"Stanford's a fruit, you know!"
This is how the cameramen and crew typically greet Willie Garson, who portrays Stanford Blatch, the pithy, technicolor-clothed, gay character on HBO 's Sex and the City, whenever the actor approaches the set.
"That's one of my favorite lines from the show," says Garson, who clearly relishes the good-natured teasing. "It's from the episode where Stanford convinces Carrie ( Sarah Jessica Parker ) to meet his elderly grandmother and pretend that they are married, so that she will leave him money. When Stanford leaves the room, the grandmother turns to Carrie and says, in this perfect grandma trill, 'Stan-ford's a fruuuit, you know!!' We filmed that episode all the way back in the second season and the crew still looooves quoting that line to me!"
Garson, who is as matter-of-fact about his own heterosexuality as any straight man possibly could be, is more grounded than his TV counter-part. There's none of that Stanford angst or anxiety that audiences so readily respond to; instead, the 37-year-old New Jersey native exudes a natural, boyish enthusiasm along with a charming ability to poke fun at himself.
While there are marked differences between the actor and his on-screen alter-ego, there are certain points during the conversation when Garson's voice will lilt into that lovable fey tenor of Stanford, a habit that appears to go unnoticed by the actor. It's quite an endearing habit, actually, one that is especially entertaining when it surfaces during one of Garson' many personal anecdotes. Like the story of how he just KNEW he had landed the Sex and the City role during his very first audition:
"I went in and read for Darren [ Star ] and as I was leaving I knew I had it, because he said, 'Willie, great suit!' And it WAS a great suit! It's fantastic, it's from the '50s and it has this green shine to it. I have a lot of suits like that, vintage suits. I paid $26 for it and I still wear it to events and everyone is always asking me who the designer is. I just say the designer is a very, dead man!"
Garson says his portrayal of Stanford is based "pretty-much-completely" on a former agent of his, though the character, originally conceived by Candace Bushnell, is actually based on a friend of the author's. He's never met the true inspiration for the character, though he has been "in the same room" with this individual on several occasions. And there's a reason for that, the same reason the actor refused to watch any of the show's episodes during the first few seasons.
"My biggest fear is that I will offend someone, that's a fear I think that all character actors have. I'm always worried that I might be getting it wrong and I am constantly grilling our staff, many of whom are homosexual, to make sure I don't go too far," says the actor, who has made more than 200 episodic appearances on television, including coveted guest roles on shows such as Friends, The X-Files, Melrose Place and Ally McBeal.
The fifth season of Sex and the City features Stanford in a bona fide relationship with "Marcus," a hunky dancer, something audiences have been patiently waiting for since the 3rd season, where Stanford is stood up...at an underwear party of all places...by a guy he "met" off the Internet.
This season, not only does Stanford have a boyfriend, he's also having sex ( thank-God ) , topped off by a steamy little scene where Samantha ( Kim Cattrall ) walks in on the boys engaging in a little BJ action.
"It [ the pressure ] was all on Sean [ Palmer ] , who plays Marcus. We knew the scene was coming, no pun intended, and he was very calm and ready for it. I was the one who was terrified because I wanted to see what angles they were going to be filming! I've seen the show, and I know what they are capable of doing!"
Even though the footage of the scene that aired is admittedly tame in comparison to what the female principals have shown in similar situations, don 't blame the lack of visible "willie" on Willie.
"I remember watching If These Walls Could Talk, 2, and the segment with Michelle Williams and Chloe Sevigny ... well, they were practically fucking. And that's when I walked up to Darren and said 'I'm an actor, I want to do whatever it takes to get the story told. I will do whatever you ask me to. Bring on the cock!!'"
Bringing on the cock, as it were, does have its minor disadvantages as some people still assume that because the actor plays a gay man, he must be one in real life. When women aren't approaching Garson to be their best gay friend, then they are giving him the proverbial wink-nudge-wink as a sign of their acceptance of his perceived homosexuality.
