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The Passion of Keir Gilchrist

After an outpouring of positive viewer response, Keir Gilchrist feels greater pressure in portraying an openly gay teen on The United States of Tara. But he’d still rather go camping than read Valley of the Dolls.


Keir Gilchrist THE UNITED STATES OF TARA 01 X390 (SHOWTIME) | ADVOCATE.COM

Toni Collette may have earned an Emmy and a Golden Globe for playing a mom with dissociative identity disorder on Showtime’s United States of Tara, but Keir Gilchrist easily won our hearts as Tara Gregson’s openly gay teenage son, Marshall. After his complicated relationship with a Christian classmate last season, Marshall will tangle with three major gay characters when Tara returns for a second season on March 22. Gilchrist, a 17-year-old Canadian whom Collette called “a brilliant young actor” when she spoke to The Advocate last year, gives us an exclusive glimpse into Tara’s new “fruit bowl.”

The Advocate: One of actors playing a high school student on 90210 is actually 31, so it’s refreshing to learn that you’re age-appropriate for your role in United States of Tara.
Keir Gilchrist: Yeah, it’s true. I find whenever I work on a show that most of the people who are supposed to be your friends are in their 20s.

So what’s in store for your character in season 2?
Marshall had a big struggle with his mom in season 1, but he made peace with her at the end of the season, so that’s not as big of an issue in the second season. Since Marshall’s not as concerned with his home life, he’s more focused on his life at school. He’s starting to realize that he has to fit into a social group, but he’s not sure what that’s going to be — whether it’s going to be the gay group or something else. Marshall starts hanging out at the “fruit bowl” or the “gable” — the gay table — with the openly gay kids at school. He really hates it because it freaks him out to see gay people who are just so in-your-face about it, so to sort of retaliate he starts going out with a girl. He thinks he could maybe be bisexual.

Doesn’t Marshall also meet a cute boy at the gay table?

Yeah, Lionel, played by Michael Willett. Lionel talks about being gay all the time, but Marshall doesn’t want to be super flamboyant or in-your-face. Basically, Marshall doesn’t want being gay to be his whole personality; he just wants it to be a part of his personality. Being gay is part of Lionel’s everyday life, but Marshall just wants it to be the romantic part. When Marshall decides he wants to get more in touch with his gay side, Lionel convinces Marshall to go cruising in a park.

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Reader Comments
  • Name: KGFan
    Date posted: 6/11/2011 6:02:23 PM
    Hometown: PA

    Comment:

    Keir has done great work as Marshall, great to see his character starting to break out on his own in season 3. www.keirgilchrist.wordpress.com

  • Name: G.
    Date posted: 11/15/2010 1:01:33 PM
    Hometown: Europee

    Comment:

    I'm pretty much the real life version of Marshall, minus the confidence when it comes to expressing my individuality, and I'm pretty much the same age as the character, so it's really good to be able to see myself on TV, and to feel, even though he isn't a real person, that I'm not the only one. Sure, I may do things that others find strange and alienating, but on United States of Tara, there's a person *just* like me. Thank you, Keir, for bringing so much to the show and helping me (and lots of other closet cases) accept and learn to love their individuality.

  • Name: Taylor
    Date posted: 4/25/2010 5:45:28 PM
    Hometown: Boston

    Comment:

    There's a reason that many shows portray gay guys dating girls. Because often when a gay guy is experimenting with his sexuality and trying to figure out exactly what he is, of course he does the one thing that's most expected of him. He dates girls. Many gay men have sex with women before they really figure out they're gay. A good number of gay men have figured out their sexuality after being married and having children. So yes, gay men date gay men, but a boy marshalls age probably wont be absolutely secure in his sexuality especially if he meets people who are supposed to be like him but are so drastically different from him. This is a common request from parents when they're kids come out, that they try being with a woman before they make that decision, Marshall just did that on his own. Also, if you ask me, that girl got what she was looking for.

  • Name: Hannah
    Date posted: 3/23/2010 3:51:04 PM
    Hometown: Raleigh

    Comment:

    Yes, gay guys date guys. But its not a lame storyline for a YOUNG teenage gay male to have. It happens frequently that males who are grappling with their sexuality (and while its pretty much a non-issue with his family, its still a bit of an issue with Marshall himself) at least try to date girls. Either just to make sure or to completely lie to themselves. But it DOES happen and I think its important for the gay teenage viewers at home (male or female, because gay females also sometimes try dating the opposite sex) to realize that what they are going through is normal, that it is ok to test the waters of sexuality and in the end, typically, gay is gay. It's important for all people - and not just teenagers - to have characters to relate to.

  • Name: Eric
    Date posted: 3/23/2010 12:03:54 AM
    Hometown: Fargo

    Comment:

    What was refreshing about Marshall was that he was 14 (?), out, comfortable, and not the subject of all the gay narrative cliches. Having him date a girl? Lame.

  • Name: Jeff Austin
    Date posted: 3/22/2010 9:47:06 PM
    Hometown: Austin, Texas

    Comment:

    I was happy to see Keir Gilchrist get interviewed about his character in United States of Tara. He brings so much to "Marshall," and it's to his credit and the writers of Tara that he is such a well-developed character. As for the previous comment that gay people only date gay people, that's not true at all. For many people it takes years to figure out and/or accept their sexuality. Most gay men started out dating girls. And sadly, hHistory is filled with gay men in loveless marriages to women. I trust that the brilliant Diablo Cody will find a great way to show Marshall dating a girl, and figure his way through that point in his life.

  • Name: Mark
    Date posted: 3/22/2010 9:22:24 PM
    Hometown: Wappingers Falls

    Comment:

    I find it bizarre that whenever a gay character finally appears on television, the writers have him dating a girl. News flash for writers, gay guys date guys!



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