One of our posters, ShadowyMoon, is also the webmaster for Scott Lowell's fan site. She emailed me a few weeks ago to ask if I wanted to interview Scott, and I can't thank her enough for setting this all in motion. Scott and I finally agreed to talk at around 2 PM EST last Saturday. On Friday he sent me an email saying that his Thursday shoot lasted until 6 AM freakin' Friday morning, and he was on call again at 2:30 AM Saturday, and would I mind very much if we pushed the call back to 3 PM so he could get some sleep? Would I mind pushing it back by an hour? Uh, no. Camper: Well, thank you so much for agreeing to this. Scott Lowell: Absolutely. C: I can't believe your schedule! SL: Well, this is pretty rare. It hasn't been quite so bad in quite a while. I don't know what happened this week [laughs]. We got a little behind. C: Are you guys finishing up the season, or...? SL: Not 'til April. C: Oh, okay. SL:Yeah, this is...uh, yesterday, today, whenever it was [laughs]. This morning? C: It's Sa-tur-day! SL: Thank you. That was the end of episode fourteen. So we have six more to go. C: I can't remember...we have a spoiler thread on the boards, but I can't remember what happens in fourteen. Would you like to tell me? SL: In episode fourteen? C: [Laughing] Yes. SL: Oh, no! I ain't giving you nuthin'! C: So, you finished working Thursday...I'm sorry, Friday at five in the morning, and then you got called in again at six this morning? SL: Yeah, what ended up happening was...yeah, we wrapped our Thursday night wrap at six in the morning. And we were shooting outside in the Jeep, Brian's Jeep -- C: Which, I might add, is very popular here in West Hollywood. SL: Is it really? C: Oh, my God, yes. SL: Actually, when I'm in L.A., I live near Fairfax and Sunset. C: Oh, really? And you haven't noticed that phenomenon? SL: I haven't noticed that, no. C: Maybe it's just my neighborhood. I'm over at Melrose and La Cienega. ["Which means that I live in West Hollywood, and Scott lives in Hollywood-Hollywood. There's a slight but notable difference. Just in case you weren't aware, West Hollywood is known for its uh, um...gayness." -- Camper] SL: Oh, okay. And they're everywhere?
C: There's like, two parked across the street even as I speak. SL: I think when I moved out to L.A., I automatically turned off my ability to notice cars. Because I'm still driving an '88 Honda Accord, so I think, out of self-embarrassment, I just pretend that everyone's driving crappy cars, so it's okay. C: Hey, I'm driving a '92 Toyota Paseo, so I understand. SL: Ni-ice. C: [Laughs] Don't knock it -- that puppy got me across the country. SL: I know, mine did as well. Came all the way from Connecticut at first. C: Really? SL: Yeah. C: And you went from Connecticut to Chicago, right? See, I'm trying to show off all the research I did. SL: Very good. I'm impressed. C: Well, it's my very first interview, so I wanted to be sure to overprepare. SL: [Laughs] Yeah, well, I moved five days after I graduated college. Yeah, that was a few years ago. C: Why Chicago? SL: Well, some friends of mine were starting a theater company there, and of course, that's one of the reasons people move out to Chicago. I went out, initially, the summer before my senior year of college, and worked with them to start this company, and I just really loved it. I grew up about an hour and a half outside of New York, so that's kind of what I was used to -- the big city? And where I expected that I'd always move after college. But I found Chicago, in terms of the acting scene, to be a lot more...uh, supportive? And less commercial. C: I can see that. SL: And the sense of business in New York is so strong, as opposed to [that in] Chicago. In Chicago, if you get bad reviews, you're not going to close the show. You may be playing to four people a night for the entire run, but you're not going to close the show -- you're going to do it. And I really wanted to do stuff when I got out of school, I was tired of classes, and I knew that I still had a lot to learn, but I learn a lot better by doing. I wanted to go to a place where I could do stuff. And I think that, in Chicago, a two-month period was maybe the longest time where I wasn't doing a play. In general, you just go from show to show to show, and you keep working, and, uh, I think it was what prepared me for [sighs self-deprecatingly] where I am today. Taking off my clothes and prancing around. [He laughs.] C: And not looking half-bad, by the way.
