Had a brief but nice chat with actor Michael Urie the other night as he and the cast of "Ugly Betty" descended upon the Television Academy in North Hollywood. I had just seen a DVD of the episode where his character, Marc, comes out to his mother - played by guest star Patti LuPone.
It does not go well with the mother saying she has no interest in knowing about her son's life before walking out the door and into the night. Marc is usually very anti-Betty and scheming with and against his evil boss Wilhelmina, played deliciously by Vanessa Williams. But he asks Betty to be his beard during a dinner with his mother. Uiltimately, Betty encourages Marc to be honest with her. Urie says response from viewers to that episode has been overwhelming: "I've been getting letters and MySpaces about how touching it was and how it made things easier for them."
And how was it working with the great Broadway star LuPone?
"I've known who she was as a stage actress and I saw her on "Life Goes On" and all that stuff so I was really excited to work with her and intimidated. She was everything you want your hero to be. She was amazing."
Of their scenes together, the most heartwrenching was at the end when the mother rejects him: "It was more important for Marc to get that answer than to get no answer," Urie says. "It's important that you say something because you've got to clear the air. She's gonna forgive him someday and he'll forgive her or however it's gonna go down. Or they won't. But it's better than lying and hiding and not knowing."
Then we have an exchange that threatened to leave me red-faced but Urie handled it with grace:
Greg: "You're out..."
Urie: Nods his head no.
Greg: "Are you out?"
Urie: Nods his head no.
Greg: "Do you not really discuss your personal life?"
Urie: "Not really, no. You read that magazine that was like...you know..."
Greg: "Really, I don't care. i just thought you might have something to say about it.
Urie: "I think it's important to be completely honest with the ones around you and yourself. Marc, by not being honest with his mother was not being honest with himself."

Well said.

TOMORROW: An interview with Mark Indelicato who plays Betty's fashioned-obsessed nephew, Justin...