle did not come back for a second season, that was another phenomenal show. And you were excellent in that. I have it on DVD.”
Doug asks Rachel how she got into directing. They talk about the Kickstarter program.
Doug: “Rachel, I want to thank you so much for bringing this together. And thank your assistant as well.”
Rachel: “Thank you so much, Doug, for having us on and for the support.”
Doug: “And Gale, I want to thank you, too. I’m glad that you’re the first of the, uh, QAF guests I’m going to have on my show. I’m really excitied about getting everybody together again and just seeing where they are now. I just wanted to say, uh, Gale, looking back at QAF now, what do you think Brian Kinney is doing right now? Where is he at right now in life? What do you think?”
Gale: “Oh, um, I think either way, way down or way, way up. Nowhere in the middle. And I’m hoping he’s way, way up but I have a sneaking suspicion that he might be way, way down.”
Doug: “Uh, yeah. That’s interesting because uh, as I said, there’s a lot of fan fiction out there and people have taken the show and taken it to a whole new level on their own imaginations and it’s interesting. And I’m sure you’ve been asked this a million times what, has there ever been a talk about a reunion movie or a (? ?) to get the cast together again?”
Gale: “Uh, I don’t think there’s been anything necessarily official but Scott Lowell and I batted around ideas here and there and came up with some pretty good theories. But, um, I think it’s more just hindsight and loving the time that we were there and missing, working with the people that we worked with and we all kind of fell in love with our characters. and yeah, I would like to see where Brian Kinney is and um, I think we all would like to see where that world is, you know? I wanna find out what’s going on with Debbie? Who knows, you know? Who knows?”
Doug: “She was something else. I’ll bet working with Sharon was just a hoot because she’s the mom we all want. All of us would love to have a mom. But I don’t know. She’s a little overbearing but she was the mom that, coming out at a young age, we all want that kind of acceptance and love from our parents. And she did a great job.”
Gale: “But that’s the mother that would wrap you up in her arms and give you a big hug and then kick your ass but then if anyone got near you she’d kick their ass twice as hard.”
Doug: “I’m gonna end with this one for you, Gale. Please get on twitter more often. They miss you on twitter. I just wanted to relay that message to you.”
Rachel: “That’s funny because Gale and I met on twitter. That’s so strange.”
Gale (in a high, falsetto voice): “That’s right!”
Josh: “Did you really?”
Laughter.
Rachel: “No.”
Doug: “Oh, wow! Now, Rachel, were you a fan of Gale’s before? Had you met him before? How did that happen?”
Rachel: “No, I had not met Gale before. We dated briefly, but it was all online. So we hadn’t met in person yet. No, I had not met Gale. I had heard wonderful things about Gale through one of our executive producers and through Michael and then met Gale once we started getting Thirst off the ground and I cast him for the project.”
Doug: “Oh, perfect.”
Rachel: “So, um, yes, first time to work with Gale but hopefully not the last.”
Doug: “Oh definitely no.”
Gale: “That’s right.”
Doug: “Well, thank you all very much for being here. I’ll let you go and I’d love to have you guys back individually or all together when the film is ready to be out and help promote it even more. So, we’ll keep in touch, okay?”
Rachel: “Thank you so much.”
Josh: “Thank you for your support.”
Gale: “Thank you very much everyone that’s out there and helping us. We really, really appreciate it. It means, it means so much. You can’t-“
Rachel: “Yes, even those who haven’t donated monetarily, every contribution, shout out on twitter and facebook, all of the love and support is encouraging and just keeps us fighting the fight to get this project finished. So thank you.”
Doug: “On behalf of everybody listening, you’re welcome.”
Everyone says their goodbyes.