SL: Thank you. I appreciated your support for my chest in the last episode. C: No problem. So, you do actually read the recaps? SL: Yeah, we read them every week. We love them. C: That...totally freaks me out. [Laughs] SL: Does it? I know, I was kind of thinking. I was reading the recap today, and I thought, well, I hope doing this interview doesn't make her feel like she owes us anything, and she doesn't lose her edge. C: [Laughs] It's all about me and my artistic integrity, dammit! SL: Yeah, keep it, girl! No, absolutely. Yeah, I'd written to [ShadowyMoon], and she was asking me who started first, or did I write to you about this? C: About? SL: About how we started reading the stuff. I think it was Randy that started reading it first. C: Oh. That figures. SL: Yeah. C: I didn't mean that in a bad way, actually. I just meant, that since he's younger. And most of the people -- no, I wouldn't say most of them, but a good percentage of the posters on the board are younger. Have you had a chance to visit the message boards? SL: I finally did. I hadn't, and uh, I have to admit that I wasn't aware of them? And I'm sometimes a little wary of reading that stuff. C: [Laughs] Well, you know, to a certain extent, that's smart. SL: Exactly, you know. You have to take the good stuff along with the things that people say, like, "Oh, I close my eyes when he takes his clothes off." So, um, yeah, I checked it out the other day. And you're right, I think there's a more "adventurous" spirit. And younger people are out there looking and searching for stuff and expressing themselves. C: Yes. That's what I meant. SL: And I think it's a cool thing that people are writing, in whatever fashion, again. But, yeah, Randy is kind of the one who's out there looking for things. And again, I don't like to read reviews and things like that, usually. It only messes you up. So, he first started talking about it, and I think, he must have told Gale, and I overheard the two of them talking about it. And Gale, being the subversive that he is, can't get enough of it. C: [Laughs] See, but the problem is, you've now told me this. SL: I know! C: Which means that I have to print it. You have no idea what you've just done. SL: [Laughs] Oh, no. C: So, let's stop for a second in anticipation of all the "Oh, my God! Gale Har-old!!! Oh my God!" screams.
SL: [Laughs] Yeah. "He reads my typing!" C: Yeah. We all, uh, [laughs] We all appreciate Gale. [Dissolves in girly tittering.] SL: Yeah, I don't know if I should have told you that now, if it's going to make everyone self-conscious. C: Yeah, it's too late for that. SL: Oh, well. I hope I haven't tarnished the whole site, now. It's like, "You've become one of us, and now you've ruined it." [Laughs] But, yeah, and then I think that Peter and I kind of started reading [the recaps and boards], and it just cracks us up. It's just funny that things that we might end up joking about on the set, that we might joke about ourselves, it's just uncanny that it shows up there. You know, like me and Peter calling ourselves "T-Emmett." "Okay, so here's T-Emmett scene #26." [Laughs] C: You two work together so well, by the way. You have such a great connection. SL: That's the joy, you know -- the fortune of the casting. Peter and I just instantly clicked and, you know, became very close friends. And so, they know if they need something in a certain scene to just give it to us, and we'll knock it out of the park. We'll do what we can with it. That's just good fortune. You know, because you can end up with a lousy scene partner and be dooo-ooomed! [laughs] So, yeah, we're very lucky that way. C: So, how did that work? Did the writers initially give you that type of stuff to do, and then realized that you're really good at it, so then they just kept giving it to you? SL: Yeah, but what happened was by the time that we were cast, [Executive Producers] Dan [Lipman] and Ron [Cowen] had about ten episodes already written of the first season. So, they had a lot done without knowing our voices. Maybe it was a little less than that. Maybe it was more like seven or eight. And in most of those first episodes, we were following the template of the British series very closely. Except for me, of course [laughs], because I would have been dead. C: Well, thank God for that! SL: Yeah, thank you Lordy! So, yeah, they didn't really quite have our voices early on. And then as we got into it, they started to realize more and more what a connection Peter and I have. Although, Dan has always said that their initial conception for Ted and Emmett -- and the reason they kept me alive -- was that they always saw us as these type of Restoration comedy characters. Kind of always on the sidelines snidely commenting on things going on around us, and kind of giving you more of an idea of what society was like at the time? So, structurally that's how they saw us, that if you combine the two of us, we're kind of every gay man. [Both laugh.] So, we're there to keep a context on things. And the structure of last season, you know, focused more on the love triangle [among Brian, Justin, and Mike] and the girls were certainly pushed more to the sidelines, and Ted and Emmett were, as well. And that changes this season. It's become somewhat more ensemble-oriented anyway, as we've gotten farther away from the British series and found our own voice. But, yeah, it took a while for them to get a [good feel] for Peter and my timing and chemistry [together], and knowing what they could do with it. And once they saw that they could rely on us, they started giving us more to do. And even this season, you can already see that there's a bit of a shift, a bit of a change, where the show kind of has, in my mind at least, a slightly, very slightly goofier edge to it, because they're writing more for Peter and me in that way. So, as the comic characters -- we're kind of giving the show a little more of a comic edge to it. And even Brian, I think, is a bit lighter with his tone this year.
