Harold
Finley
Out gay actor Harold Finley talks
to David G Taylor about his new self-penned one-man play, Casualty and celebrity
friends
Among the ten characters in your new play, one of them is HIV positive.
Yes, the HIV character is the most comical. He’s extremely witty, bitchy,
sharp, vulnerable and the most complex character. He’s not an easy ride,
but he is a joy to perform. I love him because he is not obvious. I didn’t
want to create an HIV character who was a saint or a victim; he definitely
doesn’t see himself in those terms. Though he has endured incredible
hardship he remains a complex three dimensional person.
Has HIV touched your personal life?
When I was discovering my sexuality, “the gay cancer”, as it was
then known, was just beginning to be spoken of in the gay press. Everyone
thought it was caused by poppers.
I’ve lost friends I have known since childhood and people I trained
with at Performing Arts School. I have two close friends who have been living
with HIV since the beginning and together we have been through the medical
and political ups and downs they’ve had to face. This disease affects
all of us. It is our disease.
You’re notorious for playing the transvestite stripper Delight
O’Toole in TV’s Casualty. How did people react after that?
I loved playing Delight and I loved researching her. She was wonderful, and
I didn’t mind too much shaving my entire body for the role. I attracted
many trannie admirers doing that role - some were on set.
And how did family and friends react to your performance?
My family and friends are used to the way I immerse myself in roles, so they
weren’t too fazed. I think my sisters were delighted to see me back
in a dress; they hadn’t seen me in a frock since I was a little boy
who they used to love to dress in girls’ clothes.
Has being an out gay man harmed your career?
I’m sure it has, but whatever limitation I have encountered it has simply
made me more creative in what I do, how I do it and with whom. It can be frustrating,
but I’m fortunate that I have been allowed to create my own work as
well.
You’ve worked with many stars. Who’s cool, and who’s pissed
you off?
I knew Sandra Bullock when she was living in her parents’ apartment.
We studied together and she’s a cool chick. I studied with Oscar winner
Philip Seymour Hoffman and he is amazing. I worked with Ian McKellen and he
is such a charming man: generous with his time and a real example of how to
behave in this business. Those who pissed me off include Rob Morrow, who I
did Birdy with in the West End.
Your own play has just finished it’s run. Tell us a bit more about it.
Rhymes is a show that covers a three year period in the interconnected lives
of ten characters, male and female, ranging in age from 17 to 106. It’s
about how we’re all connected, and how urban culture affects us all,
even in the sticks. In a sense it’s my love letter to New York and London,
but one that packs a punch, leaves a bruise or two, and will surprise and
make you laugh.
Where did the inspiration for the characters come from?
From my imagination, my life, my loves and my fuck-ups. The great thing about
being an artist is that no matter what you go through you can always put it
in your work: every mistake, triumph and unsettled score.
How much of a challenge is it to play all ten characters yourself?
It’s the most emotionally and technically demanding show I’ve
ever done. I perform, dance - I even wrote an original hip-hop score. Whoever
wrote this shit deserves a kick in the bollocks!
So what’s next?
My next project is a full-length seven-character play I am co-writing with
David Turpin called Faithless Bitches. I am off to Ireland to work with David
on the next version. I am incredibly excited about this piece because so far
it is shaping up to be everything I hoped it would or could be.
