When you tell Doug Spearman that the conversation he is about to have is being recorded so that you can cull the deepest and most meaningful parts for your readership, his response is a snort of laughter and a quick, "Good luck with that!" His response to being a Grand Marshal for San Francisco Pride moves from self-deprecating to humble. "Amazing," he says once, then twice. "It took a while for that to settle in. I'll be honest and say I've always been intimidated by the thought of San Francisco Pride. One of my best friends in the world lives in San Francisco, and I've always avoided [going to] Pride because it's so big. But I am definitely bringing my camera, because I want to shoot it from the car so I don't forget anything. It's a huge honor, really, an American fantasy coming true for me." Laughter returns as he says, "Now I'm double-gay, with clusters, so of course one of the first things my friends are asking is, 'What are you going to wear?'"
For two seasons, Spearman portrayed the intriguingly named Chance Counter, one of the four leading characters on Noah's Arc, a Logo cable series following the exploits of a close-knit group of gay African-American men in Los Angeles. "I would not be getting into that convertible on Market Street if it were not for how amazing the world has been to us, and to me because we took a chance and did this show. I've been acting for a long time, and I've been out as an actor. Always. But Patrik [-Ian Polk] creating this show and creating the phenomenon where an entire population finally, finally gets to see themselves and their culture reflected on television in a way that is entertaining and real and yet fantastical at the same time, has allowed me to enjoy the success I am currently experiencing."
He is excited about the feature film version of the show that will begin shooting this fall. "It feels like a natural next step for us. And, gee whiz, we're making a gay movie about four black guys. That never happens with the level of mainstream support that we are going to have. There have been great independent films like Punks, The Ski Trip and Brother to Brother, but we're going to have the power of Viacom behind us. So we're in a whole new place."
A gifted storyteller, Spearman regales with tales of writing grade-school book reviews of The Front Runner, coming out to his mother, getting the upper hand on snooty WeHo professionals and learning to be comfortable with meeting other celebrities on a peer level. If you meet him, ask about The Four Kisses . He shares a lot of this on his MySpace.com blog. "My mother taught me to live life as if everything I did could be published on the front page of The Washington Post. I'm not saying I've lived up to that, but it was great advice." There's other advice he'd like to offer — to himself. "I'd like to go back in time and grab my 14-year-old self, living in this suburban colonial split-level in Hyattsville, Maryland, and just walk up and say, 'Hang on! You have absolutely no idea what's coming. So just put the Playgirl back under the mattress and relax. It's going to be fantastic. Trust me!'"
And if he were able to continue time-traveling back to the original Noah's Ark? "I'd be a panther. Yeah. They're dark and sleek, they're beautiful creatures of the night wrapped in mythology. They always look good in jeweled collars. And so do I!"