"I just got back from a trip to Las Vegas. That's a place where everyone is in everyone else's face, you're in pretty close quarters, so I was recognized. I was with a friend of mine and one woman came up to me and said, 'You're so gooood.' I said, ' Wow, thanks that's so nice.' And then she looked at my [ male ] friend and said 'Isn't he good? Well, you WOULD probably know better than I would!' Now, if I was a stronger person I would have grabbed him and kissed him right then and there!"
Of course, most women are savvy enough not to confuse "reel" life with "real" life, especially Garson's co-star Sarah Jessica Parker. They met on a blind date of sorts, years before Sex and the City, and after a "long flirtation" the two became good friends.
"She knows me really, really well. We spend most of the time, when we have a scene together, making each other laugh."
When I mention the poignant advertising campaign for the show's new season, which features Parker, without her co-stars, in a variety of thoughtful poses around New York, sitting on a bench or eating a slice of pizza, Garson says the shots are a beautiful testament to how New Yorkers have managed to go about their daily lives despite the continued rippling effects of Sept. 11.
"It was very important that this season be a kind of love letter to New York. I think the ads show how gorgeous the city is, and are a kind of homage to this town, which really is another full-fledged character right along side Carrie and the others."
"Sarah IS the show," he says respectfully, referring to the campaign's exclusive focus on the actress. "And every other character is representative of some facet of the character that she plays."
Ask him to reveal something about his co-star and friend that might surprise Sex and the City viewers, and Garson doesn't bother to hesitate before announcing, "We eat like cows!"
"We both love to eat, although you would never know it, looking at her! One thing that bonded us together was the fact that I am obsessed with Chef Boyardee and no matter where I am, or what elegant hotel I am staying at, I always have a can of Chef Boyardee with me."
The meteoric rise of Sex and the City as THE show to watch on Sunday nights eventually led to the inevitable: a backlash against the show last year, as critics proclaimed the series was starting to "age" and that the characters were sounding too "desperate" and "whiney."
This season, buoyed by a return to realistic and meaningful story lines, the show's foursome are back in favor with the media, and more importantly, the viewing audience.
"There are those out there who are dying to see [ the show ] fail. The actors really don't talk about that, though. But, we are more careful these days, than we used to be, say, in the first season when nobody knew who we were. Back then, we would shoot a scene and move on, but now we're more careful and we take more time if we need it, to get it right. And we know when it's good … and it's always good," explains Garson, whose project during the series' hiatus is a sci-fi thriller with none other than Steven Spielberg's name attached to it. In the film, titled Taken, Garson plays a German scientist who used to work for the Furor.
There has been a pesky, but persistent, rumor that Sex and the City may be coming to end after the next season or two. For his part, Garson doesn't have any specific ideas on when or how the show will leave the party.
"I think that the characters, by the end of the series, will each get what they need, and that will truly be the end of the story. As for Stanford, I think he might become a little less frivolous … not necessarily more serious … but maybe just a little less focused on being FABULOUS, you know?"
When, and if, the day arrives where Carrie and Co. finally find what they each "need," viewers will have a hard time letting go of these beloved characters. Because, in many ways, Stanford, Carrie, Samantha, Miranda and Charlotte, with their insecurities, fears, and lovable quirks have become "real" for much of the viewing audience.
"They really have, you know how I know that?" Garson asks, his voice tinged with equal parts of sarcasm and amusement. "As I mentioned before, I was just in Las Vegas ... now forget about the woman who came up to me and assumed my friend and I were lovers, that's one thing, but this is something altogether different: This guy comes up to me at one of the casinos and says he recognizes me from the show. I say, 'Oh, great, thanks!' while the man proceeds to call his wife at home to tell her the news. Well, he gets his wife on the line, tells her who he's just met, and she doesn't believe him.
"But that can't be true," she says, "I'm watching him right now on the television!" And the man responds, sounding a bit confused, "No, I'm telling you, he's standing right in front of me! "
