Issue Number 1015 | The Naked Truth: Chad Darnell | Advocate.com The Naked Truth: Chad Darnell  | MIND, BODY & SPIRIT | Advocate.com

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The Naked Truth: Chad Darnell
Chad Darnell strips down for our feature on the beauty and blemish of the human body.
Outtakes from The Advocate  September 23, 2008
The Naked Truth: Chad Darnell

Chad Darnell, 35
Atlanta
Likes: hands
Dislikes: stomach

Attention, gay magazines: Chad Darnell is putting you on notice. “I think we all feel like we’re measuring ourselves against some sort of standard that’s completely unobtainable,” he says. “When we flip through magazines, we see these pictures of guys who are completely juiced up with ripped bodies and huge muscles. Whether it’s an ad for a car dealership or a protease inhibitor drug, it’s always the same shirtless hot guy!” Darnell says he used to hope that he’d have that “perfect” body, but he now dismisses that ideal as unrealistic. “No matter how many push-ups or crunches I do, that’s just not my body type,” he says. “I don’t care what personal trainers say.”

Formerly a casting director, the 35-year-old bristles at a standard of beauty he calls “airbrushed” and “Photoshopped.” “I always hated when I had to cast a show with attractive people,” says Darnell, who cast Alias for five years. “Whenever Sydney Bristow went to a sex club, there was not a runt in the bunch for fear that the camera would land on him.” He says he prefers healthy alternatives to looking good; he quit drinking and smoking this past year, and is currently training for his fifth AIDS marathon. So is he content with his current exercise regimen and lean body shape? “As happy as I am with my body, I’m not going to be running around shirtless,” he confesses. “I’m happy with my body, but it’s not perfect.”

The Naked Truth photography by Eric Schwabel: Chad Darnell 2 | Advocate.com

Page: 1 | 2 | 3
Profiles by Neal Broverman, Kyle Buchanan, Japhy Grant

Reader Comments

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  • Name: Laurent
    Date posted: 2008-12-02 2:22 AM
    Hometown: East Bay, CA

    Comment:

    The 35-year-old bristles at a standard of beauty he calls “airbrushed” and “Photoshopped.” is this irony? wow. legs, meet torso. bye bye genitals!


  • Name: ANTON OLOFSSON RAEDER
    Date posted: 2008-12-01 5:06 AM
    Hometown: STHLM

    Comment:

    NOT COOL!!!! I´LL DO YOUR NEXT GRAPHIC FOR FREEE! AND THAT´S € 0,00... IF YOU LIKE EVERYBODY TO BE HEALTHY YOU SHOULD PROBABLY CONSIDER TELLING EVERYBODY THAT SHITTING IS ESSENTIAL. YOU CAN´T SHIT CUZ YOU HAVE NO ASSHOLE. THIS IS JUST PLAIN STUPID; Chad Darnell, 35 Atlanta Likes: hands Dislikes: stomach. DO SOMETHING GOOD FFS. IT´S EASY. JUST THINK: PRETTY, NICE, GOOD, NEEDS TO SHIT, NEEDS TO EAT, OR JUST DON´T DO IT!


  • Name: BASURA
    Date posted: 2008-11-21 9:35 PM
    Hometown: Mexico

    Comment:

    BYE BYE, GRAPHIC DESIGNER! YOUR PHOTOSHOP KICKED YOUR "UNI-BUTT"...


  • Name: scarabin
    Date posted: 2008-10-28 7:13 PM
    Hometown: hollywood

    Comment:

    he could at least wash his damn feet


  • Name: Jon
    Date posted: 2008-10-22 9:40 AM
    Hometown: Doe

    Comment:

    i want to be a Unic to!


  • Name: Michael Demmons
    Date posted: 2008-10-21 6:28 PM
    Hometown: Atlanta

    Comment:

    Ahmmmm, Chad is a friend of mine. I assure you, he has genitals.


  • Name: Paul
    Date posted: 2008-10-17 2:51 PM
    Hometown: Washington, DC

    Comment:

    1) He says he's for body acceptance, but won't go shirtless because he's not perfect. I guess in his shallow world only "perfect" men have chests that can see sunshine. 2) I have to wonder what the men in his porn look like - are they young and hot, do you think??? 3) Why'm I using the word "he" to refer to a sexless unibutted penectomy case? "He" looks like a conehead.


  • Name: Mathieu
    Date posted: 2008-10-14 11:38 PM
    Hometown: Byron

    Comment:

    As a student in one of the top commercial photo schools in the country...I can honestly say that photshop was not used. Merely, you are all very strange for not having a uni-butt. Sarcasm aside, the photo may have been taken off center, yes, Devon. Care to explain the lack of contrasting light values that would hint at a gender. The bits and pieces may not be visible, but light and shadow should at least hint a little. If I had done this bad of a job, I wouldn't admit to using photoshop either. Next, I suppose someone will defend this image saying it was the lighting. Stop the lies and be a man. There are high school students all over this country that could have done this job better and cheaper.


  • Name: alex
    Date posted: 2008-10-14 9:45 PM
    Hometown: sydney

    Comment:

    um, where is his penis?


  • Name: Matti Laakso
    Date posted: 2008-10-14 7:11 AM
    Hometown: Turku

    Comment:

    Where have all the rude bits gone? Some time passing Where have all the cute bits gone gone? Not long ago Where have all the bollicks gone? They clone brushed them every one When will they ever learn? When will they ever learn?


  • Name: Chriso
    Date posted: 2008-10-09 3:38 PM
    Hometown: San Francisco

    Comment:

    Holy crap on a stick, what did you do with his genitals?!


