QAF's Robert Gant
by Ryan Wylie
365Gay.com TV

This is the year of the relationship on Queer As Folk and while the Brian, Justin, Ethan triangle has yet to be sorted out, the queer couple ballast on the show in Season Two was between Michael and Ben.

Hunky Bhuddist Ben Bruckner is more than just eye candy for smitten comic store owner Michael. A professor of gay studies at Carnegie Mellon University, Ben is smart, sexy, funny and warm. He's the perfect mate.  His HIV-positive status last season provided for some drama, and led actor Robert Gant who plays Ben to become a poz role model.

Gant, who came out shortly after Season Two began is outspoken and a constant presence at gay rights and HIV/AIDS events.

When he outed himself last year Gant had high praise for QAF producers Ron Cowen and Dan Lipman.

"Given the fact that they’ve been around for a while in Hollywood and have seen a lot of changes, I think they get what it’s like to be marginalized as gay writers or gay producers," Gant told the Advocate. " And that still happens, and it’s a frustrating thing. Among the myriad of fears [I had] was certainly that—being marginalized."

He was born Robert Gonzalez and began acting in television commercials at the age of ten. At eleven, he found himself doing a soft-shoe routine with Bob Hope as part of Hope’s USO tour. 

Following high school, Robert headed to the University of Pennsylvania and then on to Georgetown Law School. While studying law, he never gave up on his true passion, acting, and continued to perform in numerous theatrical productions. 

He moved to Los Angeles to work in the world’s largest law firm and in a twist of fate, four months after his relocation, the Los Angeles office was closed. Taking that as an omen, he made the decision to focus all of his time on his acting.  

He changed his name to Gant, got himself an agent and has been working ever since.

Despite having a knockdead body, Robert says he felt uncomfortable in his first QAF nude scene. 

"For whatever my upbringing was, I think I felt odd around nudity," he says. "But the universe gave me this show, and, very quickly, that changed."

And as for appearing naked with Hal Sparks: "I think Hal has a hot little body. Yeah, I really do. Hal's quite the athlete. He's majorly into martial arts. The only thing I've had some guys say is that they wish he would shave the hair in the middle of his chest. But Hal feels that's a very Michael thing, as a character choice."

A major plotline this season will involve Ben's smooth muscled body and his use of steroids. "You'll see a very un-Zen Ben, especially around Episode Six or Seven. I think this whole season's very real, and the show's found its legs. I hope those idiot naysayers — who maybe watched one drugs 'n disco episode early on, and decided it's not for them — will come back and take a look. These characters are growing up."

The series is approaching the halfway point on Showtime in the US, and Season Three premieres this week in Canada on Showcase.

©365Gay.com Ltd® 2003

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