How are you? Your voice sounds a little ragged.
I just woke up. I was out really, really late last
night. I went to a reading--and then I went out
and drank. I had a lot of red wine during the reading.
That was fine. But then I had vodka, and that tipped the
scales.
Tell me about someone gay or lesbian who influenced you.
There isn't one particular person, but my
dad [actor Brandon Maggart] starred on this TV show
called Brothers, which was one of the first
that had regular gay characters. I remember an episode where
a character came out to his father, and the father
didn't accept him. I was 8 years old at the
time, and I went right home and prayed to God--and I
don't come from a religious family--that I
would have a gay child.
Your dad also stars in the infamous 1980 B movie
Christmas Evil. Are you a fan?
I've never watched the entire thing because it
freaks me out so much. We used to have these great
promo T-shirts from that movie. It was a drawing of my
father, done up in the Santa garb...with a big shiny
knife in his hand!
How did you react when the unfinished version of
Extraordinary Machine wound up all over
the Internet?
It was strange, because I had just gotten a
computer. I couldn't resist temptation, and I
did a search on my own name, and [the leaked album] was
the first thing I found. It was horrible. I just remember my
stomach dropping out of my body. I felt like, You have
no control over anything, ever.
Early on you enjoyed a highly publicized friendship with
Marilyn Manson. Did you attend the nuptials of
Manson and burlesque star Dita Von Teese?
No, but I saw the pictures in Vanity
Fair. I haven't heard from Manson in a
while, but I would be delighted to. He's such a cool
guy. And I met her recently, and she was very sweet
and so beautiful.
Speaking of romantic partners: Your ex-boyfriend,
illusionist David Blaine, regularly risks his life
in public. How do you cope?
I don't watch. I knew [the
"Drowned Alive" stunt] was happening, but I
wanted to wait until it was all over. It would stress me out
too much. But I did look David up the morning after
[he surfaced] to see how he was, and I'm glad
he's OK. I love David, and he is still one of my
favorite people.