  • Name: Pau
    Date posted: 2008-10-08 2:15 PM
    Hometown: Mexico

    Comment:

    This is patetic.. saying you hate photoshop and putting here such a big mistake. There are just 2 options: This poor guy doesn´t have balls, penis and ass. Or is a PHOTOSHOP BIG MISTAKE. What a same..you claim to hate it, and not only you used it...you don´t even know anything about phosohop.


  • Name: Devon
    Date posted: 2008-10-08 12:21 PM
    Hometown: Santa Monica

    Comment:

    I have to laugh at the commenters that say he was photoshopped. I was at the Advocate party in Hollywood at the Gay and Lesbian Center where they had photos from the issue. Chad was not photoshopped. It's a combination of his shin and the photographer shot him off center. And clearly some people need an anatomy class, because sitting like that, he's sitting on his sacrem, so his "bits" are further up than you think. And how big are the ass cracks that you guys are dealing with that can't be blocked by a leg! His right foot is blocking it. There was only one photo (according to the photographer) that was photoshopped and that was of the guy who was on the cover. In one of his photos, his dick was showing.


  • Name: Erica
    Date posted: 2008-10-08 9:52 AM
    Hometown: Atlanta

    Comment:

    Hello... women have been dealing with this for ages! Most of the women in magazines don't even look human. That said, I applaud you, Chad, for adjusting your self-image to a more healthy one. Most women just end up hating their bodies their entire lives. You inspire me to be more accepting of myself.


  • Name: Dragos
    Date posted: 2008-10-08 8:40 AM
    Hometown: Uppsala, Sweden

    Comment:

    I can see on that second picture that you truly have nothing to be ashamed about.


  • Name: O
    Date posted: 2008-10-07 9:58 PM
    Hometown: harlem

    Comment:

    that tok some time photoshopping though, as a retoucher, i wonder what the operator was thinking....glad it wasn't my task


  • Name: O
    Date posted: 2008-10-07 9:57 PM
    Hometown: harlem

    Comment:

    that tok some time photoshopping though, as a retoucher, i wonder what the operator was thinking....glad it wasn't my task


  • Name: Carlos
    Date posted: 2008-10-07 8:46 PM
    Hometown: Orlando

    Comment:

    Why is the man's ass sort of fused together to create a "mono butt"? Im not in to seeing his ass; but rather curios as to why someone would rant about hating photoshop; then employ it in horrid fashion.


  • Name: Don
    Date posted: 2008-10-07 7:14 PM
    Hometown: West Hollywood

    Comment:

    Anyone notice the irony that the piece is about real body types yet Chad Darnell, who has a really nice body and not an ounce of fat, says he won't run around shirtless because he's not perfect. I have an average body and am perfectly happy with myself. But I think it's a shame that when you open any gay magazine you are shown countless 20 year olds with six to eight pack abs, flawless skin and chiseled features. Sure sex sells but do we need this sort of thing even in community events and news reporting? My local rag that's supposed to be telling me what's going on with my peers is showing me, visually, that I'm not one of them. And the ads for Pride I’ve seen all seem to say, "Pride in being gay, young and hot" rather than, "Pride for being who you are". Just once I'd love to see an ad for a Pride festival or a gay business that had ordinary men and women of all ages. It's a shame when the rainbow is only painted with specific hues.


  • Name: Brian Nesbitt
    Date posted: 2008-10-07 6:15 PM
    Hometown: Dallas TX

    Comment:

    ....the 35-year-old bristles at a standard of beauty he calls “airbrushed” and “Photoshopped.” I had to laugh out loud at this one considering they "photoshopped" his bits and pieces out of the second picture. Badly. As a matter of fact, the photoshopping was so egregious it actually caught the attention of the blog PhotoshopDisasters. Nice job, art director! Great article though.


  • Name: thomas
    Date posted: 2008-10-07 6:05 PM
    Hometown: Chicago, IL

    Comment:

    Real body types of real people - who have no genitalia. Look at the second photo. Creepy! Yikes!


  • Name: Johnny
    Date posted: 2008-10-07 6:00 PM
    Hometown: Dublin

    Comment:

    Where have your balls gone?


  • Name: Dray
    Date posted: 2008-09-06 7:24 PM
    Hometown: NYC NY

    Comment:

    What an inspiration!


  • Name: Trevor Robinson
    Date posted: 2008-09-03 7:08 PM
    Hometown: Carson City, Nevada

    Comment:

    Hey Chad, I share the same body type and I have lifted, walked, run and even tried steriods, what ever to try and achieve That chisled adonis. Now at the age of 61 forget it even though now it is a must to exercise just to keep the pant size the same. So glad that you have excepted at a much younger age so you can concentrate on the real part of life. Live and enjoy By the way cutie-patutie, your beautiful


  • Name: Jesse Archer
    Date posted: 2008-09-03 1:55 AM
    Hometown: NYC

    Comment:

    So nice to see a guy comfortable with his body and not afraid to flaunt it. And look at those legs! Chad looks amazing...


  • Name: Yvonne
    Date posted: 2008-08-28 4:12 PM
    Hometown: Maryland

    Comment:

    Hi There, Glad to see an article that finally addressed "real body types of real people." We need to get away from the fake Hollywood imagery that is driving folks to plastic surgeons and shrinks (due to anorexia and other eating disorders). Yes, it's unhealthy to be over weight but it's good to be healthy and enjoy your body as it was created to be. It's okay to be different and fit into a six 8, 10 or 12 jeans as opposed to a size 0 or 2. Hell, folks are starving into slink into negative sizes. Life is fun and each of us are unique and have something to add to the mix. Let's just relax and throw what we have in and see where it lands! Peace Yvonne


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