C: Yes, definitely. SL: Which is fun, because Gale is a wonderful actor. And I think that a lot of people complained that they were only seeing one "color" of him last year, and I know that he has a lot more in him, and he's getting the chance to bring that out. C: In my opinion, it seemed like there was a lot of focus last season on how much of a jerk he could be. SL: Yeah, exactly. C: But then, every once in a while, he'd do something really cool. But he'd been such a jerk before, that you couldn't give him any credit for it, you know, it's like, "Well, that was obviously self-motivated!" [Laughs] SL: Exactly. But hell, I've had relationships like that. And they do kind of keep you addicted more than the others. I mean, the unhealthiest relationship I have ever had, and the most obsessive, was based on that type of dynamic. C: Oh, yeah. SL: You know, that you put up with all this crap for the least little bit of good that comes along, and that little bit of good may not even be so great, but it seems like the best thing in the world because you've gone through such hell to get there, that you put up with all that crap to get to the good stuff. And I think that's probably where people get addicted. C: You're going to laugh at this. And I've already espoused this theory on the boards, but that's actually how they train lab rats in psychological experiments. SL: Is it really? C: Yes. According to one of the few things I remembered from Psychology 101 a hundred billion years ago, the best way to reinforce a certain behavior is through intermittent response. So, if you drop a pellet the first time the rat hits the lever, and then drop it again when he hits in the fifth time, but not again until he hits it the twentieth time? He's just going to keep pushing the lever until he gets the damn pellet. SL: Wow. Well, I was definitely pushing the lever in that relationship. C: Yeah. Bet you didn't think this was going to be educational, did you? SL: No, that's really interesting. Yeah, it was like, two years off and on. C: Two years, really? SL: Yeah, it was awful! C: I think everyone's been there. SL: Yeah. I'm actually kind of in the midst of writing a screenplay about it. As therapy, and hopefully [laughs], future work! It's cheaper than therapy, and will maybe even pay me back someday. But yeah, I think that's where Brian was kind of at last year. So, you know, they fired the intern that was writing his stuff. ["Oh, Jesus." -- Camper] I'm finding him very funny this season. He's gotten some little things in there sometimes that just crack me up.
C: He's also become sort of, I don't know what you'd call it. "User-friendly." I mean, you can kind of deal with Brian now. SL: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, now that he's let down his guard somewhat. And you can see that he actually cares for this kid. Yeah, it was tough to take in last year. In some ways, I kind of miss it, because it was dangerous, in that, you know, his relationship with Justin especially was much more dangerous when you weren't quite sure what [Brian's] motives were. You know? And that was intriguing to me. What I like best about this show, what we worked very hard on last season, was to make sure that these characters were very "gray." Whenever [the cast] found the writing going more "black and white," we would speak up. And we were always happy to find that Dan and Ron actually wanted it to go more in that direction as well. I think we falsely assumed, at times, that because of the younger writers [they hired], that it was Dan and Ron who wanted to be more conservative. And then we're reminded that they want to push closer to the dangerous side. C: So, where's the misconnection? SL: Between? C: You were saying that Dan and Ron wanted it be more "dangerous" and the writers were being more conservative. SL: Well, I think it was more so the writers last year. C: Oh, okay. SL: Yeah, the writers last season weren't quite getting the voice of the show as Dan and Ron wanted them to. So, the episodes were kind of being completely rewritten by Dan and Ron, which pushed us behind schedule. [Laughs] And actually, we're behind again now because the two had no time off over the summer. They literally had two days off between the time they finished working on the last episode and when they started to write this season's episodes. So, I don't know how those two survive, I really don't. They kind of eat and breathe and sleep the show, from month to month to month to month. And it's really kind of remarkable. C: Now, they're not in Toronto, they're in Los Angeles, right? SL: The writing staff is back in Los Angeles. Dan is always up here, and Ron is up here as much as he can be. And actually, we're in a weird situation now, because Dan's work permit expired, so he had to leave the country. [Laughs] Dan got kicked out of Canada! He has to stay away for a little bit and maybe they'll let him back in. C: Kicked out of Canada? SL: Yeah. It's a terrible thing.
