对Hal Sparks 的近期采访（提到qaf）

btshouyk

milehighgayguy.com有一篇对Hal Sparks的专访，提到了他近期的情况，也谈到了qaf。


Hal Sparks speaks
Since being named the 'Funniest Teenager in Chicago' by the Chicago Sun Times in 1987, Hal Sparks has gone on to host 'Talk Soup' on E! Entertainment Television and star as lovable Michael Novotny on the ground-breaking television show 'Queer as Folk'.

He's appeared in several feature films and his band, Zero 1, recently released their debut album. He's currently touring the country with his stand-up comedy and tonight and tomorrow night he will be appearing at Denver's Comedy Works.

I caught up with Hal yesterday and we talked about politics, being magnificent in the sack, and why there will never be a 'Queer as Folk' movie.

Full interview after the jump.

Hal Sparks speaks
By Drew Wilson

For people who only know you through your acting, how would you describe your stand-up comedy?
I’ve been trying to decide whether it’s more brilliant than funny or more funny than brilliant but I think it’s a neat balance of both personally.

You walk the razor’s edge.
If you flipped the coin of brilliant and funny on my act, the coin would land perfectly on it’s side – and stay totally still.

I saw that in a Twilight Zone episode once.
I think it’s a comedian’s job to kind of take it to the root level and take any kind of concept, idea or institution that people hold dear and basically chew at its root like a beaver to see if it falls over.

What does chewing at the root of comedy taste like?
Usually it tastes like chocolate because most of our society is built on the idea of being an adult but still eating sweets. Everything is built on chocolate.

So tasty.
I address what I think are the real important truths. For instance, Starbucks does not sell coffee - they sell milkshakes. People need to come to terms with the fact that every morning before work they get up and they have a milkshake. If it’s 80 percent sugar, ice-cream and whip cream and you breathe coffee over the top of it, that does not make it coffee. Coffee is that shitty brown liquid your dad drank and you said ‘ew’ and wrinkled your nose at.

Speaking of wrinkling your nose, with everything else you've done in your career are you sick of being identified as Michael from Queer as Folk?
I’ll never get tired of people liking Michael and I’m proud of that association, honestly.

Now that it's been over for a few years, what do you think the significance of QAF was on the cultural landscape?
I think it was very influential. Not to toot our own horn but it definitely was. In California, gay marriage is legal right now and that’s a huge step forward and I think the show had a lot to do with it. You have to understand who was watching it a lot of teenagers and college kids and what happened was that those kids are voting now and at a very young age they were shown that the way gay people had been treated was unfair and they were able to come at it from a completely different point of view.

I think what happened is, and I’ve always said this, the benefits of QAF would only be genuinely appreciated and felt four years after the show ended and it’s been about two and a half years and you can really see it starting to happen. The religious right and the other psychopaths on that side have been trying to stop the march toward gay rights and the truth is, it’s like trying to push toothpaste back in a tube. It’s not gonna happen.

You can’t keep young people bigoted once they’ve seen an alternative view.

Wow. So now that the Sex in the City movie has paved the way for a $100 million opening, when can we expect the Queer as Folk movie?
No way will there ever be a Queer as Folk movie.

Really? Why not?
Because a couple of the cast members I know for sure wouldn’t do it and I’m certain that the executive producers Ron and Dan wouldn’t want to work with them either.

Bad blood?
Uh, yeah.

Gimme the dirt! What happened?
My feeling always was, an an actor - and especially as one of the straight actors on the show, that, to a degree, it was my job to do my lines the way they were written and mind my fucking business because our executive producers and many of our writers were gay and were creating these scripts and lines to tell their stories. What, I’m gonna come in and say, 'well I don’t think my character would do that'?. It’s like, seriously? Fuck off. Let's just say there was a little bit of, um, pushback with some of the other actors on the show.

The gay ones or the straight ones?
Um, one of each, actually. There ended up being a lot of negativity in kind of just trying to get loving storylines done and it was a tall order.

That sucks.
Yeah. I’m still in contact with many of the people from the show like Bobby Gant, who played my character’s boyfriend, and Harris, who played my son. Both of those guys put a lot of themselves into that show and worked really friggin’ hard and I have a really low tolerance, personally, for anybody who would interrupt that process of peple trying to do good work just because of ego and bullshit.

So those two people, and I’m sure the people out there in Queer as Folkland have some idea who I’m talking about, I wouldn’t work with them again in any capacity.

Can we kill them off?
It’d be a little hard although I’m for it. That’s a joke. Relax. But there is a chance and I always push Ron and Dan in this direction and I think it would be very healthy to do something like QAF: Miami or QAF: Chicago where they took a different group of people and brought the show back that way. You could have Ted or one of the other characters go there and lead us through the beginnings.

