|
 Once known for his role in Baywatch, Jaason Simmons is now making waves as one of the few openly-gay actors in Hollywood. He spoke with Peter Hackney.
When he first started acting, Jason Simmons wanted to stand out a little. So he added an extra ‘a’ to his name and became Jaason Simmons. Maybe it helped, because he soon found himself on Australian sun-and-surf soap opera Paradise Beach, which in 1993 became the first Aussie soap to screen on prime time US TV.
The show didn’t last long but it was a springboard to Baywatch, then the most popular TV show on the planet (and it’s still the  most popular program in history, according to The Guinness Book of Records). From 1994 to 1997, Simmons played Aussie lifeguard Logan Fowler alongside Pamela Anderson and David Hasselhoff as 1.1 billion viewers in over 100 countries looked on.
Since then, things have been relatively quiet for the Tasmanian-born actor. He’s had a few well-received parts in movies, including the Greg Araki feature Nowhere with Heather Graham and Christina Applegate, and he’s worked on the stage in Britain and Australia. But his once huge profile all but disappeared.
Until this year, that is. Because now he has another reason to stand out: in an interview with New Idea magazine in March, he came out as gay.
Highlighting the tiny number of out, gay actors, Simmons’ revelation generated worldwide publicity. His name has renewed currency in the entertainment world.
“It’s like a dichotomy,” says Simmons. “On one hand, people think being openly gay hurts your career. Why else are there so few openly-gay actors? But on the other hand it makes you stand out … The reaction has been so positive, so beautiful, that I’m really glad it’s out in the open.”
Privately though, 38-year-old Simmons has been out “forever”. Friends and family have known from his late teens onwards. Even the Baywatch cast and crew were aware that the show’s ‘straight’ Aussie stud really pitched for the other team. No-one had any issues and ‘The Hoff’, especially, was a huge supporter.
“He was really great about it,” Simmons recalls. “He was a huge supporter of mine back in the day, and we still keep in touch.”
So what prompted Simmons to reveal his sexuality to the wider public? Cynics might say that he came out as a career move – a way of getting back in the public eye. But speaking from his LA home, lying on his bed at midnight with his partner beside him, he says: “It wasn’t anything planned. I was just living my life and one day a photographer friend called up and said, ‘Hey, I hear you have a boyfriend’, and I was like, ‘Well, actually he’s my fiancé’. And he suggested we put the story out there and do some pics, and that’s how the New Idea thing came about.
“When I was single, it wasn’t a story ... having a long-term partner meant it became a story.”
Simmons and the partner in question, Irish actor John O’Callaghan, have been together over a year now, and the couple announced in New Idea their plans to get married in Canada in 2009.
But since that interview things have changed.
On May 15, the Supreme Court of California overturned that state’s ban on same-sex marriage, meaning the couple can now get married in their home state: “It looks like we don’t have to go to Canada now,” says Simmons.
Australia was thrown in the ring as a possible location too, at one stage, but since no Australian jurisdiction accepts gay marriage, or even civil unions, it was never a viable option.
“Part of me would love to get married in Australia. Obviously I’m Australian, and it would be great for family and friends there … but it’s just not possible with the situation back home,” he says in his mid-Pacific accent, a cross between ocker Aussie and US West Coast tones.
For “home” Australia still is to Simmons, but: “In my industry, LA is the centre of the universe, so this is the best place for me to be.”
Australia’s stance on gay relationships and families rankles too: “I’m really disappointed in Australia over that. I love Australia, I’ll always be Australian, but I don’t want to live in a place where I’m considered a second-class citizen, where my relationship and family aren’t recognised.”
Still, he has constant contact with his homeland: he has property in Tasmania; he comes back once or twice a year; and he’s always playing host to Aussie family and friends. As we speak, his sister – from Newtown in Sydney’s inner-west – is sleeping off jetlag after a fourteen-hour flight to LA.
He’s also heavily involved in campaigns to save Tasmania’s old-growth forests from logging, hooking up with Australian Greens leader Bob Brown to raise publicity for the cause.
Simmons’ Buddhist faith and his son, Odin (who partner John adopted from Uganda in 2006), rounds out his priorities today, and Baywatch seems a long time ago, he says.
“I had good times on Baywatch, and it brought a lot of opportunities to me, but that was so long ago ... I have a family now, which I couldn’t have imagined back then.
“Today my life is much more fulfilling and centred. It revolves around more than acting.”
Not that he’s has given up acting. Indeed, he has a role in the upcoming feature Inconceivable, with luminaries like Jennifer Tilly, Andie MacDowell and Kerry Fox for company.
“Acting is still very much a part of me,” he confirms. “It always will be. It’s just that these days things are balanced between work, life and family.”
And slipping back into a full-on Aussie accent, he laughs, “I’m in a really great place right now. 2008 is great, mate.”
 |
Show/Hide comments
Show/Hide comment form
