Bryan Batt Talks ‘Jeffrey,’ AIDS Epidemic, and More

Before gaining recognition as Salvatore Romano in AMC’s award-winning series Mad Men, Bryan Batt was a well-known Broadway actor who has performed in shows including Cats, Starlight Express, and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.

In 1993, Batt played the role of Darius in the Off-Broadway production of Jeffrey, and he would later reprise the character in the 1995’s film adaptation, making his big screen debut.

A poignant romantic comedy about the quest for love and intimacy during the AIDS epidemic, Jeffrey was written by Paul Rudnick and tells the story of a 30ish actor/waiter who decides to become celibate after the risk of AIDS has taken all the joy from sex. At first, no theater would produce the play because it was described as a comedy about AIDS, but after an acclaimed, sold-out run at the WPA Theatre in New York City, it transferred for a commercial run.

In honor of Pride Month, BroadwayHD included several new LGBTQ titles for viewers to stream at home, including the film version of Jeffrey. Directed by Come from Away’s Christopher Ashely, Batt stars alongside Steven Weber, Patrick Stewart, Christine Baranski, and Victor Garber.

Batt took some time to answer some questions for OFM.

Last month, BroadwayHD released several LGBTQ titles in honor of Pride, including the 1995 film adaptation of Jeffrey, which you play Darius in. What makes this film worth checking out?

Well, there’s many reasons. A lot of younger people who didn’t live through the AIDS epidemic, they really don’t know the history of AIDS, the response, and basically the noble efforts by the gay community to rally and work to save lives and press the government to do something. They don’t know the story, and there are many stories that have been told brilliantly, but this is the first one that did it with humor.

Paul Rudnick wrote this wonderful play called Jeffrey, and I had the pleasure of doing the play from its inception, from the first production at the WPA Theatre, which is sadly no longer here. We got great reviews and transferred over to the Minetta Lane Theatre; then they took the original cast out to LA and did the film. I was very fortunate to retain my role. We recently did a reading, they wanted to see how it would play, and it still played fantastically for a possible revival on Broadway.

I got to read the role of Sterling, who Patrick Stewart played in the film, so the roles have been reversed. It was a lot of fun, but what we learned is that at the end of the reading, these younger people were very moved, and some were crying. Some were saying, “We are not taught this. This is nowhere in our lexicon.” So, it was a great thing for them to see. You need to know your history, or you’re going to repeat it.

Having lived through the AIDS epidemic, how do you reflect on that period of time?

I recently did an interview for a documentary called Ghost Lights, which deals with AIDS in the theater at that time and its impact. I thought I had compartmentalized it, like sometimes we do. If you think about it every day, your heart breaks for all the people you lost, and I now have a wall in our home with pictures of friends and family throughout the years. Every so often, I catch the picture of the cast of Jeffrey, and it reminds me of everything that went down.

Doing this interview, at one point, the interviewer brought up my dressing roommate from Starlight Express, Michael Scott Gregory, and I also worked with him in Cats. I started talking about him and remembering how talented he was.  Unfortunately, he died at a very young age, and I know he would have been a major Broadway choreographer and director, but we were robbed of his talent. I remember him coming to the ninth anniversary of Cats. He had left the show, but he came, and he had a cane.

It just brought back all these painful memories of young, vibrant, talented young men who died from this disease. I started to tear up; I just couldn’t help myself. My father died very young, and I thought I understood that this is how life is, but people don’t usually die in their 20s or 30s. That’s abnormal. So, it was very hard to accept that as part of our lives at the time.

When Jeffrey made its off-Broadway debut in 1993, did you ever expect the show would make such a big impact?

I was so naïve, and I still think that’s how I got the part (laughs). My agent read the script and said, “I think you’re right for this.” I looked at the breakdown, and it said, “Darius, a typical chorus boy. A true innocent.” Well, I kind of was a true innocent, but at the end of that, some of that innocence went away. I am an optimist. I’m a new soul. I wake up every morning, and it’s a new day, but having lived through it, I was hoping it would make a difference because it was a different way to approach this horrible disease, and with humor.

Some of the critics initially said, “You cannot joke about this.” Paul Rudnick’s philosophy, and it’s my philosophy as well, all through our lives, we’ve gotten through hard times with humor. The disease and suffering are not funny, but human beings are funny. What we say and how we deal with things, it’s sometimes hysterical. If you lose that humor and the ability to laugh at yourself and the world, then the disease, controversy, or adversity wins.

Were you the only cast member to reprise your role in the film?

Yes, for the majority. I think some of the other cast members had smaller parts. Some of the actors would play eight or nine different characters throughout the play, and some of them got to keep one of those in there, but I was the only main character that got to retain his role, which I thought was going to go to some little up-and-coming Hollywood star boy. Maybe they were offered, and they didn’t want to, but I was so honored to do it.

