JB-  You did spend quite a few years on Queer As Folk - five seasons.

Hal-  Yes indeed.

JB-  And it was a huge hit.

Hal-  Yeah.  I mean, it wasn't Brokeback Mountain hit but, you know…

JB- It did develop quite a following among gay and straight groups…

Hal- Absolutely.

JB-  How did you get that gig?

Hal-  I auditioned like any other schmoe.  I was shooting Dude, Where's My Car? and the script came down and my agent and my manager… there were agents who wouldn't even give the scripts to their clients.  To me that was reason enough to read it.  Like, "This is what we're afraid of?"  And so I read the script and apparently I was sort of cast from the moment I walked in the office and did my first read.  They were, first of all, I think surprised I could act.  And second of all, they were just happy that anybody with a name of any sort was interested in doing it because at the time it was a death sentence.  There was sort of panic all over Hollywood about doing it.  And it was still hard to cast roles in the show even after a while.  After we'd been on for a while there were still people who wouldn't come in and read.  It was really weird. 

JB-  Do you think television audiences were ready for something so raw and edgy?  I mean, let's be honest that (subject) is pretty risqué for the American public, isn't it?

Hal-  Oh yeah.  That's the only reason to do it.  If we were all where we needed to be as far as emotional and psychological growth there wouldn't be any need for a show like that.  Every show would have practically a representative amount of gay people and minorities in it.  But we're not there.  We're not even close.  The whole point, what made it historical and cool to do, was it actually made people upset.  It messed with their assumptions. 

JB-  And so over time those were eased.

Hal-  I think so.  I think the true benefit of Queer As Folk will not really be known for five years.  Because you've got the people who love and appreciate the show… many of them are still very young.  They'll get to a point where they are voting and having families and stuff and they will be open-minded and more respectful and more intelligent and more worldly because of it than their parents were.  And that's just a fact.  And it's the same thing that happened with the civil rights movement in the south.  Sometimes you just have to wait for the generations to die off.  It's the sad fact about it.  There are still people in the American government right now who are fighting for segregation.  They're still alive, they're still there so things won't really change until they pass away and a new generation comes up.  And I think you can't stop it.  And Queer As Folk is sort of indicative about it. 

JB-  Now it's been asked over and over again because you were on the show-  "Is Hal Sparks gay?"

Hal-  Right.

JB- The answer is...

Hal-  No I'm not.

JB-  So because of that, did you find it difficult to be kissing guys and, like you said before the interview, being naked with them?  How did you prepare for that?

Hal-  Yeah, I mean you can't.  Everybody tells you that it'll get easier and you'll get used to it and all that kind of stuff and you don't.  I think the important thing is to realize how you really feel and how you… where you really are as a human being.  You have to know that you are… I don't know how to explain it.  You just have to know who you are and you can do almost anything.  The important thing is honouring your character and honouring the message you are trying to convey.  And so even if it makes you uncomfortable… fine, whatever… get over it and do it and make it look real.  There are people who think we genuinely had sex on the show and all that.  I mean, we're all wearing socks (over our genitals) and we're not totally nude in each other's presence.

JB-  Was it a big issue for you?

Hal-  Um, over time the sex scenes just became more and more of a drag.  And they became a sort of necessary evil to what you were doing.  At the same time, the clarity around the importance of doing the character was even bigger.  The more e-mails you get from people who are coming out of the closet to their parents or the more people who are accepting their friends or whatever - the more you're aware of the need to do it - so it balanced itself out in that regard.  But yeah, it was difficult.  I mean, I can't whine too much because can you imagine what it's like to be a gay person pretending to be straight in a marriage?

JB-  Right.

Hal-  A lesbian or a gay man who are married in a fake marriage.  They must be miserable.  Because they don't even get to pretend, you know.

JB-  What did you learn about yourself through playing Michael?

Hal-  Uh… hmm…

JB-  Or how are you two similar?

Hal-  I think we're basically good natured and optimistic and really believe in the good of people.  I think I used to be more of a doormat like he is and I used some of that when I was starting the character up because that's truly how he was written.  But we really don't have a lot in common.  I would never have a friendship like he had with Brian… ever.  I don't necessarily seek out a mate to, kind of, complete me or any of that stuff which he sort of was for a while.  He certainly matured over it but a lot of the early parts of his character I couldn't have had less in common with him which was kind of interesting and challenging as an actor.  It was really fun.  But I think the biggest connection we had was, quite frankly, our belief that people are worth while and good natured at their core and that you always give someone the benefit of the doubt.

JB- So over time was the writing more geared to how you were forming this character?  Or did they have a whole idea of what Michael would be like?

Hal- No.  At one point…one of the execs talked about wanting Michael to have some of my strengths.  And my response was, "Well, write it in and he'll have his own strengths."  It'll come from his own place.  The interesting thing about Michael in season three and four is that he gets kind of bitchy and snappy at times.  And for me it was really because he had so much stunted growth that over time… when you come to terms with your own self one of the things you have to own is your anger about stuff.  And if you've been putting that growth off and shelving that anger, when it finally comes out it's not going to be nice, it's not going to be well done, it's going to be awkward, it's going to be inappropriate at times and it's going to be in the wrong place.  And that's what makes somebody real.  So that's kind of how we ended up working it with Michael was that as he started growing some of his anger was really displaced but over time he recognized that.  Once he started dealing with something so serious as Ben and Hunter's HIV status and trying to hold a marriage together - those are big issues - and so the little things like, "Does my best friend want to sleep with me or not?" is kind of trivial and the thing of high school.  Once you start moving passed that it's a huge growth step.