C: Oh, you are so going to get fired for telling me that! SL: Oh, he knows it. He's been a baaad boy! C: [Laughs] Yeah, well, it was nice knowing you, Scott. SL: Exactly. I hope everyone enjoys Ted's coma...that he doesn't come out of. C: Let's talk about Ted. You've talked about everybody except your character. SL: Absolutely. [At this point, I had trouble framing my question, which lead to more hysterical laughter on my part, mimicry on Scott's part, and yet another tangent.] SL: [Laughing] Where does "Camper" come from? C: I'm trying to think, what happened? I think it was right after college, when I was like, you know, the most depressed person on the face of the planet, so I'd sarcastically say, "Well, you know me, I'm just a happy little camper!" And it stuck, somehow. SL: Ah. Perfect! C: People are always like, "Oh, do you like to go camping?" And I really don't. SL: I thought it was like, just for our show. "We need someone campy to --" C: No! Aw, man, I didn't even think of that. That would have been good, too. [At this point, Scott said something else funny, and I was already laughing so hard, that you can't even hear it on the tape.] C: Okay, so Ted. SL: Yes. C: So, Ted's going to run...a porno site?! SL: Yes, Ted is going to take control of his life and turn a hobby into profit, finally. C: Well, there are certainly many comic possibilities there. SL: Many comic possibilities. Yeah, Ron had kind of mentioned it to me early last season. Almost half-jokingly, as something he had thought of for Ted. And later on in the season, one of our drivers and I were talking, and he just started talking about one of his friends who's a lawyer, who became an investor and producer in a porn website. And he's now a millionaire! And if you think about it, it's the only stable business on the internet. ["Totally true. Porn is leading the industry in terms of R&D and stuff." -- Wing Chun] C: Probably. Although, eBay's doing pretty well! SL: [Laughs] eBay is doing pretty okay for itself, but who's to say that's not porn in its own way? That's shopper porn! But all the people, the majority of the people running these sites, are all lawyers and accountants, people like that, and they're just getting rich off of selling this stuff, because they're smart businesspeople. And so that intrigued me. And when we got to the end of the season, last year, and we got to sit down with Ron and Dan and talk about our thoughts on storylines and possible plots and whatnot, I brought that idea back up. And I said, "I think we should go that way. I think the character needs to move forward. He can't be this schlub all the time. He has to gain something from the various experiences that he went through the first season, you know? His leather experience, and you know, the things he went through with Blake. He needs to find a way to take control of his own destiny a little bit more. And slaving away at Wertshafter's isn't going to do that. He has to find a way to gain self-esteem by finding a way to believe in himself." Yeah, so it was a wonderful opportunity, on top of which, hilarity ensues. And [laughs], I don't think it's going to happen, but I thought it would be a great way to get guest spots from real porn stars! You know, it would kind of like the new Love Boat for gay porn stars.
C: [Laughs] Yeah, but for me that would just be, like, a whole bunch of other stuff I don't know anything about. SL: Exactly. I don't know, either! I've been surprised, though, I mean -- more and more, I talk to women who are so into the show, and I had no idea that women were into seeing the guy-on-guy action. And someone said to me, once, "Oh, yeah, I've been watching gay porn for years. That's my porn." C: [Laughs] Well, you know, it's like straight men and lesbians. SL: Exactly. C: Most men, I've found, are really surprised that women find gay porn attractive. But it's the same concept. SL: Well, yeah it is, I guess. [Laughs] It's just, you know, women have that soft roundness going on, and men have dangly bits, aesthetically speaking. C: Oh, the many, many things I've learned in the past year. SL: I myself as well. I mean, when I watched the pilot episode for the first time -- I remember, I must have written to a friend of mine, and I said, man, that was kind of hot! That first sex scene between Brian and Justin was hot. And I really did -- I had no idea that gay men had sex face to face. I never kind of put the positioning together, as it were. C: See, I knew that, but that's only because I lived with a gay go-go dancer once. SL: Oh, really? A gay go-go dancer. Excellent. C: Okay, so yeah, with that whole story arc, are we actually going to see Ted's confidence increase? SL: Yeah, you're going to see it increase, you're going to see it challenged, of course. I had, again, a discussion with Dan and Ron a few weeks ago about where things are going with the character, just for my own clarity. And in trying to make sure I'm not playing something in one episode that's erased in the . C: Which happens. SL: Which happens, sometimes. C: I'm just saying. SL: Well, you know, I'm just reading. C: [Laughs] Yes, I know. SL: I mean, your recaps. C: Oh, God! I thought you meant the scripts. SL: [Laughs] You know, they said to me, the interesting thing with Ted is, that he's the character that's constantly in search of something. You know, the other characters, even Michael in his own way, are a lot more grounded than Ted is. Ted is constantly in search of something better. And given that that's kind of his thing -- his function -- in order to keep the character vibrant, you have to constantly foil his attempts. He can never quite get what he's looking for, or else you've got nothing. So, that's the difficulty, and that's why, from week to week, when I pick up the script, and it's like, oh, here's one more humiliating thing for Ted to go though, but it comes out of that thing where he can never quite get what he's looking for.
C: But, you know, I think that's probably why a lot of people identify with him. SL: Yeah, exactly. But wait! There's more! Stay tuned for Part II!