Big Night takes place the day of the Academy Awards. Cary is the new agent for Oscar-nominee Michael (Brian Hutchison.) He reassures his client that his odds of winning the award are good and that the industry has taken note. Michael is now wanted for a Star Wars film. Though both Michael and Cary are gay, the agent suggests using his acceptance speech as a political platform might not be in his best interest.

I recently spoke with Jenkins (who is openly gay) while he was driving to an appointment. He was happy to be in traffic (seriously), to talk about Big Night and to share his own views on how the industry treats actors, particularly those who are gay.

“My preparation was in making sure all these hilarious lines in the beginning were rooted in truth and were really particular to the character,” Jenkins reveals. “They weren’t just generally funny, but specifically Cary. A friend came to see the show. He was an agent’s assistant at William Morris Endeavor and is now a life coach. He said, ‘it was me.’ He was crying. It wasn’t theatrical to him.”

His role of Max Carnegie in The Mysteries of Laura, also allowed Jenkins to work his magic on witty comments. “I love the one-liners and I should be so lucky to do them my whole life,” he says. “I think the fact that I’m good at one-liners allows for me to be my weird self in other aspects of the character. For better or worse.”

Has Jenkins ever been on the receiving end of the advice his character gives out in the show? “If you are in a really mainstream project and a lot of eyeballs are on you, you have to play the game, but be yourself at the same time,” he says. “I can’t say that I’ve had much of an opportunity to do that yet. It’s only when I audition for straight roles, I feel I have to come in not being my normal self. People have such narrow imaginations, you have to pull the wool over their eyes. For the most part I don’t want to do roles like that unless it subverts expectations. I’m proud to do gay roles.”

As Big Night was getting ready to go into previews, Jenkins tweeted about the show saying “literally all of the characters are gay as hell. It’s divine.” So I asked him how unique this opportunity was for him. “It’s amazing. I think we need to tip the scale – more of a balance. We all need to stick together a bit more and push ourselves to stay loyal to our own stories. I think it is happening more and more. I’m still a neophyte in this world, but I’m meeting a lot of amazing artists who are protective of their gay stories.”

Which lead us to the inevitable conversation about whether gay roles should be played by gay actors. “Whenever you see a gay lead character, it’s always played by a straight guy and he’s slumming it the way people treat him. I constantly audition for the lead gay role and end up playing the supporting gay role because it’s not attractive for the producers to have a gay actor play the lead role. I also find that gay directors fetishize straight actors telling their story because it is like a wish-fulfillment thing of a straight guy making out with another guy in front of you and being forced to do it. It might be a controversial opinion, but something I’ve seen in things I’ve worked on.”

Clearly outspoken, Jenkins feels that when he got brave enough to show the most secret and embarrassing parts of himself he started getting jobs. So I asked him what he keeps for himself. “My primary goal in life right now is to fall in love, because I haven’t experienced it for a long time. I’m holding that really close to my heart – really more than my career or my friends or anything. Ever day feels like a step closer to that. I almost don’t have words. I want that part of myself to come out. It hasn’t yet, but I’m hopeful it will.”

Photo Credits: Craig Schwartz (1st two images) and Luke Fontana

The post Max Jenkins: Making a Big Impression in “Big Night” appeared first on Cultural Attaché.

I Hate Hamlet, Jeffrey, The Naked Eye, The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told, Valhalla and The New Century. That’s just some of his theatre credits.

For film he adapted Jeffrey, wrote Addams Family Values, the remake of The Stepford Wives and perhaps his best known film is In & Out.  The film starred Kevin Kline as a high school teacher who professed heterosexuality, but everyone wondered why he didn’t come out already. He was forced out when a former student outs him when he accepted an Academy Award.  (Rudnick was inspired by Tom Hanks acceptance speech for his Best Actor Oscar for Philadelphia.)

So fertile is the territory of awards show that Rudnick is returning to that ground with his new play Big Night. The show opens on Saturday at the Kirk Douglas Theatre. Again Oscar night plays a role as a working actor finds out how much this night will change his life. Will it be for profession or personal reasons? Or both?

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