Dante's Cove: December 2006 Archives

In case you missed this week's Dante's Cove profiles, here are links to all of them and more pics for your viewing pleasure:
Tracy Scoggins
Gregory Michael
Jon Fleming
Charlie David
Gabriel Romero
Nadine Heimann

Of course I love "Dante's Cove" because of all the hot guys. But there are some pretty hot girls too and it is the only show I can think of that offers equal time to both gay men and lesbians. I love Tracy Scoggins and I love Thea Gill but the woman on the show that I love the most is Nadine Heimann who plans Van. She is terrific! I talked to Nadine recently and was shocked to learn that this is her first TV acting job!
"I love Van. This is actually my first real character, the first actual job I've ever done. I've done a lot of hosting and commercial work and modeling but this is my first chance to really delve into a character and work with a group for a long period of time. I've actually grown a lot and am starting to study a lot now and starting to fall in love with the craft. I kind of take it from my stomach, real feelings and emotions from inside of me.""
This is amazing to me. Nadine's performance is so natural and so powerful that you'd think she was an old pro at this. Her character has to face down some of the biggest villians on the show and she is just fearless. Van makes bad decisions at times, but she is courageous and has enbraced the witchcraft that she somehow seemed born to do.
This has made Van popular with lesbian viewers but also with gay men as well. "It's actually surprising that the gay fans will email me and say, 'I know this is weird because I'm a guy but you're my favorite.' And I'm like. 'Oh! A 16 year old boy from Texas wants to be a lesbian witch! (laughs)."
Her character is best friends with Toby (Charlie David) and their bond really bridges things nicely for the male and female fans."Toby and Van are each other's whole security system - security blanket. They are both going through so much. In real life, I love Charlie. For a lesbian and a gay man to have that kind of relationship together, it's not that common. But they have the type of bond that really any best friend relationship has."

Nadine admits, reluctantly,. that she is straight in real life. But on the screen, she sure makes for one helluva lesbian!!!

He's the handsome new club owner on "Dante's Cove" and Gabriel Romero certainly made an impression in the season finale. Let me just say it took place in the kitchen of the hotel when everyone was under a love spell and Gabriel's character, Marco Laveau, was not wearing any clothes: "That magic works on all of us," Gabriel told me, laughing.

We had met a few years back at a Trevor Project fundraiser and I remember having a long, in-depth conversation with Gabriel about spirituality and other things. It was such a nice departure from a lot of the superficial stuff that goes on at those kinds of events.
But this was before he joined Dante's Cove. This time, we had other things to talk about like what is Marco Lavreau all about?
"There's a real mystery to the character. We don't know yet if he's bad or good. He has a mysterious past. He knows something about the magic that goes on in Dante's Cove. You'll find out a lot more about Marco in this next season."
Romero says joining the show in its second season when it was already an established hit "has been awesome."
"All of the actors and the crew and the producers embraced me. They were so loving and such a great group of people to work with. That part was easy. The harder part was getting the style of the show and falling into that and to really fit in with the characters and start creating my own and add a little bit of spice as a Latino in there."

Q. So, who do you want to hook up with next season? Toby? Kevin? Adam? Ambrosious?
A. "If you really want to know the truth, I want the WOMEN! Van and Michelle had such a beautiful relationship. I want that! I keep telling them, why don't we have an episode where the magic works on all of us and we all turn?
Q. But you're gay in real-life, right?
A. "I'm bisexual.

Oh, THAT explains things! Anyway, Gabriel, who has done all kinds of stage work in L.A., has never shied from gay roles. He caused a sensation in Mexico when he played a gay character on a telenovela "Los Beltran." He also appeared in the short films "Myopia" and "My Straight Boyfriend."

With his dark good looks, Charlie David has made a strong impression the last two years as Toby on "Dante's Cove." Where others are scheming or confused, his Toby is centered and tries to do the right thing for those he loves including lover Kevin (Gregory Michael), best galpal Van (Nadine Heimann) and for his longtime friend Adam (Jon Fleming) who we found out in season two is in love with Toby.
"It will be interesting for us to venture into Toby having a different relationship," the actor says. "There is flirtation and interest between Toby and Adam who have been friends since high school and with Kevin being whisked away by a warlock (Amrosious) to God know where, what's a boy to do?"

