Christopher Gorham Sure is Popular

As Harrison in Popular, Christopher Gorham achieved his goal of becoming a regular on a primetime TV show, but it was as Jennifer Love Hewitt's gay boyfriend on Party of Five that Chris first found success in Hollywood. That role, spanning four episodes, lead to other high profile guest-starring roles on shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer as well as his first movie, A Life Less Ordinary, where he was cast alongside Cameron Diaz.

Christopher Gorham's career is going well. On hiatus from Popular last summer, Chris landed his first starring role in the upcoming movie, The Other Side of Heaven, where he plays a missionary visiting a remote island in the South Pacific Ocean. The lucky guy and his wife actually spent 10 weeks filming and living in the tropical paradise, followed by an additional two weeks of shooting in Auckland, New Zealand.

A relaxed and excited Christopher Gorham recently talked with TeenHollywood.com about his experiences as a Hollywood actor.

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

Christopher, are you at all like your character, Harrison?

Christopher: I had similarities to him when I was in high school. I was driven and ambitious, although a little bit socially inept. I was smart and I had friends but my social status was constantly going up and down depending upon what mistakes I'd made that week.

Were you concerned about your popularity in high school?

Christopher: I wasn't really concerned about it. I went to a performing arts high school, so it was a different experience compared to what Harrison's having because I was surrounded by like-minded people who were moving in a similar direction.

How far in advance do you know Harrison's plot line?

Christopher: It varies a lot actually. The Leukemia plotline this season, I knew that they were doing some type of Cancer but they hadn't decided until a week until we started shooting it. So I knew something was coming up well in advance.

That was a major plotline on Popular at that time; did you do a lot of research for that role?

Christopher: That was the weird thing because we were talking about brain cancer initially. I'd done all my research on brain cancer and had set up interviews with teenagers who had it and then at the last minute the (writers) switched it on me. But I did a lot of reading on Leukemia, the symptoms, the treatment and donated some money to the Leukemia Society.

Was that money out of your own pocket?

Christopher: Yeah, well I was using their web site to do my research so I figured I should give something back.

What's the atmosphere like on the Popular set?

Christopher: We get along great. I was reading, my wife's mother buys the Star, and she tells us every time one of us ends up in the tabloids, which has been happening for the first time. One of the blurbs in the tabloid said, "From an inside source on the Popular set, it's a cliquey and catty cast," and I had a good laugh at that because it's not true. I mean the girls can get really loud sometimes but it's fine, everybody gets along.

I'd like to talk about the movie, Eye of the Storm, an indie movie that you did...

Christopher: Actually, they just changed the title, now it's called The Other Side of Heaven.

So can you tell me about filming that? You were on a South Pacific island, which sounds incredible, what was that experience like?

Christopher: There was a three week period when I knew they were considering me but I didn't know if it was going to happen or not, they were shooting in the Cook Islands and we were actually traveling that summer, we went to Chicago and New York, so we literally had two days to pack when I learned that I'd won the role. I pulled out the atlas to see where this Island was; it's called Rarotonga in the Cook Islands, which is literally out in the middle of nowhere, northeast of New Zealand by a couple thousand miles. My wife almost had a heart attack when she saw where it was. We were there for 10 weeks.

I ended up missing the entire first episode of Popular. I came back in the middle of shooting the second episode. If you notice, the first three episodes of the season I was hardly in it at all.

Now what was this movie about and what was your role?

Christopher: I had the lead role. I play a man called John H. Groburg, he's an actual person and it's based on his memoirs, his mission for the church in 1953 when he was sent as a missionary to Rarotonga. It's tough to get there now but it actually took him three months to get there at the time. He then took an eight-day boat ride to a remote island off the main one. For a kid coming from Iowa, this was really something. The movie is about his two and a half year mission on the island and his romance with his girlfriend back home. It's a love story really.

I know that you're married and are quite a bit older than your character on Popular. It must have been refreshing to do this character who is so different than Harrison.

Christopher: It was great. He's closer to my age and was a lot of fun.

You have a Bachelors Degree in Theater. Does that help you as a Hollywood actor?

Christopher: I think so. The acting training I got there was extremely valuable.

What's been your most challenging role?

Christopher: Well, some of the work that I did this season on Popular has been really challenging but that character has actually gotten easier to do, but the film that I did this summer would have to be up there. It was something totally different. I mean he was a priest of a religion that I personally don't subscribe to so it was a challenge. And to be the lead in a film and to have to carry the entire movie was very challenging, both physically and mentally.

Let talk about Party of Five. You were on for a number of episodes where you played a gay character; now this was a few years ago, what was the response for that character like at that time?

Christopher: It was actually really positive. I didn't have any negative responses at all. A month or two after I did that role, my wife and I took a trip up to San Francisco and it was so surreal, you would have thought that I was Michael Jackson walking the streets of that city. I got recognized everywhere we went, people yelling and screaming from passing cable cars, people staring at restaurants or walking by to get a good look at me, it was so weird. I have never had that reaction from Popular. (Laugh) I hardly ever get recognized from a show that I'm a regular on, but that Party of Five thing, you would have thought I was a Backstreet Boy.

Would you like that kind of fame on a regular basis?

Christopher: I don't know. It's a little overwhelming.

What's your favorite thing to do in your spare time?

Christopher: We're getting ready for our baby, which is awesome. It will be a big change and we're excited. Other than that I like to play basketball.

Lastly, can you give us any plot secrets on upcoming Popular episodes?

Christopher: I can't give you any secrets but I can tell you that there are going to be some major waves in the Sam-Harrison relationship. That's definitely going to come to a head towards the end of the season.

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Log onto Popular's official web site here.

The Official web site for Christopher's upcoming movie, The Other Side of Heaven can be found here..