That would be great.
Well, thank you. I thought so myself.

Where do we go to sign the petition to make that happen?
I would go to Showtime about it. If anybody coulud do it it would be them. I’d exec produce it but I have no business going anywhere near a gay show as anything other than an actor.

My best friend growing up came out of the closet when I was 19 or 20 but his parents still don’t know and it’s always been tough for him. He’s always viewed my taking the role of Michael as kind of a gift to him. In some ways I guess it was but in other ways it just made so much sense to me to do it I could see no downside other than the fearful career BS that people got so worked up about what if you never work again well then I’m an asshole and it’s my problem.

It really was never a concern for you to play gay?
No. It was more of a concern actually for the gay actors and I think it turned out to be right because I think the gay actors on the show have had a harder time working after the show than the straight ones have. That’s a fact and it’s a shameful one. I think it points to gay casting directors in Los Angeles who are unable to look past the job they did more than anything else. It’s one of my pet peeves. I’ve read in front of casting directors knowing full well they’re gay and knowing they wouldn’t let other gay actors get past them.

So what else are you working on currently?
I was under contract for six years straight with Talk Soup and then QAF one right after the other so I was working full-time and not able to tour with stand-up or music or even do any film/ now the direction I’m going is to tour with stand-up because I consider that my primary art, my band is going in to the studio in November to do our second record and I’m working on a couple of features one I’m writing and two I’m developing. The big one that I’m most proud of is called Undercover Band about an ‘80s metal coverband that saves the world from a psycho cult.

I’d buy a ticket.
It’s a good time. I wrote it and it’s very funny. I’m very proud of it. And there are some other things I’m securing the rights to but in the meantime it’s nice to be a stand up because I have my life and I can live and make a living while I’m doing other things and I can really enjoy what I do with my career.


I do a little feature here on the blog called Who Would You Do where I match up two different people to see who my readers find the most desirable. You're totally whupping Jimmy Fallon's ass.
Yeah? Well first of all, I’m honored. That kind of thing is always nice. I won 'Cutest Billboard' in San Francisco and that made for a good time driving through the city. I guess people have seen more of me than Jimmy so they know what they’re getting. I’m not sure there’s anything in 'Taxi' that would lead your readers to believe that Jimmy would be good in bed. Sadly, it’s true that I’m straight but I have to tell you, I am magnificent in the sack.

Nice. What else would you like to say to readers of MileHighGayGuy.com?
Friend me on myspace.com and also that I’m pushing Obama hard and I can’t begin to stress what the Supreme Court would look like after a McCain/Palin win. She actually belongs to a church that believes you can pray the gay out of people so a Barack Obama win is a moral imperative. It’s nice to have such a stark contrast in this election – if we don’t pull this off we’re boned. A McCain/Palin presidency would just be brutal. I'd hate to see all the work we've done for gay rights just get flushed down the crapper.

[ 本帖最后由 btshouyk 于 2008-10-26 10:32 编辑 ]

yaoyujie2005

谁来翻译，偶知关心关于qaf的部分~~

左岸

唉……
英文盲是很痛苦的……
哪位好心人帮帮忙翻译下吧……

tina08

前面Hal Sparks说起他永远感谢并喜欢那些喜爱Michael 的人；接下来被问到qaf会否像the Sex in the City剧集那样继续了，他认为不可能再有续集了，大概因为某些演员不会继续演下去，而且导演也不愿再与他（她）们合作了。他还提到与Bobby Gant与Harris一直保持联系。

水平实在有限，希望能抛砖引玉下！

capriiii

QAF: Miami or QAF: Chicago。。COS CSI啊= =。。。
不过真要是拍的话也是可以解解渴滴XD

vivienolga

Yeah. I’m still in contact with many of the people from the show like Bobby Gant, who played my character’s boyfriend, and Harris, who played my son.
-----------------------------
还真是big happy family哈

[ 本帖最后由 vivienolga 于 2008-10-26 17:57 编辑 ]

sherrysi

这篇访问我前两天就看到了

感觉非常心寒……

原来Hal Sparks与Michael居然这么像……

以下为重要部分的无责任简陋翻译，大家了解了解中心意思就好。

有能力的同学，可以去找原文地址，看下面别人对他的回复。

=====================

No way will there ever be a Queer as Folk movie.
永远也不会出QAF电影版的。

Really? Why not?
真的吗？为什么？

Because a couple of the cast members I know for sure wouldn’t do it and I’m certain that the executive producers Ron and Dan wouldn’t want to work with them either.
因为我很肯定有几位演员不会愿意的，而且制作人Ron和Dan也绝对不会再和他们合作。

