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    "I've played murderers, and no one's asked me if that's going to ruin my career. It seems preferable to play a rapist or a pedophile than a loving, gay male." -Christian Campbell OUT magazine, July 1999




 From the San Francisco Examiner's report on the San Francisco Lesbian &  Gay Film Festival (6/16/99):    

FOR THOSE WHO THINK YOUNG  
By Wesley Morris, Examiner Film Critic    

There's a host of things scheduled to happen during the 10 days of the 23rd  Lesbian and Gay Film Festival -- which runs June 17-27 at the Castro, the  Roxie and the Victoria Theaters in San Francisco. Breakups. Breakdowns.  Break-ins. Breakthroughs. Cloudbreak, heartbreak, broken skin, broken  records, broken bones.    

But only one image breaks like the dawn. It's a smile -- one of the truest,  most sincere expressions of joy you'll ever see -- and it belongs to  Christian Campbell who stars in trick (Thursday, Castro), Jim Fall's  opening-night feature. It's a great way to jump-start a festival, particularly one accentuating the positive, exhilarating aspects of an  international lesbian-gay cinema. Fall's debut is a wholly conventional  boy-meets-boy, boy-looks-for-place-to-shag-boy love story with an assortment  of robust caricatures trying to abet and deter Campbells' love-struck  showtune composer from getting it on with go-go stripper (John Paul Pitoc),  including an interestingly human Tori Spelling who wanders out of  self-parody and into a performance as Campbell's self-obsessed pal. But  alas, it's that blazing smile that could make the sun jealous and captures  the contagious ecstasy of a reciprocated crush.  



For those of you who still think he is gay, the studies done on gay versus straight finger length say different.   His index (1st) finger is longer than the third, so that seems to clinch it.  Sorry guys.  


Quite a fox, our Christian


Why doesn't he smile more often?   A ten billion dollar smile, and he does this ...


Intriguing scene

Various scenes from "trick":

I scanned this one from the "trick" vcr box









Roger Ebert didn't even notice:  It seems odd to me that Roger Ebert, who I once thought actually wasn’’t a bad film reviewer, missed the whole point in his review of ““trick””. Trick is magical. It represents an almost perfect environment for gay people. There’’s no violence in the movie at all (a nearly universal element in every other gay movie ever made). Roger Ebert didn’’t even notice. Most gay movies are shot through with violence because so many gay people are harassed, beaten, murdered or just simply demeaned in one way or another by ignorant thugs. Trick is intended to basically make gay people feel good about themselves, and it works. Roger Ebert didn’’t even notice. The character of Mark is written so that we come to understand that he is smitten with music and musicians. This particular element of his overall makeup is blatantly obvious at the movie progresses. Roger Ebert didn’’t even notice. Instead, Roger Ebert said that Mark would have just gotten up and left if he were true to his character. The truth is that when you pick up a trick, you usually don’’t just get up and leave before you’’ve accomplished what you set out to do, especially when they look like Christian Campbell. Roger Ebert quoted Gabriel’’s comment about musicals as if it were actually relevent to a review of the movie. The truth is that movie reviews are supposed to be about the movie itself, not about a point of view expressed in the dialogue of the movie (which actually in this case wasn’’t even of much importance to the story anyway.) There was a striking chemistry between the characters of Mark and Gabriel which grew throughout the movie until it nearly took your breath away when they finally kissed each other just before the end. Roger Ebert didn’’t even notice. It is also striking that Roger Ebert stressed that Tori Spelling did a very good job in the ““House of Yes””. He basically panned her performance in ““trick”” when the truth is that she was magnificent. The performances in this movie were ““break out”” performances in every sense of the word –– not just for Christian Campbell and Tori Spelling, but for J.P. Pitoc, who was able to jump over the difficult stages of an actor’’s career -- that people like Christian Campbell and Tori Spelling were forced to endure through coming up the hard way -- simply by taking off his pants. It does make it seem that gay people might be a bit superficial, I admit. However, J.P. Pitoc actually is a very good actor. His on camera chemistry with Christian Campbell was, I have to believe, a true case of serendipity in action. Nobody could have possibly known that the two of them would click with their characters and with each in such a striking manner. All of this is unbelievable enough, but the thing that actually blows ME away is that Roger Ebert didn’’t even notice.


