Justin Gerhard – Almost Adults

By: Lisa Steinberg

Q) We have been getting more content on Gay Men’s Channel about what men share with women.

A) There is something about what gay men share with women. Maybe it’s just that we have been deemed “less than” by the world for so long that maybe it’s changing. At the same time, we aren’t fully there yet. When you live in Toronto, New York or LA it is a different story. I still have to remind myself that there are still so many places that it is not accepted or okay yet. That was my main reason to agreeing to collaborate with Sarah [Rotella] and Adrianna [DiLonardo] when we created The Gay Men’s Channel because I wanted there to be something that I never had when I grew up. Now people anywhere can have access to YouTube. So to have someone speaking to you on screen saying you’re not going to hell, you’re okay and it’s normal to be having these feelings, maybe can help change one person’s life. I always think of people like me, but then my mom reminds me there are also parents that watch this that are dealing with their children or an uncle or gay military man that doesn’t know how to accept his son. There are so many variables that it is all so wonderful to me that there are so many topics to explore. There is always going to be something about the topic that is different for one person to relate to than the next.

Q) What can you tease is coming up new content wise for The Gay Men’s Channel?

A) I have created more structure around what my Gay For Justin‘s are. It started out as a weekly topic of whatever I felt like discussing and now I feel like I have an opportunity to organize it a little more. One week will be a Gay Education episode that has something about it that is educating us. I did a Stonewall Riots episode and I have a friend who is a pharmacist and we really want to tackle some of the prevention and being proactive about being safe and sexual at the same time. We really want to do a prep episode where we explain what this is really about. Maybe we will have a guest on living with HIV so we take away some of that stigma. I could even say for myself, if I were to meet someone who was HIV positive I even still need to do some research for myself to see the safe way to move forward. There are so many people with HIV who are living happy and healthy lives. People when they meet them are still afraid to go into a relationship with them because they aren’t sure what that means because of all the stigma around it. We just have to start changing the language around this because there are a lot of people living with it, but still have healthy lives. I also want to keep doing a personal episode every month that is really about my life, something I’ve learned or gone through. I think that’s what is special about YouTube is that people very much want to get to know you as a person. I always like to do a Wild Card episode where I have no idea what it is going to be. It’s a little bit more spontaneous and random, but fun. I like that I can be serious, but there is also an element of depth to it as well. That’s what I’ve created in structure and started to plan more in advance as when it started it was figuring out as I go. I’ve now noticed it’s easier and for the editing process to go into it with a plan. Beyond Gay For Justin‘s, I want to be doing more skits and sketches, and more music videos. Those are the things that feed me as an artist. I come from the musical theater world and when I started YouTube it was a way to be creative on a weekly basis and now it has become more than that. I’ve thought about writing my own music and expressing it that way. You have someone like Troye Sivan who started as a YouTube star and I feel like he is on the brink of exploding for the entire world. For Christmas, I’m going to be doing a Twelve Days of Drinks for Christmas. I’m having a comedian join me for the little webseries we are going to create.

Q) Have you thought about doing what it means to be gay on TV?

