Photography, Creative Direction, and Production by: Mike Ruiz @mikeruizone
Editor-in-Chief: Dimitri Vorontsov @dimitrivorontsov
Fashion Stylist: Alison Hernon at Agency Gerard Artists @718blonde
Fashion Assistants: Alexandra York @alexy0rk & Imani Brown
Location: Manhattan, New York

COVER TWO
Shirt by David Hart
Suit by Ermenegildo Zegna XXX
Coat In Graphic Wool Coating by
Stella McCartney

White Button-Down Shirt by Miranda Kurtishi
Tuxedo Styled Suit by Miranda Kurtishi
Tie & Pin by Miranda Kurtishi

You have reunited with Ryan Murphy again after perfectly playing Henry Willson character in Hollywood, can you give us insight about working with Ryan Murphy?

Ryan has many great qualities as a creator, a writer, and as a director; the ones that really stick out to me, having been around him for several years now are that 1) he has an uncanny ability to match an actor with a character that many other people would never see (including, frequently, the actors themselves) and 2) he assembles around him, in every department, some of the most creative and talented craftspeople I have ever worked with. I believe he often attracts a type of worker/artist who is looking for a great challenge, new territory to play in, and when you are working, be it on set or in a costume fitting or in the makeup trailer, you can feel a specific and exciting energy that, to me, is most reminiscent of being a child and just wanting to play, to make something wonderful.

 

Turtleneck Sweater & Suit by David Hart

Henry Willson was quite a character in Hollywood during the 1950s, profane, involved with mafia, preying on his clients as if they were his commodities but still delivering as an agent, how did you prepare for the role?

I was very fortunate that Robert Hofler had written a book called “The Man Who Invented Rock Hudson” and it was absolutely my bible during the shoot. Robert gave so much detail and anecdotes about not just Henry WIllson’s time as an agent, but also his youth back in New York and his sad, last years, when he was ill and died destitute. His research added a level of humanity that was inescapable once I read about it and I am so grateful to him (even though we’ve never met haha).

Jacket by Franco Lacosta
Tie & Pin by Miranda Kurtishi
Kevin Shirt by Stella McCartney

Hollywood vs The Boys in the Band, post-WWII vs late 1960s. How would you compare “In the closed” to the outer-circle between those two eras?

I’m not a historian and my education on the many facets of homosexual life through the years in my country has been largely obtained through the work I’ve been a part of in film and theater – Hollywood, Boys in the Band, The Normal Heart. From what I’ve come to learn though, it seems to me that to be gay in the era of “Hollywood” was to understand, to a degree, that “that’s just the way things are” and figure out the ways in which you must “play the game” in order to survive, never mind flourish, whether that meant marrying someone of the opposite gender and, essentially, living a lie, or just doing your best to keep your true life hidden. The era depicted in Boys in the Band is quite literally right before the Stonewall riots (the celebrated night of defiance occurred on a night the original cast was still performing Mart’s play, within walking distance). As such, these are gay men who are living in a lit powder keg that was just about to go off, a world in which they would begin to claim, as a group and loud enough for the whole word to hear, their right to live exactly as they were, no more hiding or shame. I don’t envy either group in either era and am grateful to all of them for coming before me and doing work in our world that has allowed me to have the life and career I’ve had, without hiding.

Emotional intelligence perfectly portrayed by you through the eyes of your characters, do you perfect dramatic roles to rather comedic?

I do not have a preference between comedic material or things that are more dramatic; as my acting 101 teacher used to preach to us “find the humor, even in the most dire of dramatic pieces – that’s what he do as humans, try to laugh.” So, in that way, there’s not a lot of difference. I would say my decisions about what to work on are a combination of material that, for whatever reason, excites me, and also the chance to work with people I love and admire.

Suit by Catou at The Confessional Showroom
Tie by Miranda Kurtishi
Shirt by Nicestuff Clothing
Shoes by Magnanni

2020 is a difficult year in all aspects, are you looking forward to getting back to work?

I miss acting so much. I’ve been very fortunate through this whole pandemic mess and I do try to count my blessings instead of wish for “what might have been,” but this is the longest I’ve gone without acting in many years (again, I’ve been damn lucky), and my feelings of longing to get back into scene work with other actors is deeper than I would have thought possible.

You have a number of upcoming projects coming up starting from 2021, is there any, in particular, you would like to share with us?

The one I think about most often is “Spoiler Alert,” our movie adaptation of Michael Ausiello’s heartbreaking novel about losing his husband to cancer, that Michael Showalter will be directing. I’ve dreamed of bringing this story to the screen since the moment I finished the book.

Coat In Wool Tweed Coating by Stella McCartney
Shirt by Miranda Kurtishi
Suit by Catou

You are both an entertainer and producer, how do you feel about the producer role? Is this more of a strategic position to choose projects/move projects forward?

My husband and I co-run the company (That’s Wonderful Productions) and Todd (my husband) is really the day-to-day communicator with our insanely gifted and driven executives; I am still most comfortable in front of the camera. We do get approached with projects for me to be involved in and sometimes (as in the case of “Spoiler Alert”) we go after material that we are not only drawn to but that I want to act in. That said, I have never wanted the company to be about finding material for me as its main reason for existing – quite the opposite, actually. For example, we are in the earliest days of filming “Call Me Kat,” our show for Fox that stars Mayim Bialik, and getting to watch these magnificent scenes come to life over a video feed from Los Angeles to our kitchen here in New York has been as thrilling and fulfilling as anything we’ve done as a company so far. It’s also HANDS DOWN the most exciting thing that’s happened to me in quarantine, I should note!

What kind of advice would you give your “younger” self?

Trust your instincts, trust your instincts, trust your instincts. I should note it’s still the same advice I have to give myself every day, even now.