Post by kevfish on Aug 8, 2010 20:05:48 GMT -5
Soapie Neighbours to get first openly gay male character
August 07, 2010 12:00AM
AFTER 25 years on our screens, Neighbours will get its first gay male character.
Ramsay St newcomer James Mason, 20, will reveal he is gay in an upcoming episode.
Neighbours executive producer Susan Bower said the coming-out storyline was a direct result of requests from young viewers in Neighbours' online forums.
Ms Bower said though lesbian romances had featured on Home and Away and Neighbours, love scenes between men are still fairly taboo on Australian dramas.
She said the show copped flak for its teen pregnancy and surrogacy storylines, so teen homosexuality was sure to come under fire, too.
"I do believe homophobia is still alive and well, and I have no doubt that we will get complaints about it," she said.
"Neighbours is an icon, like Vegemite. People get very possessive about it.
Source : Heraldsun
Chris Pappas, played by James Mason, made his first on-screen appearance on 25 February 2010. The character of Chris is Mason's first major professional television role. Chris is a student at Erinsborough High who befriends Andrew Robinson, Summer Hoyland and Harry Ramsay.
In August 2010, it was announced that Chris would reveal that he is gay to his girlfriend, Summer (Jordy Lucas) & his friends. TV Week described Chris as being "deeply conflicted" over his decision to tell her about his sexuality. Mason knew about his character's storyline for a while and said that there had been a few hints about Chris' sexuality along the way. Mason also said that he was "really excited to get an opportunity like this". He felt that the storyline had been handled in a realistic manner and said that it shows that coming out to someone is a difficult thing to do. He added "It's hard for Chris because he has a girlfriend who he's been with for some time. To try and tell someone in this situation would be really difficult". Summer initially takes the news well and plays it down, but Natasha Williams (Valentina Novakovic) goes out of her way to find out which student is gay. Mason said that she does not realise that "what she sees as a game is someone else's life". Chris is Neighbours' second gay character, following the introduction of Lana Crawford (Bridget Neval) in 2004.
Story of Chris : Chris is part of a group of male students who ask Andrew Robinson (Jordan Smith) how to get a girl's attention. He attends a meeting at the gym to buy Andrew's guide to girls and he is later forced to tell Summer Hoyland (Jordy Lucas) about the guide. Summer later plays a recording of Andrew saying the guide is rubbish to the students and they demand a refund from Andrew. Chris comes to Harold's Store and asks Andrew and Harry Ramsay (Will Moore) about getting his money back, but they, along with Summer, are forced to run from him. Chris later becomes friends with Andrew, Harry and Summer and he is seen hanging out with them. Summer and Chris work together Summer encourages Chris to go up for captain of the basketball team, Harry seconds the nomination and Chris becomes captain. Summer congratulates him and they share a kiss. Chris and Summer then start dating. When Natasha Williams (Valentina Novakovic) teases them about their relationship, Chris books a room at Lassiters. Summer thinks that he wants to sleep with her and she almost leaves, but Chris convinces her to stay and they end up watching dvds. When Andrew finds out that Chris is working as a lifeguard at the local swimming pool, he comes up with an idea to host a pool party there. Chris is initially reluctant to go along with the plan, but Andrew convinces him that everything will be okay. The party gets out of hand and Chris's boss asks him to pay for the damages. Andrew tells him that he will help cover the cost and Chris tells him that he has been fired. Andrew gets Chris a job at Lassiters, but Chris later tells him that he was fired by Diana Marshall (Jane Badler). While they are at the gym, Andrew convinces Chris to ask the manager for a job and he is successful. Andrew convinces Chris to skip school and meet up with some university students. They are caught by Susan Kennedy (Jackie Woodburne) who returns them to school. Summer later tells Chris to stop listening to Andrew.
Pictures of Chris Pappas, played by James Mason
I hope that someone will put Chris's story on YouTube or other soon.
David
August 07, 2010 12:00AM
AFTER 25 years on our screens, Neighbours will get its first gay male character.
Ramsay St newcomer James Mason, 20, will reveal he is gay in an upcoming episode.
Neighbours executive producer Susan Bower said the coming-out storyline was a direct result of requests from young viewers in Neighbours' online forums.
Ms Bower said though lesbian romances had featured on Home and Away and Neighbours, love scenes between men are still fairly taboo on Australian dramas.
She said the show copped flak for its teen pregnancy and surrogacy storylines, so teen homosexuality was sure to come under fire, too.
"I do believe homophobia is still alive and well, and I have no doubt that we will get complaints about it," she said.
"Neighbours is an icon, like Vegemite. People get very possessive about it.
Source : Heraldsun
Chris Pappas, played by James Mason, made his first on-screen appearance on 25 February 2010. The character of Chris is Mason's first major professional television role. Chris is a student at Erinsborough High who befriends Andrew Robinson, Summer Hoyland and Harry Ramsay.
In August 2010, it was announced that Chris would reveal that he is gay to his girlfriend, Summer (Jordy Lucas) & his friends. TV Week described Chris as being "deeply conflicted" over his decision to tell her about his sexuality. Mason knew about his character's storyline for a while and said that there had been a few hints about Chris' sexuality along the way. Mason also said that he was "really excited to get an opportunity like this". He felt that the storyline had been handled in a realistic manner and said that it shows that coming out to someone is a difficult thing to do. He added "It's hard for Chris because he has a girlfriend who he's been with for some time. To try and tell someone in this situation would be really difficult". Summer initially takes the news well and plays it down, but Natasha Williams (Valentina Novakovic) goes out of her way to find out which student is gay. Mason said that she does not realise that "what she sees as a game is someone else's life". Chris is Neighbours' second gay character, following the introduction of Lana Crawford (Bridget Neval) in 2004.
Story of Chris : Chris is part of a group of male students who ask Andrew Robinson (Jordan Smith) how to get a girl's attention. He attends a meeting at the gym to buy Andrew's guide to girls and he is later forced to tell Summer Hoyland (Jordy Lucas) about the guide. Summer later plays a recording of Andrew saying the guide is rubbish to the students and they demand a refund from Andrew. Chris comes to Harold's Store and asks Andrew and Harry Ramsay (Will Moore) about getting his money back, but they, along with Summer, are forced to run from him. Chris later becomes friends with Andrew, Harry and Summer and he is seen hanging out with them. Summer and Chris work together Summer encourages Chris to go up for captain of the basketball team, Harry seconds the nomination and Chris becomes captain. Summer congratulates him and they share a kiss. Chris and Summer then start dating. When Natasha Williams (Valentina Novakovic) teases them about their relationship, Chris books a room at Lassiters. Summer thinks that he wants to sleep with her and she almost leaves, but Chris convinces her to stay and they end up watching dvds. When Andrew finds out that Chris is working as a lifeguard at the local swimming pool, he comes up with an idea to host a pool party there. Chris is initially reluctant to go along with the plan, but Andrew convinces him that everything will be okay. The party gets out of hand and Chris's boss asks him to pay for the damages. Andrew tells him that he will help cover the cost and Chris tells him that he has been fired. Andrew gets Chris a job at Lassiters, but Chris later tells him that he was fired by Diana Marshall (Jane Badler). While they are at the gym, Andrew convinces Chris to ask the manager for a job and he is successful. Andrew convinces Chris to skip school and meet up with some university students. They are caught by Susan Kennedy (Jackie Woodburne) who returns them to school. Summer later tells Chris to stop listening to Andrew.
Pictures of Chris Pappas, played by James Mason
I hope that someone will put Chris's story on YouTube or other soon.
David