A) Sometimes I think I’m reading something over and over, but then I have to remind myself that I live in a place where it is very accepted and that I feel maybe I don’t have to talk about these things. The audience that is YouTube is global and when we think about the issue of sexuality and acceptance we have so much work to do. Not work as in being burdened, work as in so much progress to make. I’m so honored to be alive at this time because I feel things are changing. It feels slow, but when you look at history we are changing very quickly. I’m honored to be a part of that. I see The Gay Men’s Channel as an opportunity to create a huge community and a network. Right now, it’s just one Gay For Justin each week, but when I think of dreaming…Like Oprah, she had a TV show and then she got a network. Then, everything on her network could be connected to what she believes in and what she wants to spread to the world. With YouTube, Ellen [Degeneres] has done the same thing. She has a show, but now there is more than her show to reach people. I definitely agree and want to talk about homosexuality in TV and where we have gone into it. I think this leads into Almost Adults and that the movie does have gay characters, but we’re shying away from calling it a “gay movie.” That just labels it and makes you wonder if straight people will enjoy it. It’s silly that we even say that because for twenty-seven years I’ve enjoyed watching heterosexual relationships in movies and have been able to relate and aroused because two straight people were making out. That didn’t stop me from fantasizing to a degree. That’s where I think this movie is different than anything else out there yet because it is about best friends. My character, Levi, is a gay character, but more than being gay he is like the mediator, the peacekeeper. He’s trying to help these friends move past their differences and work past the struggle they are going through. I want the audience to feel that more than, “Oh, he’s just the gay best friend.” We have had that stereotype placed on us in the gay community because I guess that was the most logical step in progression when they started using gay characters on television. People could relate to that super sassy gay man who is really good at fashion and is like the assistant to the boss. We loved the character and didn’t think about him being gay. We loved him though because he was best friends with the lead in the show. Now, we’re like, “Oh, wait, there are so many different types of gay people that it doesn’t make sense to label them as one thing.” Again, I think that’s where Almost Adults is going to shine a light onto all the different types of gay people out there. I hope that gay people can relate to that and I want straight people to be like, “I’ve totally been there – that needy person, that best friend who felt lied to by my friend. I thought we were close, but they didn’t tell me this personal thing about their life.” That is the message that is beyond the fact that these are gay characters.

Q) With Almost Adults, was there anything you added to Levi that wasn’t originally scripted for you?

A) I definitely feel that is hard for a writer to truly know exactly what the character is going to be like. I remember Adrianna told me she based it on two of her friends and sort of meshed the two of them together to create Levi. Then, when I took it on, I feel like what I brought was a bit of myself. Maybe this seems obvious, but I think as actors we have to remember that how we play the role is the reason that it is going to be so unique from someone else playing the role. It’s not shying away from bringing Justin to Levi so that Levi is not just a generic Levi. Levi is special because I brought my light, joy and experience to the role. Yes, I take on his backstory and his experiences to where we start in the movie; however, it is just me as a person that brings the life to the character. At the end of filming, Adrianna said, “Thank you so much for bringing yourself to this role because when we thought of having you as Levi that is what we hoped you would do. You are the reason we wanted to cast you.” Yes, you have to have the talent and the ability to read your lines. All of those things are really important as an actor, but if you can’t also bring yourself to it then you are just trying to play somebody else. I think a lot of young actors end up playing a lot of themselves in the characters that they play. I read an article about Christopher Plummer who was talking about how he has really enjoyed the later part of his career even more than the start. He has enjoyed the breath of characters he has been able to play recently because he has so much more life experience that it is easier to put him in lots of different roles. At this point in my life, and a lot of people can relate, that we are coming up and figuring out who we are and who we want to be. I feel that is why a lot of personal experience pours into the work that we do.

Q) What was it like working with such a strong female cast?

A) I, literally, cannot keep from smiling when I think about the time we spent filming this beautiful project. It wasn’t just the cast, but it was also the crew. Everybody from top to bottom, volunteer or paid, were all so invested in making this really special. We couldn’t believe this was our job and we got to share this story. To speak specifically to the cast, Winny [Clarke] and I connected pretty much right away. We didn’t have a lot of time on set together, but it was enough to connect us and now we see each other pretty regularly. Elise [Bauman] and I – it was very instantaneous. You dive into playing these friends and then you realize you are actually really close and have a lot in common. Even during rehearsals, we improvised a scene where she came out to me as if she was Mackenzie coming out to Levi. We left that scene feeling like it was so real! That was just a really honest moment between two friends and that speaks to Sarah and her attention to detail as a director. Giving us those experiences that were seemingly planned and weren’t technically real, but it is having those experiences – that tangible moment together – that when we were on set filming subconsciously became part of the relationship now. So, already Mackenzie and Levi have actual substance and actual memories. And that’s what we draw on as best friends in the film and I think that’s what makes the relationship read as authentic. Beyond the fact that we got along as people, we also had this experience of doing improvised scenes together that helped to solidify our onscreen relationship. I want to specifically thank Sarah and I’m really grateful for her.

Q) What was it like working with Sarah and Adrianna?

