Interview With Out Actor Cheyenne Jackson
Aaron Drake
Broadway, television and film star Cheyenne Jackson has it all—a big heart, sex appeal and the performing chops to back it all up. If you haven’t seen him on the Broadway stage, you’ve seen him on primetime television in guest spots on Glee, 30 Rockand Curb Your Enthusiam; or as 9/11 hero Mark Bingham in the Academy Award-nominated filmUnited 93. Besides acting and singing his heart out, he’s doing his good deed as an ambassdor for amfAR, the American Foundation for AIDS Research.
What would you be your all-time favorite role to play on stage?
Well Xanadu was pretty damn fun. It’s really fun to originate something, to be the first person to do it—there’s no comparison. Creating something from scratch and really just creating this character and this other life is very fulfilling to me. Even though it was camp, I thought it was incredibly smart, it ran for 15 months and we managed to make characters that weren’t cartoons. As far as my all-time favorite role, I don’t think it’s been written yet. I’m hoping in the next five years or so someone is gonna come to me and bring me the part of a lifetime that is just for me. Not to say I wouldn’t love to do some great revivals, you know some great classic stuff, but I really believe it hasn’t been written yet.
So which would you choose—L.A. or New York?
They both have their pluses and minuses. I’ve been in New York now for nine years and they say you are a New Yorker
after 10. But I think it’s more like seven, because I’m totally a New York boy. If I had to choose, I would like to stay living in New York, but I would like to work in both like I’m doing now. My man works in New York and my dog is here.
You originally came out when the New York Times asked if you were gay during an interview. If they hadn’t asked you, would you have come out on your own?
It was the moment I decided I could skirt the issue or just say it. Oh sure, I think it’s just a matter of who asked me first or who I talked to first. That was my first big role that got me my first feature in any kind of publication, and when he asked me I decided to say. If it hadn’t been that, it would have been the next person who asked. I don’t have an issue being out, it doesn’t weigh on my value as an actor or as a performer, it has nothing to do with me being gay and I never felt that it has. So for me it was just, like, whoever asks first.
What advice can you give to others in the same situation?
Everybody has their own path. Some people just have that part of their lives they don’t want to talk about and they think that it’s nobody’s business—I totally respect that. I think that’s great for them, you know, more power to ya. There are other people, famous actors who are in the closet, and I can see that it’s something that they grapple with. I would love for them to be more comfortable. I just think it frees you as an actor, as a performer, as a person when you can just truly be who you are and get that shit out of the way and then people can focus on what’s really important—and that’s you, that’s you as an actor, that’s what you bring to the part, that’s you making the material live. I think people are so caught up in it. I think if more people just say, “F*ck it. Yes, I’m gay! Moving on. Next,” I feel like it wouldn’t be that big a deal. I don’t believe in outing people—it should happen on their own time.
You came out at 19 to your friends and family. What was that like for you?
You know, it’s not unlike many people’s, it was tough. I’m from a very small town and my parents are very religious, so it was very tough. I realized it was just something I had to do. I have a really close family, I had a great childhood and there was starting to be a division between my parents’ and my communication because I couldn’t tell them about an important part of my life. I thought, before I move away and start making a life on my own I want to make sure I bring them in on this. It was really, really tough. You gotta give your parents time to deal with it. It’s a difficult thing. If my parents can deal with it [laughs], who are so Christian, then anybody can. You just have to give it time, communication and patience. But it’s worth it.
How did you first meet your partner?
We met through a mutual friend in Seattle about 11 years ago. It was pretty much love at first sight.
Once marriage is legal in New York will you guys tie the knot?
At the time, when we became domestic partners last year, we were filling out some forms for life insurance or wills or something and we thought we should make this as legal as we can. I’d love to marry him. I think we will when it’s legal.
Any plans for kids?
We have talked about it. I think it’s something that we’ll talk about as time goes on. Anybody that knows me knows that I love kids. I’m very paternal and it’s a big part of who I am.
Can you give us any inside scoop on what’s going to happen with your character on Glee next season?
I have no idea. I hope I come back. I hope I get to sing. It’s been really, really fun. It’s definitely a juggernaut over there. They have a lot going on. It’s an exciting set to be on because those kids are just so on fire and the wholeGlee world is pretty amazing to just be a bystander. I was very happy when Ryan Murphy said they were going to write this part for me. I love what they write for me and I hope I get to do more.
