Wow, who thought a gay rights mini-series could get the American alt-right steamed up so quickly. Actually forget that, they’re sitting around waiting to get steamed up and ridiculously outraged by things, while coming up with bizarre conspiracy theories around it, all the time. You just need to take a look through the comments for the trailer for When We Rise to see that those who love to be angry about stuff in racist, anti-Semitic, misogynistic, homophobic and generally aggressive ways (while whining about how white men are the most oppressed people in the history of humanity), are not happy about it. But you know what? Screw ’em.
When We Rise is an eight-part mini-series due to air next February on ABC in the US, which chronicles the rise of the gay-rights movement from the Stonewall riots to the triumphs of recent year – although with the election of Trump, it’s likely to also be a timely reminder of the need to keep fighting. Written by Oscar-winner Dustin Lance Black and produced and part-directed by Gus Van Sant, it is perhaps particularly angering the alt-right as it is probably the highest-profile and biggest gay-themed drama US TV has ever produced.
It’s also got a great cast, including Guy Pearce, Mary-Louise Parker, Rachel Griffiths, Whoopi Goldberg, Rosie O’Donnell, Denis O’Hare, David Hyde Pierce, Michael K. Williams, Charlie Caver and Ivory Aquino.
Black has commented, “It’s been the honor of my life to research and craft these stories of family, diversity and equality over the past three years. To have collaborators of this caliber sign on to help bring these stories to life is a tremendous vote of confidence, and I hope a testament to the relevancy and necessity of our continued march toward justice for all.”
Take a look at the trailer below. [Read more…]
A few weeks ago, the likes of Guy Pearce, Mary-Louise Parker, Rachel Griffiths were announced for major role in Gus Van Sant and Dustin Lance Black’s major, 7-part gay rights miniseries, When We Rise. Now some more big names have signed on, with 
David Hyde Pierce is coming back to TV with a run in The Good Wife. To mark that, he showed up on Larry King Now for an interview. He’s done surprisingly little on-screen work in the 10 years since his multi-award winning turn in Frasier, instead concentrating on theatre, and in 2008 he married his partner Brian Cosgrove in California.