A "Coffee Date" w/Jason Stuart & Wilson Cruz

I raided a free magazine rack in West Hollywood last night and one of the publications I picked up was the November issue of dotnewsmagazine. Two of my favorite out actors, Jason Stuart and Wilsaon Cruz are on the cover! I've interviewed both several times in recent years and think the world of them. They are in the new comedy "Coffee Date" and were profiled in the magazine by writer Gil Kaan.
Jason and Wilson may not get a People magazine cover for being out, but they are two performers we can be very proud of for always being honest about who they are. For Wilson, this is especially noteworthy because he was just 19 when he was cast as Clare Daines best friend on "My So-Called Life" more than a decade ago and came out publicly then.

Here is a taste of the interview:

Both Stuart and Cruz did not have smooth personal "coming out" experiences. Cruz's father kicked him out of his house. He was living in his car only a few months before beginning his role on "My So-Called Life." Cruz's "coming out" became well-documented, and was incorporated into the series' plotlines.

For the then 20-something-year-old Stuart, it was frightening.
"I was totally wrong about both of them and how they would react," Stuart said. "My father was 'Oh, who cares?' and my mother was the one that had the problem. Then it got worst, and two years later she stopped talking to me."
Stuart publicly "came out" to viewers of the highly rated Geraldo in 1993 after 10 years of doing stand-up with "no point of view." It took a year of performing fat jokes for Stuart to realize that they didn't work.
"When I first started, I put a bathroom scale around my neck," Stuart said. "I talked about being a fat kid, which was totally ridiculous because I was never fat doing stand-up."

Both actors had interesting advice for young actors who decide to come out.
Says Cruz: "'Coming out' is a personal thing. But being good at what you do is good business. If you're going to be an 'out' gay actor, just know that it's going to be a little harder--it just is. The only way to minimize how hard it is on you is to be as good as you possibly can. That means studying your craft and working as much as you possibly can and keeping your ego in check and make it about the work."

Says Stuart: "Come out! Come out where ever you are! When you are 'out,' you are 'out' for me, and I am 'out' for you. We become a big community, and we're like a large family."

To read the article in its entirely, click on dotnewsmagazine.com.