Bad blood?
害群之马？

Uh, yeah.
呃，对。

Gimme the dirt! What happened?
给我爆料！发生了什么？

My feeling always was, an an actor - and especially as one of the straight actors on the show, that, to a degree, it was my job to do my lines the way they were written and mind my fucking business because our executive producers and many of our writers were gay and were creating these scripts and lines to tell their stories. What, I’m gonna come in and say, 'well I don’t think my character would do that'?. It’s like, seriously? Fuck off. Let's just say there was a little bit of, um, pushback with some of the other actors on the show.
我一直认为，作为一名演员——尤其是剧组里的异性恋演员之一，在某种程度上，我的工作就是按照写好的剧本来演和管好自己的屁事，因为我们的制作人还有很多编剧都是同性恋，他们创作出了剧本来讲述他们自己的故事。有人会掺一脚进来说，“Well，我认为我的角色不应该这么做”？你不是在跟我开玩笑吧？滚开吧。这样说好了，剧组里的一些演员有点，呃，意见不合。

The gay ones or the straight ones?
是同性恋演员还是异性的？

Um, one of each, actually. There ended up being a lot of negativity in kind of just trying to get loving storylines done and it was a tall order.
呃，事实上是一边一个。事情最后变得有点消极，好像只想把浪漫的故事情节拍完就好。

That sucks.
那糟透了。

Yeah. I’m still in contact with many of the people from the show like Bobby Gant, who played my character’s boyfriend, and Harris, who played my son. Both of those guys put a lot of themselves into that show and worked really friggin’ hard and I have a really low tolerance, personally, for anybody who would interrupt that process of peple trying to do good work just because of ego and bullshit.
对啊。我还有和剧组里的不少人保持联系，例如扮演我在剧中男友的Bobby Gant，和演我儿子的Harris。这两个人都非常投入这部戏，异常努力地工作，而从我个人上来说，我很难容忍任何人就为了什么狗屁自尊，而打扰别人好好工作。

So those two people, and I’m sure the people out there in Queer as Folkland have some idea who I’m talking about, I wouldn’t work with them again in any capacity.
因此这两个人，我很确定了解QAF的朋友都大概清楚我讲的是谁，我不会在任何情况下再与他们合作了。

Can we kill them off?
我们能把他们踢出去吗？

It’d be a little hard although I’m for it. That’s a joke. Relax. But there is a chance and I always push Ron and Dan in this direction and I think it would be very healthy to do something like QAF: Miami or QAF: Chicago where they took a different group of people and brought the show back that way. You could have Ted or one of the other characters go there and lead us through the beginnings.
可行性不太大，虽然我是很赞同的。开玩笑的。放松放松。但还是有机会的，我总是让Ron和Dan往这个方向想，如果能做一部类似QAF: Miami或者QAF: Chicago（S：指模仿CSI）的就很好，把重心放在另外一组人然后让这部剧重新回归。可以让Ted或者其他什么角色过去，然后带领我们重新开始。

That would be great.
这主意很好。

Well, thank you. I thought so myself.
Well，谢谢。我自己也这么觉得。

====================================
补充原文地址：
http://www.milehighgayguy.com/2008/09/hal-sparks-speaks_11.html

Mr.Sparks，我以前还以为你有脑子的……

[ 本帖最后由 sherrysi 于 2008-10-26 18:41 编辑 ]

bgjr

谢谢sherrysi的重点节译，总算明白为什么IMDb那里很多人都对Hal的这篇访问相当感冒了…
看了让人真的超想┴┴ ︵╰(‵□′)╯︵ ┴┴

菲拉格慕

“因此这两个人，我很确定了解QAF的朋友都大概清楚我讲的是谁，我不会在任何情况下再与他们合作了。”
是说哪两个人呢？他们关系不都很好的吗？

sherrysi

这样说吧……

虽然擅自揣测别人的意思不太好

但看过这篇访问的人中，99%都会猜“这两个人”指的是Gale和Randy


其实有时间的话
我还想把下面的回复给翻出来……

hehelife

我也觉得很明显是指Gale和Randy了。虽然很希望他们能再合作，但是还是尊重他们的选择。
HAL这样说实在不太好。
楼上的，有空翻译一下回复了，TKS

hpl

Jennifer Elster繼03年後再度和Gale合作,
Fay Ann Lee在Gale的車禍前不久才和他見面,
還有Scott Lowell在最近和Gale影迷間的互動,
由以上幾位以前的同事,現在的朋友的行動來看,足以說明一切.

