Gale Harold Branches Out in New Roles

To play a compelling and dangerous doctor on Friday's "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," executive producer Neal Baer chose "one of the most charismatic actors on television."

Charismatic, and relatively unknown. But Gale Harold is an actor on the brink of a major career, according to his admirers, Baer among them.

"We think he pops," the producer said. "You want to know who he is and what he's about."

Jennifer Elster, who cast Harold opposite her in "Particles of Truth," her film debuting Thursday at New York's Tribeca Film Festival, said she auditioned hundreds of actors for the part of a troubled writer.

"There are people who are lead role material and then there are people who aren't, who can't carry a film. I felt Gale could carry this film," said Elster. "I absolutely, 100 percent, feel that Gale is a major star."

Harold's most visible role so far has been that of a high-living ad executive on Showtime's "Queer as Folk," a bawdy series about a group of gay and lesbian friends that's now in its third season.

His appearance as a cloning-fixated physician on "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (10 p.m. EDT Friday, NBC) is Harold's first on a network series. "Rhinoceros Eyes," a film in which he plays a singing and dancing detective, is poised for festival submission.

If Harold, 32, is at a pivotal moment in his career, he seems to be taking it in stride -- and one project at a time. The actor is eager to talk about work, not his potential as The Next Big Thing.

"Last year was a great year. I did two very different movies that were very demanding," he said of "Particles of Truth" and "Rhinoceros Eyes."

He's intense and intelligent in conversation -- the same qualities he brings to his acting -- but clearly more comfortable dissecting a role than discussing his personal life.

Harold will only sketch the outline: A Georgia native, he briefly attended American University in Washington on a soccer scholarship but left because his plan to study photography and the school's emphasis on politics didn't mesh.

Moving west in 1989, he enrolled at the San Francisco Art Institute and supported himself with odd jobs. "I wasn't really passionate about anything, to be honest. I'd kind of hit the wall."

He looked into acting at the suggestion of a friend, Susan Landau Finch, who worked for Francis Ford Coppola's American Zoetrope company, and headed to Los Angeles in 1997.

"I slowly began to consider another way of living," Harold said. He immersed himself in acting studies, appeared in plays in Los Angeles and then in independent films including 2002's "Wake," produced by Landau Finch.

His reluctance to divulge more about himself may be traced to the intense fans -- and foes -- of "Queer as Folk" and the media attention the show has received.

Elster got a glimpse of Harold's appeal through advance festival ticket sales for "Particles of Truth."

"Gale's fans buy up all the tickets before anyone in the industry or festival-goers get to buy them," she said. "He's really good-looking, a very good actor, sexual, so I understand that people would respond to him. But I had no idea."

There's a flip side to his "Queer as Folk" celebrity. The show, which focuses on its characters' bedroom romps and romances, isn't universally respected by gay viewers.

"I have been sneered at, ridiculed, cold-shouldered," he said. "I think they see me as the visual representation of a show they feel gets it wrong and is not representative of their lives and unbelievable."

He has his own concerns. Brian is "snarky, cruel and lascivious" while being presented as a romantic hero, and "those two dynamics aren't always clearly reconciled," Harold said.

He's adamant about another aspect of the drama: He rejects the idea that he's brave to take on a part some actors turned down because of the character's homosexuality.

"I think the whole bravery thing is a sound bite .... The only people I think are brave in relationship to the stories we're telling are the people they're based on, and the 'out' actors who work on our show."

"There's still a lot of homophobia in the world at large and in every industry, the entertainment industry included," he said, which poses a risk for openly gay actors.

"What do I have to be worried about? I'm a straight white male, working on a show playing a gay man. I don't really think I'm going to be typecast."

"Queer as Folk" is scheduled to return for at least one more season, and Harold said he'll be back as well. After that, he's unsure -- but not about his chosen craft.

"I'll do films, work in the theater. I just want to act."