GALE DAZZLES IN BILBAO
Last weekend I attended the Showtime Con sponsored by Zarata Events in Bilbao Spain to meet with Gale Harold, Christian Kane from Leverage and singer Steve Carlson. Though I have never been to Spain and it was a chance to meet up with many German friends that I made in Cologne, my main reason for going was to see Gale Harold who was unable to attend the Rise ‘n Shine QAF convention in Cologne.
Gale was really busy during the 3 days beginning with a Close Up meeting and VIP dinner on Friday night both of which were held at the Guggenheim Museum. The Close Up consisted of meeting all three guests in a room in the restaurant area of the museum and then breaking up into two groups for a guided tour of the museum. Gale was in my group as I got to choose which group I wanted to be in. The tour lasted an hour or so with Gale participating in the questions posed by the guide. It was rather surreal to be walking about with Gale in our group. Gale had brought his sister Ann with him to Bilbao and she started the tour with us and then went off on her own in the museum.
Later in the evening we were back at the Guggenheim for dinner which was about 20 fans with Gale. He was sitting at the head of the table with his sister Ann on one side and Julia, the gal who had charge of him for the convention, on the other. Our names were at the place where we were to sit and because I was a high bidder for one of the last 5 tickets for the dinner, my seat was next to Ann’s. She is a lovely lady and I had a very nice conversation with her during dinner. Gale started the dinner off with having us play silly games which got everyone involved. There was lots of laughter and fun in guessing where someone we didn’t know was from and then during a version of Conversation which had an Italian gal whisper a phrase and pass it on to the next person and the final result was not far off the mark. Dinner was a delicious salad of tudela lettuce in garlic oil potatoes, eggs and dry olives, a choice of roast boned lamb with onion cream, fried chickpeas and spices or roast hake, tuber puree and mushroom stock. Gale chose the lamb but ate very little of his salad or entrée. When he left the table for a few minutes, Ann who had ordered the hake, picked at his lamb until he returned. Two of my friends left the table after the entrée for a smoke outside and while they were out, Gale came out and bummed a cigarette and spent several minutes conversing with and teasing them. Too bad I don’t smoke but I was enjoying getting to know Ann while he was gone. Dessert was chocolate ice cream with hazelnut and calamel. There was an abundance of red and white wine. After dinner, Gale went to the other end of the table and engaged that group in playing Hangman. I believe we ended up staying there an hour longer than planned. Gale was in great form and seemed to be at ease and enjoying himself.
Saturday began with an introduction which included all three of the guests. I’m sure there were some Christian and Steve fans who didn’t know Gale or his work. Each had a short time at the microphone. While Christian and Steve were talking, Gale had his first of three Meet and Greets. Then he had the first of four panels in which you went to the microphone and asked him questions. He was sitting on a stool on stage with the mike in front of his face so I took only a few pictures and concentrated on taking some notes. Most of his comments have been posted online by others. He was serious about some questions and irreverent and silly with others. He does like to play with his fans. What really came through in all the panels and Meet and Greets was that he was proud of his work on Queer as Folk and his role as Brian Kinney. He felt that Brian was a dominant male, an Alpha dog in all aspects who acted like he didn’t care but cared very much. Justin was at the right place at the right time and he sucked Brian in. Brian hid a lot in sex because he felt he was not free to have feelings. He said it was always the plan to have Brian and Justin together because it was a new relationship rather than Brian and Michael which was an old relationship. Michael reminded Brian of the difficult part of his life so he was punishing him but at the same time loving him so much though not romantically. He evolved in getting to know Justin and he fell in love with Justin as a version of himself and though he acted like he didn’t care, he cared very much. He felt Brian would suffer a long lasting broken heart after Justin was gone. He also believed that Brian would eventually settle down. He said that the first episode was terrifying and exhausting as they filmed three episodes back to back. He said Brian and Emmett had a friendly hate and liked to screw with each other. Ted was an easy target for Brian and Scott Lowell inspired the role. Brian respected Ted as reliable and loyal. Brian was a shit stirrer that liked to fuck with them. He thinks Brian and Lindsay would always stay friends and they were in love with each other until they realized who they were. He has no idea if he could pull the plug on a friend and would never want to be in that position. When asked if there would ever be a sequel or continuation of QAF, he asked, “Where would it start?” He and Randy are very good friends and he is absolutely looking forward to seeing him in L.A. He thought it was great working with Randy and he was lucky to be with someone as talented and committed and who saw a lot of things the same way he did. He said it was good to hang with Sharon as she is a vicious card player, a total badass that will kick your ass. He loved working with her and thought they could play in a weird version of Bonnie and Clyde.
