“Steven came up with this idea for a character who was openly and unapologetically gay. That was way ahead of its time,” Brochtrup says of the prolific showrunner, who died Sunday at age 74.
There were no gay characters on TV at the time. And Steven came up with this idea for a character who was openly and unapologetically gay. That was way ahead of its time.
I was the one who said, “Is this OK to have a gay guy on television?” But Steven was always fine with it. He never blinked. He was never afraid of those kinds of things. He just said we have to be bold and do it.
Steven and I had an email correspondence, and I knew that he was not doing well. The last email I got from him ended with the words, “Excelsior. Look it up.”
I did, and it means “ever upward.” That’s how I’m trying to think about him now.
This story first appeared in the April 4 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.
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