By: debbie lynn elias
Writer/Director Stewart Wade is a gifted storyteller. With an affable and natural ease, drawing on his own life experiences and from those around him, Wade consistently creates memorable characters and situations, witty and often hilarious dialogue and garners an extraordinary cast resulting in mainstream family films which just happen to have a gay-lesbian theme. With TRU LOVED, Wade achieves his most family friend film yet with a beautiful story, memorable well defined characters, a lot of humor stemming from life’s little foibles and curves, an extraordinary cast that includes the likes of Nichelle Nichols (yes, Lt. Uhura herself), Alexandra Paul, Jasmine Guy, Alec Mapa, Marcia Wallace, Jake Abel, Najarra Townsend, Cynda Williams, Joseph Julian Soria, Bruce Vilanch, Elaine Hendrix and even football great, David Kopay, lending to a widespread multi-generational and demographic appeal and quality family entertainment. As producer Antonio Brown and I discussed, TRU LOVED has all the elements of a traditional Disney-esque film simply with a twist – the lead character has two committed moms and two committed dads who just happen to be gay.
Tru is a 16 year old high school student recently uprooted and relocated by her mothers, Leslie and Lisa, from her comfortable life in San Francisco, her friends and her gay fathers, to a small town in the suburbs of Los Angeles. As with any move for a high school student, Tru’s life is turned upside down as she is not only faced with being “the new kid” breaking into the well established cliques, making friends, getting to know the teachers and the town, but also dealing with the non-conservative nature of her family in a very conservative community. Fortunately, Tru is befriended by Lodell, the star quarterback of the football team, who just happens to be African-American. But Lodell has a secret.
Growing closer as the weeks go by, Tru and Lo seem the ideal couple – on the outside. Frustrated over the lack of physical affection she is receiving from Lo and not knowing what to do about it, Tru turns to her dads in San Francisco who immediately realize what’s going on – Lo is gay and hasn’t come out of the closet. (Whoever said daddys don’t always know best!) Taking the bull by the horns, Tru confronts Lo and while the confrontation and his admission only bring them closer together as friends, it gives Lo the chance to build up a bigger wall in front of his friends and family by pretending Tru is his girlfriend. Of course, the big concern to all lies in the interracial nature of the coupling. Lo’s grandmother is upset because Tru is Caucasian and wonders “aren’t there any Black girls in that school.” Lo’s mother is equally disturbed. Tru’s mother Lisa is shocked that Lo is African-American while Leslie is just concerned that the two are having sex while out on a date. Typical mom stuff. And Tru’s dads just want her to find a nice boyfriend.
But more important to Tru is the bigoted thinking and commentary of her peers concerning homosexuality. Not only conscious and aware of it because of her parental situation, she is more deeply affected because she wants Lo to be able to live honestly and openly – something he can’t do on his own. With the best of intentions and her best friend in her heart, Tru embarks on an ambitious project – starting a Gay-Straight Alliance club at her new school. Teaming up with a young gay student named Walter, whom Lo has a crush on, Tru’s world changes yet again as the GSA leads her to the gorgeous hunky and straight Trevor, putting her in the most challenging situation of her life – having to choose between her best friend and love with Trevor.
The cast of this film is mind boggling. Antonio Brown hits the nail on the head when he talks about casting. “No matter if actors are friends or we have connections with them, they wouldn’t do these roles if it weren’t for the quality of Stewart’s script. It’s really quality material. And that’s what actors love, especially if they’re not getting paid a million bucks. But they are doing something they care about and working with material they enjoy and that credit goes to Stewart.”
Former “Baywatch” babe, Alexandra Paul “practically begged for the part” of Leslie. “My identical twin sister is gay so I feel like I have gay blood running in my veins. This is my fourth lesbian part and I feel honored.” Paul was at the top of list with Wade and producer Antonio Brown when the part of Leslie came up and “then when I read the script, I went aww. This is a great part for me. The film has a great message. It’s also funny. I’m very proud of this film. I really had a fun time. I don’t have children but I love to play moms.” As Leslie, Paul creates the kind of mom most teens would want. Fun loving, not publicly embarrassing, caring, open and concerned but still a mom looking at the clock, imposing curfew and making sure you did your homework. Cynda Williams steps in as a perfect balance with her take on Lisa; a bit stricter but knowing the need for a teen’s freedom.
