Tyler Christopher: More than a Hunk

A pleasant reminder in the form of confirming the subscription to the Tyler Christopher newsletter is enough to give the day a pleasant hue. Mr. Christopher is one of those Soap actors that give the profession a good name and a visit to his website is well worth it.

This Web Log recently waxed on about his starring in Bent with Jamison Jones. Here is part of his interview in a recent issue of Instinct.


Q: This is pretty serious stuff. How'd you get involved with Theatre 68 and Bent.
TC: We [Theatre 68] started in 1999 and eventually expanded the group into a full-blown theater company. We found this warehouse space on Sunset [Boulevard] and built from the ground up.

Q: What do you look for in a play?
TC: We try to do things that encompass the entire company. And even though Bent is an all-male cast, it's just one of those plays. Martin Sherman wrote one of the most amazing scripts you can imagine, and it was just a story that had to be told.

Q: You spend the entire second act carrying rocks back and forth as part of the daily mental and physical torture inflicted on prisoners by the Germans. How did you make that work?
TC: We tried to hit the important points [at center stage] just to relay to the audience the most important moments. We tried to regiment when a rock goes here or there, but once we found the pace of the play, we sort of gave that idea up.

Q: That leaves a lot of room to change it up, doesn't it?
TC: There are so many nuances in the play, and that is what makes it such an attractive project. You can really tell a different story every night if you change a few moments.

Q: Since those hold your character captive did not allow interaction of any kind between prisoners, how hard was it to convey the intimacy in the play without once touching or even looking at each other?
TC: Well, to be honest, it's rather easy because you're limite to only having audio contact. When you take away the greater things in life, physical contact, and intimacy, your body adjusts to the next best thing.




Q: There's a moment in the show when you and the other main male character have an orgasm without looking at each other or touching. Did you know how powerful that was going to be when you were rehearsing it?
TC: Well, if you don't sell that moment, then the play really doesn't work at all. That's the point of the whole play. It's an act of free will. If you could sum up the whole play, it would be with that phrase.

Q: Are they any differences in the way you approach a gay role versus a straight one?
TC: No. The through-line of the entire piece is that there is an enormous wall between two people who love each other, and the only way to overcome it is to spiritually, emotionally connect. Everyone equates love with sex or physical intimacy, but it's not always about that. Here are two men who fell in love and never even touched each other. Not once. So I think it transcends [just being a gay play].

Q: What's it like to be considered a heartthrob? Does it come up in daily conversation?

TC: I honestly do not think about it at all. I try to maintain a certain level of humility in this business, and I really try to incorporate that into my everyday life. It's very flattering to know that people think of you that way, but I think the biggest disaster for an actor is to start believing his own press. [Laughs}