![]() Sari: I do want to touch a little bit on 13 Reasons Why. I’m really proud of the work I’ve been able to do on it, and I’m really looking forward to people seeing that as it progresses. To do it with one of my oldest friends who I did Rent with, Anthony Rapp, is surreal. I could imagine a time where I could be on Star Trek, where I could be given that opportunity. I could be a person of color, I could be a gay man, because in the future none of that would matter. ![]() I felt that was a future in which someone like me could be a part of. How does it feel to play one of the first gay characters in the Star Trek franchise? You have played some revolutionary characters. It’s the reason why I have the job on Star Trek now. They allowed me to really create this larger than life character in the series finale. I was in the series finale of Pushing Daisies, which the producers of that show, Aaron and Gretchen, are now the producers of Star Trek. I did this show on TNT called Raising the Bar, where I played this great character that I really loved. I got to work with Allison Janney and that was amazing. I also think about the guest spot that I did on the West Wing, which was my all-time favorite show. It couldn’t have been further from who I really am, so I think in that way it was a lot of fun. Playing that character was important for me. This character was in a lot of trouble and needed someone to give her a chance. When I look back at it now it’s not perfect, but at the time it was dealing with trans-issues. Sari: Out of all of your TV performances, do you have a favorite role that really sticks with you? Or a character that you identify the most with that left the audience with an important lesson? My job was to go in there and convince them that this person didn’t necessarily have to be white or straight. As an LGBT person, there are fewer opportunities. As a person of color, there are fewer opportunities. I think the other obstacle is the same as any other actor: to continue to work and to make a living doing what you love. And here I was giving them the opportunity to do that, because there was someone who was willing to tell that story. At the same time, it was an exciting time because there were a lot of creative people who wanted to tell the story of the LGBT movement. In hindsight, it was probably easier for the networks to go another way so they wouldn’t have to deal with the questions. I felt like I had something to give, something to share. I had to blaze my own trail and I didn’t really know exactly how to maneuver that at 19 or 20 years old. WC: Having been the first openly gay actor to play an openly gay series regular on TV, I didn’t really have a path to follow. In many ways, my life didn’t really start until My So-Called Life came along. I got to step into my own skin in and accept and love myself for who I was for the first time. It also changed my life in terms of my family and my friends. So, it changed my real life and it gave me a career. Once it aired, he was able to watch it and understand what had happened and how it had made me. In the episode where the character got thrown out of his house, it allowed me to deal with the feelings about that and to reconcile with my dad. That series really allowed me to walk through that experience again, in a really healthy way. I think the first thing I needed to do was come to terms with where I was and what I had gone through. ![]() This was 1993 and I hadn’t really dealt with my sexuality. I was freshly out of my high school experience, I was 19 years old. Sari: How did playing that character actually change your life after you booked the role? It was one of the only times in my career that I thought, I know who this person is so much that no one else should really play them. It just felt like it had been written for me. I was never thinking about preparing myself for not getting it. It was like a month-long process after all the auditions. Can you recall the moment when you first got the news that you booked that role? Sari: Let’s go back to My So-Called Life. If anything they celebrated it, and I wanted to do that. For me, they represented people who completely embraced themselves and made no apologies for who they were. He was making waves and using his art to tell the story of LGBT people. Fierstein was the only person I knew who was boldly gay at the time I was a teenager. Wilson Cruz: The first three people that come to mind are Raul Julia, who was a Puerto Rican icon Rita Moreno, I have been obsessed with her since West Side Story, and Harvey Fierstein. Sari Cohen: Early on, was there a person or a performance that made you fall in love with acting? ![]()
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