Catching up with Chad Allen
Before there was T.R. Knight or even Neil Patrick Harris being publicly out there was a time when actors didn’t dare to come out for fear that they would never work again. Much in the way that many entertainers nowadays have found their way out of the closet publicly, Chad Allen was one outed in the mid-90s. Rather than hide from the controversy, Allen came out and has since taken control of his career and life by his own terms. The actor continues to work steadily in both straight and gay work as well as contributing much of his time to various charitable causes.
The 30-year acting veteran made a short stop in Philadelphia on Thursday to attend the opening night festivities for the 15th annual Qfest (formerly known as the Philadelphia International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival). Along with promoting his movie at the festival, Hollywood je t’aime, Allen was also awarded the Artistic Achievement Award.
Prior to his visit, Allen spoke to EDGE about his work, both on screen and off.
Being Outed
Having started acting when he was just five years old, within three years Allen saw himself appearing on hit series like St. Elsewhere, My Two Dads, and Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman. While he was starring on Dr. Quinn, a tabloid bought photos of the actor in a hot tub kissing another man at a party. At the time he was told that if he publicly came out he would never work again, and he believed that he might not. But in the decade since, the tabloids have given away to blogs where outing has become fair game to celebrities.
"I don’t undertstand why we can’t just leave each other alone. The best advice I ever got from anybody when I was thinking about coming out was don’t come out until it’s good news. When it’s good news for you, it’ll be good news for everybody else," Allen said about the trend. "When I see somebody being outed, I think this is a person who is not ready to spread the good news about who they are in the world about who they are. It reeks of a more negative energy than I would like to have put out there on my behalf."
While Allen, 35, admits that his career has taken a different direction than it may have otherwise taken had he not come out, his career has continued to flourish and he is proud of the work he has done. As an admitted fan of gay independent cinema, Allen is glad to see that changes that have been occurring that allow films to show more diverse stories than ever before. Allen is at the forefront of breaking barriers within the gay cinema community. For an example, you have to look no further than the wildly popular Donald Strachey mysteries. In the book series, Strachey doesn’t have a long term partner, but that was one change that Allen was committed to making.
"That was something that I thought was underwitnessed in our community and underserviced in television and film. So I really wanted to see that happen," Allen explained while calling from outside of rehearsals for his new feature Spork in Los Angeles. "One of my favorite things about the films is the relationship."
The California native has also in recent years brought spirituality into his roles more, something that is not always seen in gay cinema or roles. Coming from a conservative, Christian background, the actor has struggled with his own spirituality issues and that has been translating into some of the roles - such as Save Me and the Christian film End of the Spear.
"I come from a very Christian background and struggled deeply with understanding a relationship with God as I understand God and a relationship with Christianity as a whole. I have found tremendous peace and beauty with my own relationship with God," Allen said.
He also says that spirituality is something that the community needs to embrace and find peace with in order to fully achieve equality. "For a long time I think we as a community were frightened by talking and expressing any ownership for the concept of faith or spirituality. I don’t think we will ever be free until we can own our spirituality - whatever that is."
