Danny Roberts is still recognized as one of the most popular Reality TV characters ever.
When he moved to Seattle ten years ago, he was running from his own fame. Or at least that’s what it seemed like.
He was fresh from his Real World: New Orleans days and riding high on an astonishing popularity. Never had America seen such a charismatic openly gay man on a television series—and that charisma extended well beyond the scope of the show.
Danny, who was originally from a small conservative Georgia town, had an appeal that was remarkably broad: men, women, gays, straights, poodles, pirates, and plates of pasta—everyone fell in love with Danny. (That deep Southern drawl! Those smoldering bed-room eyes!)
Even Neil Patrick Harris, the King of Gay himself, confessed in the August 24, 2008 issue of Out Magazine that, “The first face that empowered me was Danny Roberts from The Real World…He represented a way that I could behave and stand tall comfortably.”
Banking on his universal gay goodness, The WB Television Network talked Danny into appearing on a few episodes of Dawson’s Creek (along, of course, with giant-headed James Vanderbeek and a doomed little alien princess known as, um, Katie Holmes).
Danny played “Jean-Jean”, a French-speaking boy toy at the beginning of Season 4. When that went well, the network offered Danny his very own show, something a million starry-eyed ingénues would give their starry-eyes for.
But Danny protested. He wasn’t an actor! They offered him a private acting coach, lessons, reassurances. He insisted that he didn’t want to BE an actor! They offered more money…
Danny just wasn’t interested.
He was distracted by love and ready to move on. He had met his new boyfriend, Army Captain Paul Dill, just before Real World filming started, and America watched their breathless courtship—even though Paul’s face was blurred onscreen to prevent him being recognized and thusly kicked out of the Army due to “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”.
He was also suffering from what many Real World survivors refer to as “reality TV withdrawal”–he was in a state of shock on return to real life and put off by the stress and superficiality of the whole plastic-fantastic TV business.
So instead, Danny and Paul bought a cozy little house on a hill overlooking Puget Sound, and settled in…
Danny tried to hold a few “regular” jobs in Seattle, but he was always forced to quit due to gawkers and stalkers…who’d sometimes follow him home, hide in his bushes, and even steal his shoes from the front porch.
In time, Danny and Paul eventually broke up amidst crushing drama, but the fame that was still chasing Danny was a lot harder to get rid of.
That fame has caught up with him again, if he ever really got away from it at all. For the past year Danny has been flying between his home in Seattle and LA to star in a new television series on LOGO called “DTLA”, with a cast that includes, most notably, Sandra Bernhard and Melanie Griffith.
Danny describes the show as, “A gritty, urban Melrose Place.”
“The show is about how a group of people’s lives are intertwined,” Danny explains. “It’s especially focused on the friendship between two characters, one who is straight and one who is gay.”
However, Danny says that the show’s plot is mostly “post-gay”.
“It’s not about anyone’s struggle to come out or anything of that sort. It’s about life once we’re past all that and where being gay is just as natural as anything else.”
“My character is a bit of a mystery. He’s a free-spirit, and a bit of an earthy type. He has a lot of money. In time it will be revealed how he really got it…”
But so how does Danny reconcile his life in Seattle with his filming schedule in LA? Is he ready to return to the spotlight?
“This entire experience has been about exploring creativity beyond my 9 to 5 life–which I’ve realized I desperately need to keep me balanced. I fly to LA on the weekends to film, and the production crew has been very gracious in working with my schedule.”
But there is still one obvious, burning elephant in the room: Does Danny regret the opportunities he was offered, but rejected, 10 years ago?
“Ha! I’ve thought a second about this one but the answer is NO! I’m sure they would have had me doing something I regretted. I don’t like giving control over to others very much, and at the end of the day, they would have controlled much of my life.”
“I kept my freedom, and things have worked out well.”
DTLA’s North American Premier is Wednesday, October 24th at 11PM, Eastern.
- See more at: http://unicornbooty.com/blog/2012/10/17/gay-icon-danny-roberts-returns-still-sexy-as-hell/2/#sthash.5jOAZ7lz.dpuf
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