誰想藉機博版面一看就知道,
你可以再有骨氣一點,拒絕記者此次的訪問,明眼人一看就知道,
在這個時間點絕對是因為Gale的車禍事件,才有記者去訪問你的.

btshouyk

说真的前两天看到这篇采访，我也有些生气，原帖后面也是很多人对Hal表示不满。

不过大家看看也就罢了，也不必为Hal的话太生气，就像hp说的，事实说明一切。

crazycat

从来不知道原来HAL本人是这样的，即使你不满意别人，也用不着这样明显地说出来。其实上次看一篇关于他对戏中与男人亲热的感觉，他就说当跟狗亲好了。我就觉得他这个人很没深度，没礼貌。

sherrysi

一些读者回复的节录（应该都是比较早的，我只看了第一页……）

现在在学校，今天回去翻出来给大家看吧

不过大家也不要太生气了，事实摆在眼前，要怎么看是自己的事……

=============================

Anonymous said...
I liked Michael in QAF but feel indifferent toward Hal Sparks until now. I appreciated his involvement and liked his acting in QAf (except when he interpreted Michael as a whining 10 years old sometimes). But this interview really turned me off.

QAF ending was perfect. I wouldn't want to have a movie at all to have a close ending. If Hal and the producers Ron and Dan think there is a movie, so be it. To think there is a movie without Gale and Randy? It must be out of their minds. Ron and Dan "won't work with them?" Great, that’s why there is no movie. Really, Hal, Ron, and Dan, there is no need to be so bitter about Gale's or Randy's reluctance to continue to work on QAF. I support their decisions 100%. And I’m sure they are grateful for ever being in such a great show.

In many interviews Peter Paige talked about his input in some of his lines and the love storyline around Ted and Emmett. Sharon Gless did the same (e.g. the line "I’m too heavy" in 303). So what’s wrong with this particular actor coming to say 'well I don’t think my character would do that'? Just because Hal didn’t like to have input, it doesn't mean anyone else didn’t. To single this out and complain about some pushback really says about Hal's character.

Because Hal’s tendency to badmouth, I never took Chris Potter’s somewhat homophobic comments on a couple of occasions too seriously. I only felt sorry that he had to work with Hal. It had to be difficult for him to work with Hal, especially on those intimate scenes.

October 22, 2008 1:41 AM  
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Anonymous said...
It is only fair to point out that a huge proportion of the fandom didn't think Brian and Justin would have done 80% of the things they did in Seasons 4 and 5 either. We strongly believe the writer/producers were contemptuous of us as well as the actors, and many of us return the sentiment.

At the time it seemed fairly clear from his offscreen remarks that Randy Harrison was not happy, but I'm unaware of Gale Harold ever saying anything negative publicly, and he behaved with remarkable professionalism trying to make Brian believable when the writers had clearly come to despise the character.

Many fans refuse even to acknowledge those seasons as part of "canon" because they are so full of continuity errors, discrepancies with the characterisation in earlier seasons and situations and lines that were widely interpreted as slights on the actors' personal lives. As soon as the show finished and Gale and Randy were off the air, more than half the fandom evaporated. There was no longer anything to talk about.

If the show does have a longlasting social effect, it will be despite all the grandstanding Issues crap in the last three seasons, and because of the extraordinary glamour Harold and Harrison brought to their portrait of gay male love. Their Season 1 'dance at the prom' is a case in point: the onlookers, like the viewers, all hostile at the start, are cooing at the end.

October 22, 2008 5:36 AM  

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Anonymous said...
I'm not going to address the obvious negativity in Mr.Sparks' remarks because he's made his personal opinions known, over the years, about certain cast members on QAF.

However, as a director, I would prefer to instruct an actor with opinions about his storyline and character, one who is questioning, one who pushes, because then I know they're engaged, they're invested in their character and serious about their craft as well.
The last thing I want is a mindless automaton blindly following orders, saying and doing exactly what he's told. That's not acting. Anyone can do that.
Oh, and one last thing, Mr. Sparks:
Always remember, you never know if the people you meet on the way up are the same people you'll meet on the way down. Life has a funny way of payback and karma really is a bitch!

October 22, 2008 6:13 AM  

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Anonymous said...
I wonder if Mr Sparks realized exactly how whiney and juvenile he sounded in this interview. It had all the hallmarks of a Jnr High spat in Study Hall "But Sirrrr, it was THOSE two boys who were causing all the trouble..."