Some other things I gleaned from the four panels, coffee break, Meet and Greet and cocktail party:
He saw QAF UK at a friend’s house and never thought he would play the Stuart role. He felt he must support the Trevor Foundation because he feels guilty for never having to go through it himself. When asked about the difficulty of kissing a man, he said that wasn’t him, it was another actor. His only problem was kissing someone who hasn’t shaved and that it was hard to stick his tongue in someone’s mouth. Hell yes, he would like to do a blockbuster movie. Sometimes he takes a role because he needs a job but would like to do something new and different. He loved the prom dance but was worried about keeping up with Randy because he was very fast. When asked if he could cook and if he was good at it, he answered, “yes and yes”. He has no regrets for doing the show but thought there were some bad wardrobe choices and didn’t like the Corvette. His most embarrassing moment was getting a perm as a kid. The difference between Lindsay and Mikey is that Mikey hasn’t had his son yet. He would like to play MacBeth. He prefers a camera with film and doesn’t own a digital camera. He took the small role in Passenger Side because a friend made it. He thought Charles Meade’s ending was lame. When asked about Brian’s rule of not eating fats or carbs after 7 p.m., he said Brian was a pathological liar. The con of acting is rejection, the pro is doing something that works and you learn from it and it affects someone. His favorite episode is the one we never saw. He would like to have lived in the 1920’s. Roles he couldn’t play were Mary Magdalene and Snow White. I asked him about working with the baby Gus and he said it was a robot. As I said before, he likes to have fun with the fans. He enjoyed working on Deadwood and playing opposite Ian McShane. I asked if he had ridden a horse before and he said his sister had horses and he had ridden them. He would like to work in more film unless a good play comes up. When he works, he becomes the character and it is not him. He hates the internet except for research but there is a slight possibility that he would do a blog to get opinions of others on things he is thinking of doing. Stay tuned. He doesn’t want to do something he doesn’t want to do for financial reasons. When asked about 50 Shades of Grey he claimed not to know what it was about and I personally hope that he would never ever consider playing a role in such a piece of poorly written crap. He could not speak about Defiance so we will have to wait to see what his role is. When asked what his family thought of QAF, he thinks they were shocked but he can’t speak for them. Ann had asked me at dinner why I liked QAF and I tried to explain that it was different from anything I had ever seen before and I was fascinated by it. That’s about all I can decipher from the notes I took.
After the panels, Meet and Greets and coffee breaks on Saturday, there were the first photo ops and the first autograph sessions. I had my picture taken with him and I got my picture with him at Orpheus Descending signed. They didn’t have pictures available to be signed if you didn’t bring something so I bought Steve Carlson’s CD to get signed and then bought a picture of Christian Kane to be signed at the next day’s autograph session. That night was the cocktail party and we were seated at tables of eight with wine and plates of hors d’oeuvres and each guest came and sat at our table for a few minutes.
Sunday began with the coffee break that I attended and it was the first time that Gale didn’t wear his cap which was nice. We sat around a table with coffee, soft drinks and water and some pastries and again we questioned him. At one point, an Italian girl had him listen to a tape of Italian actors speaking for Brian and Lindsay in the hospital scene when Gus was born. He liked the one speaking for Lindsay. There was another panel and then the Meet & Greet that I attended which was back in the same room sitting around the same table with more questions. Then there was the second photo ops and I decided to get another picture with him followed by his third M&G and then the final panel. For this panel, we were told to write our questions down and they were asked by Julia. Throughout all the panels and questions and events that he participated in, Gale was very charming and fun and seemed to be at ease. I would have preferred that Gale was clean shaven and that he would lose the cap but even a beard and hat could not disguise his innate beauty. He still has his Brian Kinney good looks at 43.
The final autograph session was the last event for Gale and when it was over he waved goodbye to us and left. There was a brief closing in which the event coordinators thanked us for coming but none of the guests attended. Gale and Christian had left the building but Steve performed a concert for us that evening which was really great. I had never heard of him or his music but I was pleasantly surprised. He is a really sweet guy who enjoyed performing for an intimate group. He was quite entertaining.
