'Brothers & Sisters'' Ron Rifkin Told Producers To 'Bring On' The Gay
PUBLISHED: SEPTEMBER 25, 2010
Ron Rifkin says he was charged up when producers of ABC's Sunday dramaBrothers & Sisters asked him to play gay.
released interview with gay glossy The Advocate, the veteran actor
says he relished the opportunity to play the part.
“One of the reasons I was interested in exploring this character is we
don't often see a guy my age gay on television, explored in an intelligent, dignified, funny serious way,” the 70-year-old actor said.
“So, I thought, when [Producer] David [Marshall Grant] approached me
with it three years ago and said, what if Saul's gay? I said, bring it on.”
The Emmy-nominated drama was already breaking ground with an
ongoing romance between Kevin (Matthew Rhys) and Scotty
(Luke Macfarlane).
“There are already two gay characters on the show – 'Oh, my God,
three gay characters? No. The old guy? No, I don't know,'” Rifkin said.
“So it's been sort of a struggle, if you understand what I mean. It's been a struggle to really identify this character and give him some weight.”
In the final frames of the drama's fourth season finale, viewers learn
that Uncle Saul is HIV-positive. Veteran actor Stephen Collins, 62, will
guest star this season to help Saul come to terms with the diagnosis.
Brothers & Sisters returns to ABC on Sunday, September 26.
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