What’s one song you’d like to perform on Glee?
Something great—maybe something old school. There’s what I would want to do but then it has to be something that would be fitting for Dustin Goolsby and he’s such a prick so it depends how they would make it work. But I’m game.
Broadway, television and film star Cheyenne Jackson has it all—a big heart, sex appeal and the performing chops to back it all up. If you haven’t seen him on the Broadway stage, you’ve seen him on primetime television in guest spots on Glee, 30 Rockand Curb Your Enthusiam; or as 9/11 hero Mark Bingham in the Academy Award-nominated filmUnited 93. Besides acting and singing his heart out, he’s doing his good deed as an ambassdor for amfAR, the American Foundation for AIDS Research.This summer Cheyenne appears in an intense and controversial new film screening at Outfest, The Green, in the role of Daniel, whose partner Matthew (played by Jason Butler Harner)—a gay schoolteacher at a private school—is accused of sexual misconduct with a male student. He takes a timeout to talk about the film, what it’s like to be out in the entertainment business and who he looks up to as a role model.
How did you get involved in The Green?
My agent came to me and said that a film would be coming up that he thought I might be right for. I read it and really liked it. I haven’t done any gay films, really at all, and the reason is that I don’t really connect with a lot of them. I don’t connect to the writing, I don’t connect to the characters and the situations—it either clicks or it doesn’t. I liked what it had to say thematically about fear, about homophobia, about how far we’ve come or how far we’ve not come as a society. So I was into it and I told him that I’d like to read or talk to the writer, producers, directors or whatever I had to do. We had a meeting, we all chatted and everyone felt that I was the right fit.
What was your experience like working on the film?
I had a really great time with the film—you know obviously it’s not your light [laughs] comedy—heavy subject matter to tackle, but I liked going there as it were. I also liked that it was out of town, so I took the train and really just emerged myself in that world for the weeks that we were doing it. I stayed there in a little hotel, Jason and I—who plays my partner in it. We both stayed in these little hotels to try to credibly create a relationship that you believe—you believe they have a history, you believe they like each other, but they drive each other nuts and all those idiosyncrasies that take time to prepare and you don’t have a lot of headway or rehearsal time to make come to fruition. It was challenging but it was great! I really, really liked it. Steven the director, Paul who wrote it and Paul and Molly who produced it were all really cool. On an independent film you don’t get a lot of takes often—sometimes it’s about getting your coverage and moving on—so we always had to come fully prepared and fully ready to go there, make strong choices and make yourself available.
You’ve successfully crossed from stage to film to TV—what’s your favorite medium?
Whatever I’m doing at that moment is my favorite. When I’m on Broadway and there are 1,500 people in the audience looking up, it’s an experience that only happens once—it’s fleeting and it’s that moment, that night only the people in that room get to experience that. That is magic and there’s nothing you can compare it to. But if you’re on set, you know, on fucking 30 Rock and doing scenes with Alec Baldwin and Tina Fey, I just don’t think there’s anything better than being in that moment. Doing stuff on Glee with all these talented kids and great writing, I mean it truly is whatever I’m doing in that moment, and I’m trying to just be in the moment and experience whatever is happening right then.
My agent came to me and said that a film would be coming up that he thought I might be right for. I read it and really liked it. I haven’t done any gay films, really at all, and the reason is that I don’t really connect with a lot of them. I don’t connect to the writing, I don’t connect to the characters and the situations—it either clicks or it doesn’t. I liked what it had to say thematically about fear, about homophobia, about how far we’ve come or how far we’ve not come as a society. So I was into it and I told him that I’d like to read or talk to the writer, producers, directors or whatever I had to do. We had a meeting, we all chatted and everyone felt that I was the right fit.
What was your experience like working on the film?
I had a really great time with the film—you know obviously it’s not your light [laughs] comedy—heavy subject matter to tackle, but I liked going there as it were. I also liked that it was out of town, so I took the train and really just emerged myself in that world for the weeks that we were doing it. I stayed there in a little hotel, Jason and I—who plays my partner in it. We both stayed in these little hotels to try to credibly create a relationship that you believe—you believe they have a history, you believe they like each other, but they drive each other nuts and all those idiosyncrasies that take time to prepare and you don’t have a lot of headway or rehearsal time to make come to fruition. It was challenging but it was great! I really, really liked it. Steven the director, Paul who wrote it and Paul and Molly who produced it were all really cool. On an independent film you don’t get a lot of takes often—sometimes it’s about getting your coverage and moving on—so we always had to come fully prepared and fully ready to go there, make strong choices and make yourself available.