_______________________________________________________________  I find it intriguing that the defining gay love story, possibly of all time, that marks the decisive cut off point between yesterday and tomorrow, was played to absolute perfection by two straight men. It’’s all the more remarkable because the chemistry between them (at least as they played their characters) was so marked and so pronounced that I seriously doubt that anybody else could have played those parts that well. To quote Shakespeare: ““There comes a time in the affairs of men, when, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune. Omitted, all the voyage of our lives is lost in misery and defeat””. Mssrs. Campbell and Pitoc simply rode that tide in so definitive a manner that I can only believe the pairing was total serendipity ( Roger Ebert to the contrary). I have spent many hours trying to devise a pairing of straight men, or gay for that matter, who could have even begun to attempt it. (No, don’’t tell me Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. That might strain the fabric of reality to the breaking point, and certainly it might unveil a facet of their personalities that they themselves are not aware of.) I have watched Trick far more in the few weeks I’’ve had the movie than I’’ve ever watched any other in my entire life. I think if this movie had been around when I was 17, my entire life could have been different. The straight reviewers who panned this movie either are totally lacking in empathy, or simply too homophobic to appreciate how deeply it cuts to the very core of what being gay is all about. Gay people are romantics. The typical one-night stand with a ““trick”” is actually an overt manifestation of their desire for true intimacy which helps cover up the fact that real intimacy is so seldom allowed to exist by the society around them. What, after all, is love? Watching Trick, you come to the realization that love is not gender specific. It is an attribute of being human that is possible between any two people who are attracted to each other regardless of age, race, sex or any other irrelevencies that are usually thrown up as obstacles. Trick is not so much gay-affirming as it is life-affirming. ___________________________________________  

Gabriel's bathroom scene with his roommate in "trick"


