Hello, Goodbye

You said you thought you’d play Marcel. Does that
mean you saw yourself in the Marcel role in your own relationship? When I wrote it, yes -- I was the one who had
trouble letting go. But I’ve learned and grown
since then, and I’ve been in relationships where
I’ve been on the other side too -- where I wanted to
leave. But I think I’ve handled it better than
Kyle does.

April, Kyle’s sister, isn’t portrayed very
sympathetically. Let’s face it, she’s
basically a bitch. Were you worried about coming
off as transphobic? It is a controversial role, but she’s not
meant to represent all transsexuals. She’s
just…a little messed up. Again, very hard to cast
because you don’t want a drag queen or someone who
just looks like a man in a dress. I’ve known
Rob Harmon for years. He’s not really an actor,
but I had seen him in drag and thought he might be good for
it. I think he surprised us with how convincing he
was. It’s a fun, kind of nasty role. He just
won Best Actor for the role in a film festival in Tenerife.

Was it April’s interference that killed Kyle and
Marcel’s relationship? I think she’s the catalyst, but
it’s really the two guys not being able to
handle their emotions. Marcel is too possessive and he
can’t handle Kyle being such a free spirit. And
I think Kyle eventually realizes he’s signed up
for a lot more than he planned to.

Marcel has to marry a woman to stay in the United
States. Was the issue of same-sex marriage on your
mind when you were making the film? It wasn’t such a big topic when I wrote
it, but of course it’s great that it’s
getting so much attention now. And it means I can talk about
it during interviews. But I really wanted to address
immigration -- it’s totally screwed up that we
gays don’t have equal rights as far as
immigration. I know so many people who have had to go
through this, marrying someone, to stay in the U.S. --
and they have to face the kind of interrogations
Marcel and Sarah do in the picture.

What marriage rights do gays have in Sweden? About 10 years ago, I think, they started
partnership registration. It gives you all the same
legal rights, but it’s just not called marriage. I
kind of wish that was how they went after it here --
let’s just get the rights first. Because in
Sweden now, it’s been around long enough that
everyone calls it marriage. But a lot of gay people I know
here get angry when I express this opinion.
“No, it has to be the same thing!” I see
their point, but it’s not the easiest way to go about
it.