You’ve successfully crossed from stage to film to TV—what’s your favorite medium?Whatever I’m doing at that moment is my favorite. When I’m on Broadway and there are 1,500 people in the audience looking up, it’s an experience that only happens once—it’s fleeting and it’s that moment, that night only the people in that room get to experience that. That is magic and there’s nothing you can compare it to. But if you’re on set, you know, on fucking 30 Rock and doing scenes with Alec Baldwin and Tina Fey, I just don’t think there’s anything better than being in that moment. Doing stuff on Glee with all these talented kids and great writing, I mean it truly is whatever I’m doing in that moment, and I’m trying to just be in the moment and experience whatever is happening right then.
What would you be your all-time favorite role to play on stage?
Well Xanadu was pretty damn fun. It’s really fun to originate something, to be the first person to do it—there’s no comparison. Creating something from scratch and really just creating this character and this other life is very fulfilling to me. Even though it was camp, I thought it was incredibly smart, it ran for 15 months and we managed to make characters that weren’t cartoons. As far as my all-time favorite role, I don’t think it’s been written yet. I’m hoping in the next five years or so someone is gonna come to me and bring me the part of a lifetime that is just for me. Not to say I wouldn’t love to do some great revivals, you know some great classic stuff, but I really believe it hasn’t been written yet.
You’ve been spending more time filming in Los Angeles. What do you think of L.A.?
The quality of life in L.A.—there’s nothing like it. The weather, the heat, the beach—I get why people make the move. Obviously here is where the epicenter of the movie industry is, but what I don’t like about L.A. is all the driving. When you’re not used to driving for a long time, it’s fun for the first few days then the novelty wears off when it takes so long to get everywhere. I said to my friend, “It’s rush hour everyday on every street, all the time.” [Laughs] Everybody says take Fountain—fuck that, Fountain’s always full. So it’s just little things like that, but L.A. is absolutely gorgeous—hiking, and my brother lives near there, my sister, my grandma. I have lots of family down there.
The quality of life in L.A.—there’s nothing like it. The weather, the heat, the beach—I get why people make the move. Obviously here is where the epicenter of the movie industry is, but what I don’t like about L.A. is all the driving. When you’re not used to driving for a long time, it’s fun for the first few days then the novelty wears off when it takes so long to get everywhere. I said to my friend, “It’s rush hour everyday on every street, all the time.” [Laughs] Everybody says take Fountain—fuck that, Fountain’s always full. So it’s just little things like that, but L.A. is absolutely gorgeous—hiking, and my brother lives near there, my sister, my grandma. I have lots of family down there.
So which would you choose—L.A. or New York?They both have their pluses and minuses. I’ve been in New York now for nine years and they say you are a New Yorker
after 10. But I think it’s more like seven, because I’m totally a New York boy. If I had to choose, I would like to stay living in New York, but I would like to work in both like I’m doing now. My man works in New York and my dog is here.
You originally came out when the New York Times asked if you were gay during an interview. If they hadn’t asked you, would you have come out on your own?
It was the moment I decided I could skirt the issue or just say it. Oh sure, I think it’s just a matter of who asked me first or who I talked to first. That was my first big role that got me my first feature in any kind of publication, and when he asked me I decided to say. If it hadn’t been that, it would have been the next person who asked. I don’t have an issue being out, it doesn’t weigh on my value as an actor or as a performer, it has nothing to do with me being gay and I never felt that it has. So for me it was just, like, whoever asks first.
What advice can you give to others in the same situation?
Everybody has their own path. Some people just have that part of their lives they don’t want to talk about and they think that it’s nobody’s business—I totally respect that. I think that’s great for them, you know, more power to ya. There are other people, famous actors who are in the closet, and I can see that it’s something that they grapple with. I would love for them to be more comfortable. I just think it frees you as an actor, as a performer, as a person when you can just truly be who you are and get that shit out of the way and then people can focus on what’s really important—and that’s you, that’s you as an actor, that’s what you bring to the part, that’s you making the material live. I think people are so caught up in it. I think if more people just say, “F*ck it. Yes, I’m gay! Moving on. Next,” I feel like it wouldn’t be that big a deal. I don’t believe in outing people—it should happen on their own time.