All in all, it was a wonderful experience to finally see Gale in a relaxed setting and willing to speak of Brian Kinney and Queer as Folk. It made up for missing him in Cologne and there is still the L.A. Con to look forward to when he will be with his fellow cast mates and friends. I’m sure he will be even better then. I hope you are planning to go. It should be great.
Gale was really busy during the 3 days beginning with a Close Up meeting and VIP dinner on Friday night both of which were held at the Guggenheim Museum. The Close Up consisted of meeting all three guests in a room in the restaurant area of the museum and then breaking up into two groups for a guided tour of the museum. Gale was in my group as I got to choose which group I wanted to be in. The tour lasted an hour or so with Gale participating in the questions posed by the guide. It was rather surreal to be walking about with Gale in our group. Gale had brought his sister Ann with him to Bilbao and she started the tour with us and then went off on her own in the museum.
Later in the evening we were back at the Guggenheim for dinner which was about 20 fans with Gale. He was sitting at the head of the table with his sister Ann on one side and Julia, the gal who had charge of him for the convention, on the other. Our names were at the place where we were to sit and because I was a high bidder for one of the last 5 tickets for the dinner, my seat was next to Ann’s. She is a lovely lady and I had a very nice conversation with her during dinner. Gale started the dinner off with having us play silly games which got everyone involved. There was lots of laughter and fun in guessing where someone we didn’t know was from and then during a version of Conversation which had an Italian gal whisper a phrase and pass it on to the next person and the final result was not far off the mark. Dinner was a delicious salad of tudela lettuce in garlic oil potatoes, eggs and dry olives, a choice of roast boned lamb with onion cream, fried chickpeas and spices or roast hake, tuber puree and mushroom stock. Gale chose the lamb but ate very little of his salad or entrée. When he left the table for a few minutes, Ann who had ordered the hake, picked at his lamb until he returned. Two of my friends left the table after the entrée for a smoke outside and while they were out, Gale came out and bummed a cigarette and spent several minutes conversing with and teasing them. Too bad I don’t smoke but I was enjoying getting to know Ann while he was gone. Dessert was chocolate ice cream with hazelnut and calamel. There was an abundance of red and white wine. After dinner, Gale went to the other end of the table and engaged that group in playing Hangman. I believe we ended up staying there an hour longer than planned. Gale was in great form and seemed to be at ease and enjoying himself.
Saturday began with an introduction which included all three of the guests. I’m sure there were some Christian and Steve fans who didn’t know Gale or his work. Each had a short time at the microphone. While Christian and Steve were talking, Gale had his first of three Meet and Greets. Then he had the first of four panels in which you went to the microphone and asked him questions. He was sitting on a stool on stage with the mike in front of his face so I took only a few pictures and concentrated on taking some notes. Most of his comments have been posted online by others. He was serious about some questions and irreverent and silly with others. He does like to play with his fans. What really came through in all the panels and Meet and Greets was that he was proud of his work on Queer as Folk and his role as Brian Kinney. He felt that Brian was a dominant male, an Alpha dog in all aspects who acted like he didn’t care but cared very much. Justin was at the right place at the right time and he sucked Brian in. Brian hid a lot in sex because he felt he was not free to have feelings. He said it was always the plan to have Brian and Justin together because it was a new relationship rather than Brian and Michael which was an old relationship. Michael reminded Brian of the difficult part of his life so he was punishing him but at the same time loving him so much though not romantically. He evolved in getting to know Justin and he fell in love with Justin as a version of himself and though he acted like he didn’t care, he cared very much. He felt Brian would suffer a long lasting broken heart after Justin was gone. He also believed that Brian would eventually settle down. He said that the first episode was terrifying and exhausting as they filmed three episodes back to back. He said Brian and Emmett had a friendly hate and liked to screw with each other. Ted was an easy target for Brian and Scott Lowell inspired the role. Brian respected Ted as reliable and loyal. Brian was a shit stirrer that liked to fuck with them. He thinks Brian and Lindsay would always stay friends and they were in love with each other until they realized who they were. He has no idea if he could pull the plug on a friend and would never want to be in that position. When asked if there would ever be a sequel or continuation of QAF, he asked, “Where would it start?” He and Randy are very good friends and he is absolutely looking forward to seeing him in L.A. He thought it was great working with Randy and he was lucky to be with someone as talented and committed and who saw a lot of things the same way he did. He said it was good to hang with Sharon as she is a vicious card player, a total badass that will kick your ass. He loved working with her and thought they could play in a weird version of Bonnie and Clyde.
