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Vendaval -> *Spoiler warning! New openly gay main character on TV, a LA police officer (3/25/2009 3:27:53 PM)
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* Spoiler warning
NBC has a new night time police drama starting on April 9th and set in Los Angeles. What is interesting is that one of the main characters is an openly gay male cop. Click on the links below for the rest of the article and video previews of the show.
"Exclusive: NBC’s New Police Drama Includes an Arresting Gay Character"
by Michael Jensen, Editor
March 24, 2009
"This article reveals the identity of the gay character in NBC’s upcoming new police drama Southland."
"NBC’s press materials for the new cop drama Southland boast that it’s going to provide an “authentic” look inside the world of the Los Angeles Police Department. Viewers will have to wait until it premieres on Thursday April 9th to judge that for themselves. But the show is already breaking new ground by including an out gay cop as part of the ensemble cast.
A source close to the show tells AfterElton.com exclusively that the character’s name is John Cooper and he’s played by Michael Cudlitz, a well-respected character actor known for his work on such shows as Standoff and 24. Officer Cooper is described as being in his mid 40's, a "cops-cop" and is what is often termed as "hard-core LAPD". He’s a Senior Lead Officer assigned to the LAPD's North Hollywood area and has work-related health issues resulting from action while on duty.
At one point in the first episode Cooper advises Sherman about the pros and cons of the job saying …it is relentless. And it gets to you. But every once in a while you get to take a bad guy off the streets for good. And that my friend, is god’s work. But you want to be a pussy and quit, then quit. You’re a cop because you don’t know how not to be one. If you feel that way, you’re a cop. If you don’t, you’re not. You decide. Clearly, this isn’t your typical gay character tossing off witty one-liners and giving makeovers to his best female friend before her big date. Cooper is a cop in the most classic sense. He’s also based in reality as the show’s executive producers – Ann Biderman and John Wells of ER and The West Wing– extensively interviewed gay police officers to get a sense of what life is like for a gay cop."
*last paragraph bolded by Vendaval
http://www.afterelton.com/TV/2009/3/southlandsgaycharacter?page=0%2C0
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