I'm not sure what he considers to be "trouble finding acting work" by the gay actors from QAF. Peter Paige has been both acting and directing since he finished QAF, and Randy Harrison has done almost non-stop theater work, and is currently involved in own directorial debut. Hal on the other hand, has had some less-than-stellar gigs.....

It's interesting to compare these vitriolic and sad little comments with the classy statement made recently by Scott Lowell on his website, following Gale Harold's motorcycle accident. It's easy to see who is the better human being.

And I don't think Hal need worry too much working with the "un-named" actors - it's a fairly safe bet that the feeling is mutual. Hmmm, let's see, Gale is on the successful Desperate Housewives. Hal is....what IS Hal doing??

October 22, 2008 6:57 AM  

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Barbara said...
It's well known going by nasty comments made by Hal in the past that he trashes Gale every chance he gets. Jealously perhaps.

The timing of this article is outrageous. Gale had a serious motorcycle accident last Wednesday and is in the ICU of a Los Angeles hospital. and for the poster to put this interview up at this time is obscene.

I wonder if Ron and Dan know that this is being said about them. I think that they would not be pleased at being misquoted as Hal has done.

October 22, 2008 8:40 AM  

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Anonymous said...
Honestly... I don´t understand what´s so bad with saying "my character wouldn´t do that" and try to change lines and actions, because I think, that an actor knows his charakter the best, because he has to concentrate on this one person, not like the autors. They have to try to get into the fictional heads of more people.
It´s only natural that you make mistakes then. If Hal would have done something like that I might not have despised Michael in S5 so much. (God, I really wanted to hit him more than just once.)
My point is: Hal´s critisism of Gale´s and Randy´s behavior is totally uncalled for!
I would love to see S5 in a pure "Gale and Randy would have done it like this"-version. (And S4for that matter.) I bet it would have been a lot better where it comes to B/J-storyline.

October 22, 2008 2:13 PM  

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Anonymous said...
If this isn’t childish, pathetic and jealous, I don’t know what is! These are just about the lamest words he has uttered out of his mouth ever. Just how low can a man get!? Well, you showed us, Hal, just how low. It has been 3 years, since the show went off air, and yet here Hall is, still bitching, moaning and holding a grudge against the two people who made the show as successful as it is still today. But I’m guessing someone has too much time on his hands.

True actors give their input in the character development, which these two actors he refers to did amazingly. Hal probably had some say in Michael’s character too, since he came out just as fucking whiny and immature as Hal himself is.

I’m sure these two actors weren’t always angels on the set, but that was a workplace, just like any other, and it’s only normal for people not to enjoy their job 24/7. And I’m sure not everyone got along well on that set, but none of the other actors on that show have ever said anything bad about the other cast members, which just shows how much classier they are as human beings than Hal.
What Hal showed us here, is obvious jealousy. I say move on already! If his aim is to turn fans against these two actors, he isn’t having any luck, but instead he has made even more enemies.

October 23, 2008 3:13 AM

[ 本帖最后由 sherrysi 于 2008-10-27 10:30 编辑 ]

feng512153

真是让人无语的采访，我一直以为大家关系都不错的说，没想到啊！！

feline

看那么多QAF幕后花絮，直觉告诉我Hal的人缘不太好，而且他这个人应该很有机心，现在看了这篇采访，我想我的直觉是对的。。。

skyey

:s29 没想到Hal 是这个样子的,,,

因来

他不是第一次说这种话了...
不过以前没有这次说得这么露骨:s02

suisha780330

这种人没家教.

yanshu210

这些事也只有当事人最清楚啊，外人还是不大明白的。在不了解事情的前因后果前，谁都不应该擅自做出判断的。

叶上开

OK，大家伙儿淡定，表达自己不满的看法可以，但切记勿要言辞过于激烈，引起争吵就不好了~~
注意注意，别让我有机会锁了这帖~~:s38

左岸

不知道说啥好了，
本来刚看完全部五季，就还沉浸在其中摆脱不了那种伤感气氛。
忽然又看到这个……

ziggy19

哎……如果不是QAF……他怎麽會被milehighgayguy.com採訪…

capriiii

原帖由 crazycat 于 2008-10-27 10:13 发表
从来不知道原来HAL本人是这样的，即使你不满意别人，也用不着这样明显地说出来。其实上次看一篇关于他对戏中与男人亲热的感觉，他就说当跟狗亲好了。我就觉得他这个人很没深度，没礼貌。

他居然说过这话？OTZ。。
本来就对他没什么好感，所以他的访谈也没太关注，这次算是开眼界了，强人啊。。。
不知道和他演对手戏的那两位看到这个会是啥想法。。。