A) This was Sarah’s first time directing a feature film and you would never have known that. She just owned it as if she was already directing an Oscar worthy film. That’s just her as a person. Because of Sarah’s relationship with Adrianna, we’d be doing a scene and Sarah would say,  “This scene doesn’t work, let me just quickly call Adrianna.” Adrianna would have a new line in a second. That just speaks to her. The quickness of her response was amazing, too. Even though a writer isn’t as much a part of the actual filming, I would say that Adrianna really was integral to that step too because she was there to make quick adjustments when they were needed. And I thought it was beautiful that she was open to making those adjustments. I think there is a certain pride when you write a script that you want it to be this way and yet she was very open. She would ask, “How does this work for you?” and “What would you say?” You find a compromise that will read so much more authentically. Like I said, I bring something to Levi that she couldn’t have imagined when writing the character. So, she was open to it being a collaboration, which is why I think it turned out the way it did.

Q) Talk about working alongside Elise Bauman and Natasha Negovanlis.

A) It’s cool to see Elise and Natasha play different roles. They also draw from the fact they are actually close and know each other really well. I think it is cool to see another side of them. It was like when Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio did another movie together. They are just so close as friends that they could almost tackle any role together because you just believe them since their relationship is so authentic from where it stems. We did the table read and I said to Elise and Natasha, “You guys seem to know each other. How do you know each other?” Then, they said the word “Carmilla,” and I was like, “Okay, cool.” It wasn’t until after I had asked someone later…I think I asked Sarah and, again, she laughed at me. We were leaving the table read and in the elevator, I was like, “Okay, seriously guys, what the hell is ‘Carmilla?’ Is this like a webseries?” I looked at their Instagram accounts and I was like, “Shit! These girls have so many fans! What the hell are they doing?” Then, they finally explained it to to me and I was like, “Oh…Okay.” As crazy as “Carmilla” fans are, obviously it hadn’t reached my screen yet. I have since informed myself on the show and the amazing audience that supports it. It’s actually been really cool to relate with – Elise and I have had more conversations about this, but Natasha and I talked while filming and I got great insight into how it all exploded and how the support for Almost Adults sort of catapults you as an actor in a way you aren’t expecting. When it goes somewhere, it’s not like I’m noticed everywhere I go, but like at Buffer Festival people knew who I am and I didn’t expect that yet. I dreamed of being an actor for a long time. They really have had to get good at knowing how to be around fans and how to respond and be online and still be authentic and real because I think that “Carmilla” exploded in a way that they didn’t expect either. They’ve sort of been mentors in a way because they’ve given me advice along the way that they have discovered that has been handy for me to add to my tool belt.

Q) What do you hope people take away from watching the film?

A) I was watching a movie on Netflix with my sister last week and I said, “I wish there was a movie on where two guys fall in love so I could watch them make-out or some movie that wasn’t cheesy.” So, I was thinking about the best part of this whole thing was that there is going to be a movie like that. Almost Adults is going to be that movie. I know that I am projecting and dreaming here, but it is going to be a classic film that people will want to watch. You want to watch Family Stone every Christmas because it is just that kind of movie and I get that same feeling when you watch the trailer for Almost Adults. It’s so cute, but so real and so honest. So, I hope that is a part of what people take away from it. It’s a movie they can always go to. It’s a classic story, but with characters who are very relevant and very on point to where we are in 2015. I hope that a straight dude in Saskatchewan can watch this and be like, “I get it. I totally know what it is like to be Levi.” Not the fact that he is gay, but that he had to somehow find a way to bring these friends back together or try to help them deal with some sort of separation or breakup of a best friend. It has that Juno feel to it because it is an independent that seems comical, but there is so much depth to the story. I really appreciate Sarah and Adrianna for putting it on that raw level of “deal with this.” There are scenes in the movie (I don’t’ know which ones they picked) that I remember thinking, “This is awkward. This is awkward because it’s real.” That’s what life is sometimes – it’s awkward. I love that because I think that is where mainstream is going and that’s good because it lets people know what is on television is more realistic than it had been. I think it’s still possible because we don’t need to disregard true love still happening, but we’re just not trying to confuse people or lead them to believe it is a certain way. This is a part of life. This is a part of what we all deal with. You may fall out with your friends, but that doesn’t mean you won’t be friends ever again. Relationships have ebbs and flows.