Actor Scott Lowell chatted about his acting career and work with the Tyler Clementi Foundation, which works towards works to end online and offline bullying in schools, workplaces, and faith communities.
Lowell is known worldwide for his portrayal of Ted Schmidt in the hit Showtime drama series “Queer as Folk” and forensic podiatrist Dr. Douglas Filmore in “Bones.”
‘Queer as Folk’ on Showtime
On starring in “Queer as Folk,” he remarked, “It was great! It was the best five years of my life!”
At the time of its initial release, it was a very groundbreaking show. “To this day, 25 years later from when we first went on the air, new people approach me all the time who are either just watching the show or have just watched it in recent years,” he said.
Lowell continued, “Prior to our show, gay characters were seen either as clowns or eunuchs on shows, and they were very non-sexual, non-threatening, and either the goofy buddy or some tragic kind of figure.”
“I think our show was able to dispel all that, and it was able to show them as three-dimensional human beings,” he elaborated.
“It has been a wonderful thing to see that our show still affects people’s lives positively, and it helps them feel represented in the media when they don’t. It has been really great for that,” he admitted.
“There has been some renewed interest in our show lately, especially with ‘Heated Rivalry’ going on now, which has become such a phenomenon. A lot of people are recalling that ‘Queer as Folk’ touched on the same subject matter 25 years ago, so it’s not such a new thing.”
“Similar to ‘Heated Rivalry,’ we filmed our show in Canada, so there is a lot of symmetry there,” he added.
Playing Ted Schmidt in ‘Queer as Folk’
On playing “Ted Schmidt,” he said, “I liked his heart… I think he was a very big-hearted guy. Ted had a lot of flaws, but mostly, he did his best to be a good friend. His big heart has led him to be a bit of a hopeless romantic.”
“So, he had all the good and the bad of having a big heart in terms of the wonderful qualities and the challenges that came along with that,” he added.
“For that alone, I think it was very groundbreaking, and how it depicted sexuality on television,” he noted.
‘Bones’ experience, playing Douglas Filmore
On his experience in “Bones, he recalled, It was great. It was a lot of fun, and one of the nicer sets I’ve been involved in. Everybody in that show was absolutely delightful. It was fun to create a character that was very outside the norm of what I usually did.”
“Dr. Douglas Filmore was a very unique character and one that I was very happy to have been a part of,” he said.
“I was just supposed to be in one episode, but I think the producers and the writers of the show really liked what I was able to bring to him so they brought my character back a few more times, which was great. I always had a lot of fun doing it,” he explained.
Michelle Clunie and Megan Follows in ‘Pen Pals’
Lowell had great words about his “Queer as Folk” co-star Michelle Clunie when she starred in the Off-Broadway production of “Pen Pals,” where she played Bernie opposite Megan Follows as Mags.
“Michelle and Megan were so great in it. I really enjoyed seeing it. I was very proud of them exploring female friendships through the years. I thought the play was wonderful, and they both did an incredible job. I am so glad I got to see her in it.”
“I think it’s a great idea for the producers who are putting that play together to be able to have this rotating cast of actresses come in every two weeks and play those two parts,” he added.
Tyler Clementi Foundation
“The Tyler Clementi Foundation was started in response to a young gay man, Tyler, being the victim of a really horrible cyberbullying event, where he had told his roommate he was going to bring a date home, and his roommate decided to live stream Tyler having sex with this man.
Lowell continued, “Due to the humiliation of that and the ridicule and the scorn that Tyler went through because of that, he made the awful decision to take his life. As his mother says, he made a permanent solution to something that could have been temporary.”
“So, his parents, in light of that, with a lot of bravery and courage, started the Tyler Clementi Foundation, whose job and whose mission is to try to stop bullying online and offline, as well as from the pulpit, especially for LGBTQ kids, to help try to bring a little bit of kindness back into the world and to make sure what happened to Tyler never happens to anybody else,” he explained.
“I’m honored to be a part of the board of this wonderful foundation,” he said. “I learned about it mostly because they back in the ‘Queer as Folk’ cast during the pandemic as their Honorees for their annual Upstander Legacy celebration,” he elaborated.
“So, I got to learn about the foundation and help organize that event. I think because of that, they liked the energy I brought and they asked me to join the board, which has been a great honor,” he acknowledged.
“We honor people who we call ‘Upstanders,’ who don’t just sit by and are bystanders when they see somebody being bullied… they really stand up and do something about it,” he said. “Each year, for my birthday, I’m honored to remind people of the work that we do with the Tyler Clementi Foundation.”
Tyler Clementi Foundation is developing an app to help kids with proper resources
Lowell shared that the Tyler Clementi Foundation has been developing an app for kids to use for resources if they are victims of bullying, or if they see bullying going on, and it guides them what they can do in those situations.
“Hopefully, with this new app, parents, kids, and even educators can have a resource to deal with those bullying situations,” he said.
“I think if we can stop it when they’re kids, especially before they get on social media, then there’s a good chance that we can at least lower the volume of bullying,” he added.
Advice for young and emerging actors
For young and aspiring actors, he said, “Mostly, to just go and do it. Find a way to do acting. Study. I always encourage people to start in theater. Don’t jump right into film or TV.”
“If you can really get a good foundation of being a good and strong theater actor, then you’re set to do whatever else you want,” he said.
“Over the years, I have found that younger actors that get their start in either film or TV, they don’t have a good sense of reality,” he noted.
“I would also tell the younger kids out there to go and make their own content. Now, you have that opportunity by grabbing your phones, writing something, getting your friends together and making something, which is great,” he elaborated.
“So, that’s the biggest advice I give to people… study, learn things, but start off in theater first. Really work your way up. Don’t shoot for the stars right away,” he added.
The digital age
On being a part of the digital age, now with streaming, technology and social media being so prevalent, he said, “Technology is good and it’s bad. I dove right in very early on, very quickly, and I’ve pulled back quite a bit from it.”
“I try to step away for a while because I can find it really challenging psychologically for me to be a part of that,” he said.
“It’s one of those Catch-22s that if you have a big enough profile because of your work that you can build enough of a following, then you have a place to use that platform and use it responsibly,” he elaborated.
“I know as a marketing tool, social media is a wonderful thing. The other upside to it is the opportunities. I wrote and created my own show called ‘Adoptable’ that we shopped around out there,’ he said.
“The opportunities to create your own work and get it out there is wonderful. The challenge then is how do you break through the noise,” he added.
Stage of his life
On the title of the current chapter of his life, he revealed, “Mentoring and Teaching.”
“I feel that I find myself moving more into that role, especially in between opportunities for acting work, so that I can help make the world a better place through mentoring and teaching,” he said.
Success
Regarding his definition of success, Lowell said, “Success means leaving this planet a better place than when you found it, much like a campsite, you would leave it cleaner and better than when you got there.”
“I think being able to take care of each other and the planet as best we can is what success looks like to me,” he added.
Message to the fans
For his fans, Lowell expressed, “Thank you so much for all the support throughout thee years. I hope they take the lessons learned from ‘Queer as Folk’ and the other projects I’ve worked on to heart, and that they live their lives in the same manner.”
“Just keep being kind to each other… that’s the biggest thing,” he underscored. “What I love about the ‘Queer as Folk’ fan community is that over the years, they are just an excuse to bring the fans together, especially the communities that are build around our show, and the admiration for the show… that’s what is really the most important part,” he concluded.
To learn more about actor Scott Lowell, follow him on Instagram.
For more information on the Tyler Clementi Foundation, visit its official homepage and Facebook page.