September 1999 Interview    by Mike Bederka
            
The toast of the Sundance Film Festival a few short months ago, Trick will grace theaters everywhere in August 1999. With the movie's main couple being gay, most may assume the plot will be preachy or serious. But that couldn't be any further from the case. The romantic comedy follows an aspiring musical writer (Christian Campbell) and a go-go boy (John Paul Pitoc) as they look for a place to have a one-night stand. However, when fate and Tori Spelling intervene, Gabriel and Mark have more than they bargained for. Christian chats from his cell phone. And by the way, he's Neve's brother.
Are you surprised by all the hype surrounding Trick?  Yeah, definitely surprised. I knew it would do well during the festival circuit. But I never thought it was going to do this well.  Every review I read has been pretty glowing.  There have been a couple people that hadn't gotten it or just didn't like the film. But generally the larger percentage has been really positive reviews. We've been very lucky.  Why do you think people aren't getting the film?  Maybe they feel it's just too light and trite for their tastes. It's funny actually--it's been a lot of the gay magazines, The Advocate for one, that have put it down. Maybe it has to do with the fact that it treats the whole thing so lightly. Maybe because everyone else likes it, they decided to hate it because it makes them look good. Was it the lighter themes that attracted you to the script?  Absolutely. It was just a wonderful love story. It had nothing to do with, "I'm gay, I'm angry and you're going to accept it, dammit." It just had to do with two spirits falling in love.  Do you think this movie will attract a wider audience because it's not heavy-handed--no allusions to homophobia or AIDS?  I definitely think a wider audience than other gay films. Some people are saying Trick is going to have huge crossover appeal, and I think that's being very hopeful. And I think it's being falsely hopeful. No matter what, it's still being advertised as a gay film and that's going to scare some people away. In terms of more cosmopolitan, open-minded, liberal people, I think they will be willing to go for it.  How exactly did you land the part of Gabriel, since you mainly have done smaller stuff in the past?  Well, this is still considered small--it was an independent film. I had been producing a film and one of the people I was working with went to school with Eric d'Arbeloff, Trick's producer. And basically she just recommended me to this guy. After I read the script, he and I sat down for coffee and talked about it. Cut to a couple months later and I was auditioning for [director] Jim [Fall]. We did two reads with Jim. The first one I was disappointed in--the second one I nailed.  Are there any similarities between you and the character of Gabriel?  I pulled out elements of myself from when I was younger. Younger in terms of just that point in your life where you are deciding to stand up for yourself--"take me or leave me for what I am." I think everyone goes through that. Gabriel also allowed me delve into some insecurities that I usually don't touch on. It was nice to go to those places. It was something my family watched and they were really impressed by. They were happy to see me delve into places that were softer and more introspective.  What did Neve think about it?  She loved it.  Are you sick of people asking you in interviews about Neve?  It's expected, so I don't get sick of it. It's the reality of my life. I'm happy about it because it means Neve's life is doing really well.  How was it starring opposite Tori Spelling?  She was great--really easy to work with, very professional. She really had a great sense of comedy.  Have you two worked together before?  This is the second time. The original reason I came down to Los Angeles was to do a television series for her father called "Malibu Shores" [1996]. It was short-lived. She actually came over from "90210" for an episode to help pump our ratings a bit.  Trick's transvestite character Miss Coco Peru vaguely resembles Tori in drag. Is there anything to it? That wasn't even known until we were finally editing the damn thing together [laughs]. We didn't even see it. And then suddenly everyone was going, "My God, they look a lot alike." It was not intended at all.  Do you have any advice for aspiring actors and actresses?  The only thing I could tell them is persistence and perseverance--if you're talented. I used to think training, training, training. Yes, training is important for those who are talented. Also realize, if you got it, you got it. If you don't, step on out, there is probably another talent you're much better suited for. Your life will be a lot easier if you do that. I come across a lot of people who have got all the drive, love and passion for the acting world but they just don't have the je ne sais quoi. It's a depressing thing for me to have to say because I have always been a firm believer in whatever you strive for you will eventually achieve. But you have to be honest with yourself.  Does it disturb you that now all these people have web sites dedicated to your life?  No, I think it's wonderful. These are the people that come to the movies to support you. This is exactly what I want. That's good business.  Do you ever check out any of the sites?  I checked them out a couple of months before all this happened. I think there was one only site, and it was really badly assembled. They had all the wrong facts--it was really kind of boring [laughs]. Now suddenly, everyone is saying there are a lot of sites about me.  Did you tell that web site creator they messed up?  No, I didn't get around to it. I almost wanted to just to help out. It was probably some young girl. "Malibu Shores" got a lot 13- and 14-year-olds gaga over me. It was a cute web site [laughs]. I kind of felt, "Awww - maybe you want to design it better."  What's the best compliment someone has ever given you on your acting?  [Long pause] I usually remember the criticisms, not the compliments.  So what's the harshest criticism?  The latest thing that comes to mind is a review where someone actually managed to put both myself and my sister down in one sentence. I was more hurt by what they said about my sister than what they said about me. It was something along the lines of, "Christian has none of the few talents that she has, but all of her vices." I was like, "Oh my god, how can this guy do this?" He was dragging the entire family down.  What magazine was this for?  [Pause] You know, I can't even remember.  Maybe it's better that way.  Oh, I think it was LA Weekly. Whatever...who cares?




Christian and Erin, somewhere in Scotland


On the isle of Mull


Clowning around on the set of "trick" with J.P. Pitoc



From the cover of Out Magazine, July, 1999



Christian and Erin in New York



A scene from "Reefer Madness".  Makes you want to go .... hmmmmmmmmm.


Piano scene from "trick"