This past fall when I was out in LA, I had dinner with Patrick Stewart, who has remained a friend, and he’s just a wonderful gentleman. I had dinner with him and his wife, and he reminded me, he was like, “I told them when I saw the play at the Westwood Playhouse. I hope you’re going to consider keeping that young man who plays Darius.” I think that checked one little box!

Besides Jeffrey, is there another LGBTQ title that has made a big impact on you?

There’s quite a few. Longtime Companion and the recent Boys in the Band are some of my favorites, as well as The Normal Heart. I think that show is absolutely wonderful, and when I saw it, I learned a lot of the history about the beginnings of AIDS. Growing up in New Orleans, I was closeted for a long, long, long time. I didn’t know any gay people who were out, happy, and all that stuff. Going to the French Quarter, you’d see men like that, and my eyes would of course go directly toward them, but I didn’t know of anyone who actually had a life. That changed after I started doing theater, which was the same time when the AIDS epidemic was going down.

Right after I did my first Broadway show, I met my husband/partner, Tom, and we’ve been together ever since. That was 1989. So, I often say that he and I kind of saved each other in a way. We luckily found each other, and I didn’t know you could have love. I was like, “Oh, two men can love each other and have a relationship!” I thought I was doomed to this life of meeting a guy in a bar or picking one up on the street, which, there’s nothing wrong with that, but I wanted to nest. I wanted a life, and I’m so glad that happened. Hopefully, continuing throughout the rest of time, this will be accepted and considered the norm for gay men and gay women.

Have you always had a passion for acting?

I think so! Believe it or not, I was very shy when I was little. I’d be silly around my family and put on little shows, but as I got older, I knew I didn’t fit in with all the other kids because I wasn’t into sports or anything like that. I would always put on little shows and have parades in our neighborhood. I was always entertaining, but also sort of deflecting if there was any kind of upset in the house. I would say something silly or sing along, and I always enjoyed it.

I say it truly solidified when I was in my third grade Christmas play. My teacher added “Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer” in it for me so I could do a tap dance with a light-up nose. At one point, my mom helped choreograph, and I was on my head doing a headstand with my legs kicking out. Upside down, I could see the audience clapping and going crazy. I was like, “I like this!” It was also instant gratification and validation on stage. I didn’t know it could be a real profession where you would make a living.

You are primarily known for your theater work, but on television, you are remembered for playing Salvatore Romano in the AMC series Mad Men. What will you forever take away from that experience?

Just like Jeffrey, Mad Men was one of those charmed experiences where everything was great from the beginning. First of all, it was AMC. Up until then, AMC had only played old movies. This was their first foray into scripted television. When we filmed it, I thought, “Wow, this looks great.: Then my first scene was with Jon Hamm, and I went, “OK, they’re doing this right!” He’s so fantastic. We had to wait a year to go to LA to film the series because Matthew Weiner had to finish up The Sopranos, but I remember asking, “Who’s going to see it?”

I’ve had many wonderful times in my life, like when I was going for the lead of Joe Gillis in Sunset Boulevard for a two-to-three-week spread. At the same time, the film adaptation of Jeffrey came out, and it received great reviews. I was gaining recognition, and I was just trying to make everything happen. My friend BD Wong came to my dressing room one day and said, “Just enjoy this because it doesn’t happen all the time.” I was too busy trying to force everything to happen. When Mad Men started and then we began to receive awards and accolades, I buckled myself in and just had so much fun.

One of the best things that happened to me between Jeffrey and Mad Men, my husband opened up a home furnishing gift shop in my hometown of New Orleans in 2003. He used to do that in New York for other people. I always loved it, and I would design friends’ homes or go on buying trips, and that really took me out of show business. It opened my eyes to realize that there’s an entire world out there. In show business, we can be so hyper-focused on the next job and networking that you sometimes forget there’s more out there. That freed me up as a person and actor.

What are some future goals you hope to accomplish with your career?

I very much enjoyed being on television, so I would love to do a comedy series, and I would love to do more films. I’ve written a one-man show that we tried out down here in New Orleans called Dear Mr. Williams, and it’s my journey of growing up in New Orleans and coming of age, but it’s told through Tennessee Williams’ words. He had to leave St. Louis to come here to New Orleans to find himself, and I had to leave New Orleans to go to New York to find myself. There’s so many great lines and such wisdom, and it worked well.

Several producers from New York are very interested in moving it, so we’re working on that. I’d love to do it, but at this age, it’s sort of daunting to do a 95-minute solo show several times a week (laughs). Like, what was I thinking? Be careful what you wish for! But overall, I just love working. I really do, and I love working with good people. I’m doing this presentation of a new play with Keith David and directed by Sheldon Epps in New York, and I’m supposed to be filming something in August, but I’m waiting for the offer to come through.

Stay up-to-date and connect with Batt by following him on Facebook and Instagram @bryan_batt. Jeffrey is now available to stream on BroadwayHD.

Photos courtesy of Joanne DeGeneres