The Men of "Boy Culture"
At first Boy Culture may seem like the latest effort in the ever-growing genre of Cute Gayboy Movies (think Adam and Steve, The Mostly Unfabulous Social Life of Ethan Green, and Another Gay Movie); but think again. Q. Allan Brocka’s screen adaptation of Matthew Rettenmund’s novel is a smart, funny character study of a 20-something gay hustler, simply named "X", who finds himself hopelessly smitten with one of his roommates (named Andrew). The rub is that Andrew is just coming to terms of being openly gay and all that entails; and also has issues with X’s profession - so what’s a hustler to do? Go with his heart or his more entreprenureal instincts?
That description may oversimplify the film’s dynamic, which examines the way gay men objectify each other in search of relationships, hook-ups, or (in the case of X) business transactions. What proved to the biggest change from Rettenmund’s novel comes with casting an African-American actor (Darryl Stephens) as Andrew; a decision by Broca that at first disturbed Rettenmund. " I was royally pissed off when I discovered Andrew’s race had been changed," the novelist explained in an interview with EDGE recently. "The reason I was angry was I thought color-blind casting would be appropriate for a romantic comedy, but that my novel was a thinly veiled referendum on white, gay male culture."
Once seeing the film, he realized he "couldn’t have been more wrong. Allan’s vision of Boy Culture is anything but color-blind, or anything else-blind. It’s a revelation to make Andrew who he is in the film, and I think making him the archetypal all-American white ex-straight that he is in the novel (which was written many years ago) would not have worked."
One reason why it works so well is the casting of the two leads - Derek Magyar as X and Stephens as Andrew. Aside from being one of the most attractive couples of any romantic comedy (gay or straight) in some time, each actor brings much needed depth to their characterizations.
Audiences will likely recognize Stephens from his ongoing role as Noah on the Logo series Noah’s Ark, which is completing its second, and final, season. Magyar is more of a newcomer to the film scene, though audiences may likely recognize him from his numerous television roles, which included an ongoing role on the last season of the Star Trek series Enterprise as Commander Kelby.
EDGE spoke with both actors recently - first Stephens on a busy afternoon when he was off to a photo shoot; and Maygar as he was hustling (no pun intended) to an audition for a new television series. "It is pilot season right now, and I’m auditioning like a madman," he explained. "This is my third season - and it requires a thick skin. There are a lot of us actors out there. But I certainly believe that if you have the drive and the passion, and the true talent, something will happen."
The darkly good looking 26-year old actor really does double-duty on the film, not only in his on-screen business duties with his pool of 12 clients, but in providing the film’s copious narration, which enhances his character’s mix of the cynical and romantic attitudes. "One of the aspects why Alan saw me in the role was partly my voice. I worked very closely with him on it - two or three days, full days and nights hammering it out. It was a challenge, but I was able to see certain scenes on screen for playback, and remembered the tone of the film, and stuff like that to make the narration as exciting and interesting as possible."
What attracted him to the role of X was how easy it was for him to identify with X’s struggles. "I found that I could personally relate to what he goes through. And I found him to be a challenging character because the way he’s written, if you’re not careful, he could be considered an asshole. I could relate to what his fears are as a human being, gay or straight."
"And," he continued, "playing a hustler can be a little cliché. It’s definitely been done. But I was excited by the challenge, so I didn’t have any hesitations. I just wanted to make him believable and likeable."
In the film Maygar largely divides his time with his relationships with his roommates Andrew and Joey (Jonathon Trent), the horny gay teen whom X takes in and allows to live rent-free in his spacious Seattle loft apartment with no strings attached (much to Joey’s chagrin); and with Patrick (Patrick Bauchau), an aging, agoraphobic academic that X takes on as a client when a slot opens up in his rotation. Both relationships develop with a certain amount of on-screen sex that, though not up to Shortbus standards, does get steamy. Was this difficult for him in this his first major film role?
"You know," he said with a small laugh, "I don’t feel that there really is that much sex on the screen, but as far as the concerns of the scenes that are intimate, no - it wasn’t that difficult. The both of the people I had to be intimate with are friends of mine, and people I respect. Both are really talented actors, so it was another day at work. Even though I’m straight, it’s another day at the job. I just went with it. It was never a problem for me ever. We just got along really well."
It’s a feeling that Stephens concurs with. "It’s all acting. Derek was great to work with. What was funny, though, was that we both had the flu when we were making the movie - that makes it sound gross, but it really wasn’t that bad. And Derek is a great kisser."
Stephens came to the role at the recommendation of Noah Arc’s creator Patrik-Ian Polk, who suggested he audition for Brocka. He went in and did a scene - one that became the gardening sequence in the film - and at first Brocka wasn’t happy with the way Stephens portrayed it. "Butch it up," was his advice to the actor, which he did, and the two found a way into the character that was quite different from the way he was written in the novel. "He’s a Minnesota farm boy in the novel," Stephens explained. "But I think Alan, as a man of color, was tired of seeing gay love stories be only about white gay men. He wanted to mix it up. What brought me to the part was playing someone who is a little confused, but is basically a good guy in an interesting place in his life. He’s very inward-looking, and I can identify with that."