`Trick' actor Christian Campbell - Neve's brother - can stand on his own
By Jane Sumner
The Dallas Morning News
Christian Campbell has such a sweet, choir-boy face, you want to pat him on the head or pinch his cheek. But the star of the gay comedy ``Trick'' can take care of himself.
Since he was a kid in Canada, the older (by 18 months) brother of ``Party of Five's'' Neve Campbell has been acting. At 27, he has emoted on stage and screen, founded a theater and, with his little sister, co-produced his first film.
In ``Trick,'' he plays a shy lyricist looking for a place to be alone with the go-go boy of his dreams. The Toronto native admits he feared writers for gay publications might resent a straight's playing the role.
``But none of them did,'' he says. ``They were completely happy with it, but the reality at this point is that you take what you can get. If you can't get gay actors to play gay characters, then you might as well take straight actors.''
Actually, he says, director Jim Fall, self-described as ``rampantly gay,'' couldn't find gay actors for the roles that Christian and J.P. Pitoc play.
``The gay actors didn't want to get typecast or they didn't want to get outed. They feared that then they couldn't play other roles, which I think is bunk, but there are still taboos in Hollywood.''
The son of a high school drama coach and a Hatha yoga teacher took the part, he says, because ``Trick'' was a different kind of gay film.
``I didn't feel it was an issue-oriented film. It wasn't an angry film. It was a lovely script.''
And it was comedy, as the director sometimes had to remind the cast. ``It was because we were so hard-pressed in terms of time. We shot it in 21 days under hot, sweaty circumstances in a New York summer. Sometime we'd forget and Jim would say, `C'mon, let's have a good time.'''
While he's a veteran before the camera, it was co-star J.P. Pitoc's first film. As a go-go boy, the New York theater actor spends his early scenes gyrating in a red thong.
``J.P. knew he was new. He didn't come on there and pretend he knew everything. He was always asking questions about how to deal with the camera. That guy's going to go very far.''
The plot hinges on the couple's all-night search for a place to be alone. Either a libidinous roommate is bedding a girlfriend in a scummy shared flat or zingy best friend Tori Spelling is using his printer to crank out resumes.
``She has a great sense of comedy,'' he says of his ex-boss's daughter. (Christian was a regular on Aaron Spelling's short-lived NBC series ``Malibu Shores.'') ``She knows how to lighten up a set.''
He grew up highland-flinging in his Glasgow-born father's Scottish pantomimes, made his professional stage debut at age 12 and four years later left home. In the mid-'90s he moved to Germany to be with his girlfriend, a dancer at the Nuremberg opera house. At first he didn't speak the language, but after slinging beer in an Irish pub for six months, he wound up in the chorus of a German stage production of ``A Clockwork Orange.''
Then came a tour of seven countries in ``The Night of the Miracle'' by the early 17th-century Spanish playwright Lope de Vega. ``All the actors were from different countries in Europe. We had Bulgarian, Italian, Spanish, German, Dutch and Lithuanian actors all speaking their own tongues. I was considered the British contingent.''
After relocating to the United States, he acquired a Los Angeles theater and with two partners founded its resident company - the Blue Sphere Alliance.
``I just needed some other way to get my creativity going,'' he says. ``It's been doing very well. We no longer have to put funds into it to keep it going. It runs on its own.''
With Neve, he co-produced and co-starred in their first film - a quirky, low-budget comedy, ``Hair Shirt,'' which debuted last year at the Toronto Film Festival.
``But we feel it's still not finished. We want to tweak it more and edit more, but I think you're going to get to see it eventually. It's our first endeavor at trying to produce together.''
Currently, he's performing in a highly successful musical at L.A.'s Hudson Theater. ```Reefer Madness' is based on a really, really bad 1936 propaganda film made by the government. Actually it's a bit of an underground thing. In the 1970s they used to put it on at university campuses. They made a great deal of money doing it because people would sit around and laugh hysterically and generally smoke dope.''
But the wiry Canadian doesn't spend all his time on film sets and stages. He's training for his first marathon and for years was a rock climber.
``I even got into it competitively. Then one day I had an epiphany. I had gone skydiving the day before and realized I was much safer skydiving than I was rock climbing. I was on a wall and found out that, the day before, a guy my age had died on it. It was a wake-up call.''


                        
                    Christian Campbell's Biography
Birthday:  May 12, 1972
Birthplace:  Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Occupation:  actor, producer, theatrical director
Achievements:  Co-founded Los Angeles-based theatre company Blue Sphere Alliance.
Family:  Father, Gerry Campbell - drama teacher  Mother, Marnie Neve - psychologist and actress  Brothers, Damien and Alex Campbell- both younger  Sister, Neve Campbell - actress (also younger).
Christian's first acting endeavors were on the stage in Canada, Germany and France. And, although Christian went on to such television programs as "Malibu Shores" and the successful TV movie "I've Been Waiting For You", the stage remains Christian's first love. Just about one year ago, he co-founded the Blue Sphere Alliance. He made his directorial debut with the one-act play "Reach", written by William Rehors, starring Matthew Lillard and Sandra Thigpen. Christian also appeared in the one-act play "Chamber Music", and the Alliance's first main-stage play "Nagasaki Dust".


And he said he didn't bleach ... oh yeah, that was Gabriel.


Even when he's all wet, he's as red hot as a blazing comet.


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