Melrose Place star Doug Savant reveals why he never admitted he was straight while playing gay character Matt Fielding
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Melrose Place star Doug Savant is opening up about playing gay character Matt Fielding on the hit Fox series.
The 60-year-old actor was put on the map by playing Matt Fielding on the hit series from 1992 to 1997, though during that run he never publicly revealed he was straight.
Savant was a guest on his Melrose Place co-stars Daphne Zuniga, Laura Leighton and Courtney Thorne-Smith's It's Still the Place podcast.
He opened up about a conversation with the show's publicist when they were filming promo materials, and why he didn't reveal he was straight at the time.
'When we were shooting all those things and the trailers for the show, I said to Sam, our publicist, "Do you care to talk about how we're going to handle this going forward, that there was a gay character?"' he began.
Melrose Place star Doug Savant is opening up about playing gay character Matt Fielding on the hit Fox series.
The 60-year-old actor was put on the map by playing Matt Fielding on the hit series from 1992 to 1997, though during that run he never publicly revealed he was straight
'I knew it was exceptional, and I thought people would be interested. But she goes, "Well, no, it's not a big deal. You're an actor, you're just playing a character." And I said, "Oh, clearly she doesn't get it,"' Savant said.
He would ultimately be called into a meeting with Melrose Place creator Darren Star and the show's PR team, who told him, 'We don't see why it's a big deal. Why wouldn't you just say, "Well, it shouldn't matter, but I'm heterosexual."'
'I said "No." I was not going to make my living playing a gay man, but then say, "Oh, I would never be associated with that,"' he added.
While other gay characters of that era were typically in the closet, Fielding was quite different, though he never did get a same-sex kiss.
There was a same-sex kiss planned in 1994 though the network got cold feet and changed it to show another character's reaction to the kiss.
Savant added, 'He was the only gay character at that time in television. We had had (Soap's) Billy Crystal, we were about to have Mitchell Anderson on Party of Five, and Bill Brochtrup, a friend of mine, on NYPD Blue. But at the time, [Matt] was the only one. So there was an enormous amount of interest.'
During the show's run, he said, 'I went out and I was asked, in every conceivable way, whether I was straight or gay. And I would then say, "Well, it's interesting, just that that's the assumption."'
He added, 'No one asked [Andrew Shue], "You're playing Billy, does that mean you're straight?'"
'I knew it was exceptional, and I thought people would be interested. But she goes, "Well, no, it's not a big deal. You're an actor, you're just playing a character." And I said, "Oh, clearly she doesn't get it,"' Savant said
He would ultimately be called into a meeting with Melrose Place creator Darren Star and the show's PR team, who told him, 'We don't see why it's a big deal. Why wouldn't you just say, "Well, it shouldn't matter, but I'm heterosexual."'
'I said "No." I was not going to make my living playing a gay man, but then say, "Oh, I would never be associated with that,"' he added
When he was asked, 'What do you have in common with the character,' he would respond, 'Well, we're the same height and we both have a sense of humor.'
He added the producers thought, 'it would be somehow more palatable to the American public if they could avail themselves of the reality that I was actually a straight man. And I thought that was morally reprehensible... I just couldn't morally bring myself to say, "I'm going to come to work and I'm going to play this character, but I should distance myself from it."'
He added, 'My intention with Matt was to say he is your son, he is your brother, he is your friend. He is every man, he's your neighbor. He's a regular guy who happens to be gay.'
Savant would go on to play Tom Scavo on ABC's Desperate Housewives and he most recently guest-starred on Fox's The Cleaning Lady.
