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Handsome and Hunky Scott Evans Makes Waves as Officer Fish on One Life To Live—and Gives Our Community One of Its Shining Moments for 2009
My life has changed drastically in 2009,” reveals Scott Evans. At this time last year, between a few guest spots on various TV programs, the hunky actor had only appeared on One Life To Live a handful of times as Officer Oliver Fish. But in January, everything changed, as Scott began to earn what most actors might consider their holy grail: a regular paycheck. “It was supposed to be a small, five-episode part, and then the beginning of this year it became a regular job,” he happily reports. But, as Scott is aware, it’s much more than a regular gig.
The increasing visibility of Fish (as the character’s fictional friends tenderly call him) hasn’t only padded the wallet of the blond, Massachusetts-born actor but has stimulated the wider GLBT community as well. Unbeknownst to Scott at the beginning of the year, Officer Fish was to be the catalyst for an important story line in the daytime drama—a story line that would bring the show’s gay subplots to a boil. In early summer, and after some speculation, the fictional boy behind the badge came out of the closet—a Fish out of water, so to speak.
As is typical for soap studs, Scott, a product of New York University’s theater program, was unaware of his character’s twist until the last minute. “All of a sudden, my character’s coming out of the closet,” he says, reliving the surprise. “One of the hardest things about playing a character on a soap opera is not knowing where it’s going to go. It’s something I never expected to get to do.”
Fans of the long-running show might have expected it, though. By no means is Scott’s Fish the first friend of Dorothy to wave a symbolic rainbow flag in Llanview (OLTL’s fictional setting). In 1992 and ’93, Ryan Phillippe launched his acting career by portraying daytime’s first gay teenager: Billy Douglas. The show set the pace then, and though coming-out stories have been done and done again in the nearly two decades since, Fish’s modern, adult variation on the theme has returned delight to the afternoon, garnering both attention and acclaim.
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To comprehend the significance of a closet door squeaking open on any soap, one must understand Scott’s own coming-out story.
Brother of movie star Chris Evans (Fantastic Four’s flaming hetero), the 26-year-old Scott experienced what can sadly be considered a rarity: coming out to an instantly supportive family. The actor describes his real-life mother—who also portrays Fish’s mother on the show—as a “liberal, awesome, crazy” woman, a woman who responded to her son’s coming out with, “‘Oh, yeah. I knew when I gave birth to you.’” Unfortunately, the Fish family was poised to react in a starkly different way to the experience, as thoughtfully penned by OLTL head writer Ron Carlivati and team. The Evanses, mother and son, would themselves depict the all-too-common story of intolerance and disapproval unleashed in the aftermath of a son’s coming-out moment. Filmed on set this past summer, Officer Fish’s mom immediately cut ties with him after learning of his sexuality—a stretch even for the talent of Lisa Evans. “It was heartbreaking for her. Once the scene ended, she came to me crying and would hug me, saying, ‘I love you,’” remembers Scott.
Highlighting the story’s impact, gay and straight viewers alike have responded in droves by writing to the daytime star. “I’ve gotten letters from people saying that my story line has helped them, that they are in the closet and don’t know what to do. It’s extremely sad,” he laments. “The writers have been doing such a fantastic job with making it so real that a lot of people can relate to it.”
For more with Scott Evans, be sure to pick up the December 2009/ January 2010 issue of Instinct Magazine!
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