‘Melrose Place’ Actor Doug Savant, Who Played One of the First LGBTQ+ Characters on TV, Reveals He Was Constantly Pressured To Say He Was Straight in Real-Life So He Could Be “More Palatable to the American Public”

Doug Savant from Melrose Place explains why he avoided answering questions about his sexuality while playing Matt Fielding, a gay character, on the ’90s teen drama. He said he felt it was his responsibility to stay connected to his on-screen role.

On the Still The Place podcast, Savant shared with former co-stars Laura Leighton, Courtney Thorne-Smith, and Daphne Zuniga what it was like to play a gay character as a straight man during a time when TV still lacked diversity.

When we were shooting all those things and the trailers for the show, I said to Sam, our publicist, ‘Do you care to talk about how we’re going to handle this going forward, that there was a gay character?'”

I knew it was exceptional, and I thought people would be interested. But she goes, ‘Well, no, it’s not a big deal. You’re an actor, you’re just playing a character.’ And I said, ‘Oh, clearly she doesn’t get it.’

Savant played the gay character Matt Fielding for six of Melrose Place‘s seven seasons. Early on, he sensed this might become an issue. Savant said he chose not to discuss his sexuality publicly.

Eventually, he was called into a meeting with the show’s creator, Darren Star, and the PR team. He claimed that Spelling, Fox, and creator Darren Star were unhappy with his decision.

‘We don’t see why it’s a big deal, why you just wouldn’t say, ‘Well, it shouldn’t matter, but I’m heterosexual. I said ‘No.’ I was not going to make my living playing a gay man, but then say, ‘Oh, but I would never be associated with that. This isn’t me.’

Savant pointed out that his character was one of the first LGBTQ+ characters on TV, following a very short list of queer characters from the ’80s. The actor shared that he was encouraged to disclose that he was straight.

… as it would be somehow more palatable to the American public if they could avail themselves of the reality that I was actually a straight man. And I thought that was morally reprehensible and I said, ‘You may not prostitute my personal life for the benefit of our show because you think it’s somehow more politically correct.’

I felt a responsibility to it at the time. Will Smith was about to come out in the John Guare Six Degrees of Separation [film] — the character’s gay and he came out at the time, ‘Well, I would never kiss a guy on-screen and I would never do this’ — he distanced himself, every actor that had done this. I just couldn’t morally bring myself to say.

‘Every week, I’m going to come to work and I’m going to play this character, but that I should distance myself from it.’ My intention with Matt was to say he is your son, he is your brother, he is your friend. He is every man, he’s your neighbor. He’s a regular guy who happens to be gay.

What became painfully evident was not any one character was going to represent the diversity of an entire community. So to think Matt Fielding, as a lone gay character, could shoulder the entire community’s representation — it was an impossible task. And now, we see a much greater diversity of gay characters, and aren’t we all glad that we’re here?

Savant praised Spelling, Star, and Fox for moving forward with Matt’s character despite letter campaigns by the Christian Coalition and Moral Majority, which pushed for advertisers to boycott the show.

Though Matt Fielding had a sparse love life on the show, he was at the center of some of its most powerful storylines, including dealing with workplace discrimination and fighting for justice after a hate crime.

Like many primetime teen soap characters, his story ended tragically with an off-screen car crash near the series’ conclusion. Savant later spent nine years playing Tom Scavo on Desperate Housewives and has been married to his co-star and podcast host, Laura Leighton, since 1998.

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