It’s hard to believe that Nichelle Nichols is playing the role of a grandmother but here she simply shines as Lodell’s grandma. She is still as youthful and glamorous as ever but as she herself told me, “It’s not hard for me [to play a grandmother]. I’m not a grandmother but I want to play a “glamorous” one. I had fun with this one.” When she was cast, Nichols had only one comment. “I will play the grandmother, but I don’t sit at home watching tv.” Talking about the part, she opined, “I don’t think I changed a line from what Stewart wrote. I might have tossed in a couple things. “ Not being a grandmother herself I asked her what she drew on for her entertaining, and dead on, performance, “As far as I didn’t know my grandmother, either paternal or maternal, so I thought of how I would be with my nephews. I have a lot of nephews. When they were little and they would come to my house and I would feed them, I would walk by them, saying ‘Did you make all gone’ [and of course doing her best stink eye for me to accompany her words] and they would immediately say ‘We’re working on it.’” Very discriminating in selecting roles, “I take roles that I feel like I can bring something fresh and oppose stereotypes. I just thought people don’t change. They evolve. I think that what your experience was through life you bring it as you grow older. And if you had fun with your life and if you had good experiences and kept hold of the good experiences and let go of the bad ones, then you continue that with your attitude towards life. So, I just bring my attitude.” And trust me, here she is a grandma with an attitude!
Najarra Townsend blew me out of the water as Tru. She brings an intensity to the part with a nuanced emotion that is heartwarming and compelling to watch. The moral compass of the film, Townsend’s character sets the tone of every scene. Matthew Thompson plays BMOC Lodell to a tee. Charming both on and off camera, it’s easy to see how any girl or guy would fall for him. Tye Olson, already an award winner for his role as Walter, is a little scene stealer. With great attitude, a niceness radiates from him that is infectiously delightful. Jake Abel is a familiar face to many out there and as Trevor he will have every girl’s heart going pitter-patter. Abel brings a multi-textured heartfelt warmth and understanding that is refreshing. Be on the lookout for Joseph Julian Soria who is a standout. Recently seen in “Hamlet 2″ as another strong character, Octavio, Soria spreads his emotional wings even further as Lo’s football buddy Manuel.
Supporting performances from icons like Jasmine Guy as Lo’s mother, Marcia Wallace, Bruce Vilanch, notable Disney fave Elaine Hendrix (who also serves as a producer) and the hysterical Alec Mapa of “Ugly Betty” fame are impeccable and entertaining!
In addition to being creative partners, Wade and Brown are life partners, an interracial couple and have a young son, who on the day of the film’s premiere was being escorted by his Grandma and according to Wade and Brown, “that Grandma you see on screen is not so different from this one.” Clearly, Wade drew heavily upon his life for this story which leads to the detailed and well-c everything is so matter of fact, particularly given themes of interracial relationships, old school prejudices about “Black boys”, lesbian and gay parents, teenage angst, peer pressure, parental disciplines. As opined by Alexandra Paul, one of the nice things is that instead of sticking to the old hat documented 80’s themes of teen-parent problems dealing with teen pregnancy or my-parents-are-divorcing-my-life-is-hell, Wade deals with issues of sexuality, coming out, coming of age, friendship and family and does so with a “light feeling”, casualness and ease.
I became a fan of Stewart Wade thanks to his award winning feature “Coffee Date.” Although a low budget indie, the story was smart and funny, casting of Jonathan Silverman, Wilson Cruz and Sally Kirkland was sheer perfection and all the necessary technical and production elements were present, however, it was clear that given Wade’s keen eye, overall production values on his films had the potential to soar given better funding. When I heard about TRU LOVED, I jumped at the chance to see it because I wanted to see what Wade brought to the table with just a little more money at his disposal. In the end, he fulfilled my expectations and then some. Shooting in multiple exterior locations this go round, in addition to several very diverse interiors, Wade upped the ante and the production values of TRU LOVED with winning result.
A beautiful story, memorable performances, an eloquent message and heartfelt humor, TRU LOVED is a film that you will truly love.
Tru – Najarra Townsend
Lodell – Matthew Thompson
Leslie – Alexandra Paul
Lodell’s Grandmother – Nichelle Nichols
Cynthia – Jasmine Guy
Written and directed by Stewart Wade.
