Doug Savant, Known for His Role as One of the First LGBTQ+ Characters on TV in ‘Melrose Place’, On How He Faced Pressure To Say He Was Straight in Real Life To Be Easier for the American Public To Accept

Doug Savant, who played Matt Fielding, a gay character on Melrose Place, recently explained why he avoided discussing his own sexuality while on the show. He felt it was important to stay true to the role he was portraying.

On the Still The Place podcast, Savant talked with former co-stars Laura Leighton, Courtney Thorne-Smith, and Daphne Zuniga about the challenges of playing a gay character as a straight actor during a time when TV had very little representation.

When we were shooting all those things and the trailers for the show, I said to Sam, our publicist, ‘Do you care to talk about how we’re going to handle this going forward, that there was a gay character?'”

I knew it was exceptional, and I thought people would be interested. But she goes, ‘Well, no, it’s not a big deal. You’re an actor, you’re just playing a character.’ And I said, ‘Oh, clearly she doesn’t get it.’

Doug Savant played Matt Fielding, a gay character, for six of Melrose Place‘s seven seasons. Early in his time on the show, he realized this could become a sensitive topic. Savant decided not to talk about his sexuality publicly.

Eventually, he was called into a meeting with the show’s creator, Darren Star, and the PR team. He shared that Spelling, Fox, and Darren Star were upset with his choice.

‘We don’t see why it’s a big deal, why you just wouldn’t say, ‘Well, it shouldn’t matter, but I’m heterosexual. I said ‘No.’ I was not going to make my living playing a gay man, but then say, ‘Oh, but I would never be associated with that. This isn’t me.’

Doug Savant noted that his character was one of the first LGBTQ+ roles on TV, coming after only a few queer characters in the ’80s. He shared that he was pressured to publicly state that he was straight.

… as it would be somehow more palatable to the American public if they could avail themselves of the reality that I was actually a straight man. And I thought that was morally reprehensible and I said, ‘You may not prostitute my personal life for the benefit of our show because you think it’s somehow more politically correct.’

I felt a responsibility to it at the time. Will Smith was about to come out in the John Guare Six Degrees of Separation [film] — the character’s gay and he came out at the time, ‘Well, I would never kiss a guy on-screen and I would never do this’ — he distanced himself, every actor that had done this. I just couldn’t morally bring myself to say.

‘Every week, I’m going to come to work and I’m going to play this character, but that I should distance myself from it.’ My intention with Matt was to say he is your son, he is your brother, he is your friend. He is every man, he’s your neighbor. He’s a regular guy who happens to be gay.

What became painfully evident was not any one character was going to represent the diversity of an entire community. So to think Matt Fielding, as a lone gay character, could shoulder the entire community’s representation — it was an impossible task. And now, we see a much greater diversity of gay characters, and aren’t we all glad that we’re here?

Doug Savant praised Spelling, Star, and Fox for sticking with Matt’s character despite pressure from groups like the Christian Coalition and Moral Majority, which called for advertisers to boycott the show.

While Matt Fielding didn’t have many romantic storylines, he was central to some of the show’s most impactful moments, including facing workplace discrimination and seeking justice after a hate crime.

Like many characters in primetime teen dramas, Matt’s story ended tragically with an off-screen car crash near the end of the series. After Melrose Place, Savant spent nine years playing Tom Scavo on Desperate Housewives and has been married to his co-star and podcast host, Laura Leighton, since 1998.

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