Although the love scenes between the men on "Dante's Cove" are quite steamy and some would say almost soft-porn, Charlie David is the only leading man who is an out gay actor. The other leads identify themselves as straight with one (Gabriel Romero) being bisexual.
"People said I was crazy to come out," Charlie told me. "I'm sure I've lost roles and I've gained some roles. But I wouldn't change the decision. It's a sign of the times that we are having more men and women coming out early in their careers."
He says he is "thrilled" to see fellow actors Neil Patrick Harris and T.R. Knight come out this year and to see out actors like Chad Allen, Peter Paige and Robert Gant working: "No matter when someone comes out, I think it's freeing for the industry and I'm happy for them as a person. Our lives just become so much easier."
With filming of the third season of "Dante's Cove" still several months away, Charlie is focusing on the production of a film he wrote called "Mulligan's Father." It will be made as an independent film intended for the film festival circuit. In addition to himself, the cast will include Thea Gill who plays Diana on "Dante's Cove" and is best known for the five years she spent playing Lindsay on "Queer as Folk."
"The father, who is in his mid-40s, has an affair with his son's best friend (David)," Charlie explains. "I'm finding that it's a theme right now, these gentlemen my father's age saying, 'You know what? Maybe I haven't lived my truth.'"
Well, Charlie David certainly appears to be living his truth and I admire him greatly for it!

Jon Fleming's character of Adam on "Dante's Cove" was Toby's straight best friend from high school during the first season of the show and he was played by handsome Stephen Arnell. In season two, Adam is not-so-straight anymore and admitting his love for Toby. He's also being played by the handsome Jon Fleming who took over the role when Arnell landed a part in a movie.
"I think Adam identifies himself as a straight guy in love with Toby (Charlie David) and no one besides Amrosious (William Gregory Lee) and Toby know my secret that I'm gay on the show," Fleming told me recently. "I think if Adam doesn't convince Toby that he should be with him, he might lay low. He's kind of like a Toby or bust type. If I've been closeted that long, Toby is the one I'm going to come out for. But, it's up to the writers obviously."
Adam is determined to break-up the show's romantic leads Kevin (Gregory Michael) and Toby.
"Adam is the kind of guy who doesn't let anything stand in his way. I think Kevin should be worried, Adam has put in his hours at the gym. He's gonna want to make Kevin look bad to win over Toby."

Before landing on "Dante," Fleming had done a lot of modeling and was mostly being cast in All-American type roles like football quarterbacks etc. Straight in real life, he saw Adam as "a layered role with him being closeted and having a drug addiction."

Q. So far, Adam has hooked up with both Toby and Ambrosious so I wanna know who was more fun to do love scenes with? Openly-gay Charlie David or straight actor William Gregory Lee?
A. "I didn't want to rehearse anything. I was just, 'If we're going to do this, let's just go for it and we just went for it and had a good laugh afterward. They are both very professional and they were both on the show the first season. It's not about what would a gay do or what would a straight guy do? It's basically how would I act with someone who I'm in love with? Love is the universal thing and I use that. If I love someone, what would I do to get that person?"
Q. Is Charlie a better kisser because he's a gay man?
A. "No comment! (laughs). They each have their own style."

On taking on an explicitly-gay role: "I think the world has changed and movies like 'Brokeback Mountain' has made it easier for straight actors to play gay characters and it's seen as a challenge. You take on the role, you take on the character and you make it your own. I'm very blessed to have a challenging role like this. The show is growing, it's more than just skin. I think there's been some great storylines and I'm definitely excited tio shoot more episodes. The show is growing and obviously everyone is getting behind it."

On keeping fit for the show: "Luckily, I got a start on that when I was a kid. My father was a football and basketball coach so it's something I enjoy doing but it does add a little more pressure knowing I'm going to be shirtless pretty much 99 percent of the time."

In January, Fleming is switching gears and making a horror film called "Frathouse Massacre" which will be shooting in Ohio. "It takes place in the 70s and I'm playing a frat president who goes a little overboard when it comes to hazing and ends up offing a few people. I play a really evil character."