Some other things I gleaned from the four panels, coffee break, Meet and Greet and cocktail party:
He saw QAF UK at a friend’s house and never thought he would play the Stuart role. He felt he must support the Trevor Foundation because he feels guilty for never having to go through it himself. When asked about the difficulty of kissing a man, he said that wasn’t him, it was another actor. His only problem was kissing someone who hasn’t shaved and that it was hard to stick his tongue in someone’s mouth. Hell yes, he would like to do a blockbuster movie. Sometimes he takes a role because he needs a job but would like to do something new and different. He loved the prom dance but was worried about keeping up with Randy because he was very fast. When asked if he could cook and if he was good at it, he answered, “yes and yes”. He has no regrets for doing the show but thought there were some bad wardrobe choices and didn’t like the Corvette. His most embarrassing moment was getting a perm as a kid. The difference between Lindsay and Mikey is that Mikey hasn’t had his son yet. He would like to play MacBeth. He prefers a camera with film and doesn’t own a digital camera. He took the small role in Passenger Side because a friend made it. He thought Charles Meade’s ending was lame. When asked about Brian’s rule of not eating fats or carbs after 7 p.m., he said Brian was a pathological liar. The con of acting is rejection, the pro is doing something that works and you learn from it and it affects someone. His favorite episode is the one we never saw. He would like to have lived in the 1920’s. Roles he couldn’t play were Mary Magdalene and Snow White. I asked him about working with the baby Gus and he said it was a robot. As I said before, he likes to have fun with the fans. He enjoyed working on Deadwood and playing opposite Ian McShane. I asked if he had ridden a horse before and he said his sister had horses and he had ridden them. He would like to work in more film unless a good play comes up. When he works, he becomes the character and it is not him. He hates the internet except for research but there is a slight possibility that he would do a blog to get opinions of others on things he is thinking of doing. Stay tuned. He doesn’t want to do something he doesn’t want to do for financial reasons. When asked about 50 Shades of Grey he claimed not to know what it was about and I personally hope that he would never ever consider playing a role in such a piece of poorly written crap. He could not speak about Defiance so we will have to wait to see what his role is. When asked what his family thought of QAF, he thinks they were shocked but he can’t speak for them. Ann had asked me at dinner why I liked QAF and I tried to explain that it was different from anything I had ever seen before and I was fascinated by it. That’s about all I can decipher from the notes I took.
After the panels, Meet and Greets and coffee breaks on Saturday, there were the first photo ops and the first autograph sessions. I had my picture taken with him and I got my picture with him at Orpheus Descending signed. They didn’t have pictures available to be signed if you didn’t bring something so I bought Steve Carlson’s CD to get signed and then bought a picture of Christian Kane to be signed at the next day’s autograph session. That night was the cocktail party and we were seated at tables of eight with wine and plates of hors d’oeuvres and each guest came and sat at our table for a few minutes.
Sunday began with the coffee break that I attended and it was the first time that Gale didn’t wear his cap which was nice. We sat around a table with coffee, soft drinks and water and some pastries and again we questioned him. At one point, an Italian girl had him listen to a tape of Italian actors speaking for Brian and Lindsay in the hospital scene when Gus was born. He liked the one speaking for Lindsay. There was another panel and then the Meet & Greet that I attended which was back in the same room sitting around the same table with more questions. Then there was the second photo ops and I decided to get another picture with him followed by his third M&G and then the final panel. For this panel, we were told to write our questions down and they were asked by Julia. Throughout all the panels and questions and events that he participated in, Gale was very charming and fun and seemed to be at ease. I would have preferred that Gale was clean shaven and that he would lose the cap but even a beard and hat could not disguise his innate beauty. He still has his Brian Kinney good looks at 43.
The final autograph session was the last event for Gale and when it was over he waved goodbye to us and left. There was a brief closing in which the event coordinators thanked us for coming but none of the guests attended. Gale and Christian had left the building but Steve performed a concert for us that evening which was really great. I had never heard of him or his music but I was pleasantly surprised. He is a really sweet guy who enjoyed performing for an intimate group. He was quite entertaining.
All in all, it was a wonderful experience to finally see Gale in a relaxed setting and willing to speak of Brian Kinney and Queer as Folk. It made up for missing him in Cologne and there is still the L.A. Con to look forward to when he will be with his fellow cast mates and friends. I’m sure he will be even better then. I hope you are planning to go. It should be great.