Thea Gill (pronounced Tay-uh) is best known for her role as Lindsay Peterson for five seasons of Queer as Folk. This accomplished Canadian actress is much more than just that role, as those who attended the Western Canadian premiere of the film Mulligans, at Fairy Tales last month, can attest.
Gill plays Stacey Davidson, whose husband Nathan (Dan Payne) has an affair with their son’s college friend Chase (Charlie David). The film focuses on family, and Gill’s portrayal of the bewildered wife is genuine and powerful. The initial buzz for the show had people lining up down the block at the Plaza Theatre in Kensington.
“It really is pretty cool to see people lining up. This is the first time I have seen that. When I was doing Queer as Folk there were lots of lines for DVD signings and such but I have never been in a feature film where there is a line up around the corner of a movie theatre,” she told GayCalgary and Edmonton Magazine during an interview prior to the screening.
This was the first time she had seen the film, and she admitted she felt nervous. Afterwards in a Q&A session with the audience, she told David (who wrote and co-produced the film) how proud she was of the final product, and rightfully so. She had nothing but positive words for David, who also co-stars with her on the series Dante’s Cove.
“I love Charlie. He is a great mystical soul, extremely intelligent and focused and knows exactly what he wants, which is something I have struggled with. I am always a little more ambiguous about what I want and how I feel. He knows how to do it, is very determined and ambitious.”
Mulligans marks the first queer project where Gill has portrayed a heterosexual. Married to theatre director Brian Richmond, she is proud of her work in queer media, and doesn’t let concerns about being typecast into lesbian roles deter her.
“I don’t really think of it as being typecast, because I am an actress and you go were the work is and the roles are offered. Obviously it seems like my career and life has been lead in a certain direction. I haven’t ignored or denied that - I have accepted that. I have taken it on as a way to explore the reason and avenue of my life, and my perceptions are to be examined. When you are lead down a certain road you can either stop or go down, and I have chosen to go down the road. There is obviously a reason why I have been lead down this road - the subject matter of Gay and Lesbian rights, from a gay perspective and a straight perspective, being a straight person.”
Gill spoke fondly of her QAF experience.
”We didn’t know it would last as long as it would. We were prepared for it to be highly criticized, and expected a lot of hate and aggression, and we did have a lot of that. But we were also obviously groundbreaking and loved.”
It was an entirely different show from Dante’s Cove, where she plays Diana Childs
“They are very different styles of show. Queer As Folk was a very profound political and social show that reached a lot of people. Dante’s Cove is more fun, it’s a guilty pleasure, a more superficial fantastical dark fantasy. It is vampy and colourful with lots of interesting and culty characters that are over the top.”
Gill recently relocated from Vancouver to Los Angeles, but the Canadian born actress will always have a soft spot for Canada, where QAF and Mulligans were shot.
“A lot of my work has generated from Canada. Now that I live in LA I am getting offered roles from other countries. I will be in the movie Butterfly Butterfly with Peter Page (Emmett from QAF) shooting in New Orleans in August. He is a gay character and I am playing his wife. I have been receiving more international opportunities. But I have been lucky to have received the work and projects that I have.”
While those roles may take her to more mainstream shows that are (gasp) more heterosexually based, Gill will never forget how the LGBT community supported her through Queer as Folk and beyond.
“I just hope I can continue to be a good performer and that my work reaches and touches people. I’ll make some mistakes along the way but I am trying my best to be real and as honest as I can be with the projects I have chosen to do.”
www.theagill.com
www.mulligansthemovie.com