Who is someone you look up to as a role model?
A lot of people inspire me for different reasons. I look up to a lot of my peers. I look up to Tina Fey—she’s just gracious and fiercely intelligent. She just makes you want to give your best at every turn to be a focused actor, and she never makes you feel less than. She’s a great role model. I would also say Alec Baldwin—he’s so smart and such a force of nature but also very open to the creative process with different ideas. I also love Jane Lynch—I loved my time working with her on Glee. She’s just hilarious and whip smart, incredibly musical, always singing. I’m really inspired, fortunately, by the people I get to work with, and they make me want to be better.
A lot of people inspire me for different reasons. I look up to a lot of my peers. I look up to Tina Fey—she’s just gracious and fiercely intelligent. She just makes you want to give your best at every turn to be a focused actor, and she never makes you feel less than. She’s a great role model. I would also say Alec Baldwin—he’s so smart and such a force of nature but also very open to the creative process with different ideas. I also love Jane Lynch—I loved my time working with her on Glee. She’s just hilarious and whip smart, incredibly musical, always singing. I’m really inspired, fortunately, by the people I get to work with, and they make me want to be better.
You came out at 19 to your friends and family. What was that like for you?You know, it’s not unlike many people’s, it was tough. I’m from a very small town and my parents are very religious, so it was very tough. I realized it was just something I had to do. I have a really close family, I had a great childhood and there was starting to be a division between my parents’ and my communication because I couldn’t tell them about an important part of my life. I thought, before I move away and start making a life on my own I want to make sure I bring them in on this. It was really, really tough. You gotta give your parents time to deal with it. It’s a difficult thing. If my parents can deal with it [laughs], who are so Christian, then anybody can. You just have to give it time, communication and patience. But it’s worth it.
How did you first meet your partner?
We met through a mutual friend in Seattle about 11 years ago. It was pretty much love at first sight.
Once marriage is legal in New York will you guys tie the knot?
At the time, when we became domestic partners last year, we were filling out some forms for life insurance or wills or something and we thought we should make this as legal as we can. I’d love to marry him. I think we will when it’s legal.
Any plans for kids?
We have talked about it. I think it’s something that we’ll talk about as time goes on. Anybody that knows me knows that I love kids. I’m very paternal and it’s a big part of who I am.
Can you give us any inside scoop on what’s going to happen with your character on Glee next season?
I have no idea. I hope I come back. I hope I get to sing. It’s been really, really fun. It’s definitely a juggernaut over there. They have a lot going on. It’s an exciting set to be on because those kids are just so on fire and the wholeGlee world is pretty amazing to just be a bystander. I was very happy when Ryan Murphy said they were going to write this part for me. I love what they write for me and I hope I get to do more.
What’s one song you’d like to perform on Glee?
Something great—maybe something old school. There’s what I would want to do but then it has to be something that would be fitting for Dustin Goolsby and he’s such a prick so it depends how they would make it work. But I’m game.
What other projects do you have coming up?
I just shot a movie with Parker Posey and Eric Mabius in December called Price Check. Parker Posey is fantastic in it. We filmed it in New York. I think it will be starting the festival circuit in the next few months. And I’m really focusing this year on concert stuff and music. I have my solo Carnegie Hall debut in November, so we’re writing that now. It’s just me and the Pops. I did Carnegie Hall last year, but I did a duo show with Michael Feinstein that was kinda my first time on my own up there. I have about a concert per month planned this summer that I’m honing and gearing up for. I’m hoping to do some workshops, new musicals, hopefully more Glee and 30 Rock, maybe a movie or two. Keep on keepin’ on.
I just shot a movie with Parker Posey and Eric Mabius in December called Price Check. Parker Posey is fantastic in it. We filmed it in New York. I think it will be starting the festival circuit in the next few months. And I’m really focusing this year on concert stuff and music. I have my solo Carnegie Hall debut in November, so we’re writing that now. It’s just me and the Pops. I did Carnegie Hall last year, but I did a duo show with Michael Feinstein that was kinda my first time on my own up there. I have about a concert per month planned this summer that I’m honing and gearing up for. I’m hoping to do some workshops, new musicals, hopefully more Glee and 30 Rock, maybe a movie or two. Keep on keepin’ on.
This was an exclusive interview posted at Frontiers L.A
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