Season three of the campy gothic soap "Dante's Cove" doesn't even begin filming until April meaning we won't be seeing the new adventures of the sexy cast until summer. But I caught up with Gregory Michael, Charlie David and John Fleming - three of the show's hottest male stars - at the Ribbon of Hope Celebration recently and each made time for a chat with "Out in Hollywood" as did their co-stars Nadine Heimann (Van) and Gabriel Romero (Marco).

Gregory and Charlie play Kevin and Toby, the show's main romantic couple, who are constantly being pulled apart by outside forces including Adam (Fleming) who has loved Toby since high school and Ambrosious (William Gregory Lee, pictured with Michael, above), a powerful warlock who only has eyes for Kevin. Gregory compared Kevin and Toby to "Ross and Rachel on 'Friends.' You want them to be together. But Ambrosias is looking mighty fine over there!"

Read my interviews with the stars of "Dante's Cove" in the coming days:
ARCHIVED: Tracy Scoggins
TODAY: Gregory Michael
MONDAY: Jon Fleming
TUESDAY: Charlie David
WEDNESDAY: Gabriel Romero
THURSDAY: Nadine Heimann

During the break from the show, the 25-year-old Gregory is focusing on his music career and performing gigs with his band, Auxburn. They hope to release a CD of their music next year which he describes as "John Mayer meets Coldplay."
Since Gregory is straight in real life and had a recurring role on "As the World Turns" prior to getting cast in "Dante's Cove," he did consider possible career ramifications of playing a gay man - especially one who is involved in graphic lovemaking scenes with another man. "I'd be lying if I said I didn't think about it. I did. We did it before 'Brokeback Mountain.' But I played a date rapist on 'As the World Turns' for two years and I'm not a date rapist. It's another job to me and I'm getting recognized and there are a lot of possibilites on the horizon."
He believes "Dante's Cove,"which airs on the here! TV pay channel, has come along "at a time in our society where [sexuality] doesn't matter to people and I think it's wonderful."
So for a straight and single man, how is he so convincing in all of those love scenes?
"I'm definitely straight," he says, laughing. "But Charlie is just amazing and good."

Dante's Cove Profiles: First in a series...

Chatted up a slew of cast members from "Dante's Cove" last week including the sensational Tracy Scoggins who is an absolute hoot as Grace, a member of a coven of witches called the "Tresum." I''ve been a fan of Tracy's going back to when she was on "Dynasty" as Monica Colby which she also played for three seasons on the "Dynasty" spinoff "The Colbys" where her castmates included Barbara Stanwyck and Charlton Heston, among others.

At 53, Tracy still looks stunning and has been mighty busy since her days on "The Colbys." She was a regular on the sci-fi series "Babylon 5" and the western series "Lonesome Dove: The Outlaw Years" as well as a juicy recurring role on "Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman." That is in addition to a slew of guest spots on various TV series and some movie roles.

At the core of "Dante's Cove," recently renewed for a third season by here! television, is the deadly game of revenge between Grace and her former fiancee Ambrosius who on the day of their wedding centuries earlier, she caught him having sex with their butler. She imprisoned Ambrosius in the body of an old man and since then, have been engaged in real doozy of a battle for each other's soul.

"Can you tell I'm having fun? I'm having a blast," Tracey told me. " I like being a pioneer in things which this sort of is being one of the first gay and lesbian nighttime soap operas. I couldn't ask for a more fun character. I mean, I COULD ask, but that would be really ungracious of me!" (laughs).

At this point, I cannot hold back. I say to her: "You look so SMASHING on the show like when you wore that red dress and showed up at Hotel Dante.
"What they try to do with my character is, she was very well dressed in the 1840s and they try to have that a continuing thread when she gets her way into the future," she explained.

I ask, "Is Grace evil or is she just misunderstood? I mean, I know she's been hurt."
"I don't think anyone's black or white," Tracey said. " I don't think anyone's good or evil. Her heart is so scarred, she's just such damanged goods that she just has trouble caring about anyone anymore. It's about power and revenge and I think it comes from a scarred heart. I think that's why the audience can relate to her because everyone's been betrayed and everyone's felt like putting a spell on somebody."