His handsome face and killer smile have already won Charlie David legions of admirers, but beyond that gorgeous exterior lies a man of many passions. Recently, xtra.ca spoke with David about his career, life and queer activism.
David’s first taste of show business came during high school in his native Saskatchewan when he starred in the musical group Sask Express. David went on to be a founding member of a boy band, but the group never quite hit its stride.
Bitten by the performance bug, David attended the Canadian College of Performing Arts and began what has become a very busy career. David will soon start filming the fourth season of both Dante’s Cove and the travel series Bump. Yet he still finds time to make guest appearances on shows like Ugly Betty, and he co-owns a film and TV production company, Border2Border Entertainment.
One of his recent film projects, A Four Letter Word, won recognition at Festival del Mar — a Spanish gay and lesbian film fest. An out gay actor, David took great pleasure in working on a gay story with a gay cast.
“I’m not one for typecasting, but at the same time I’m a little tired of straight boys claiming gay roles and being lauded as brave,” he says. “Gimme a break. To say it is brave is a homophobic comment and I’m tired of it.”
David is also keen to do more screenwriting. His film Mulligans won best screenplay at the Vancouver Cold Reading Series and has enjoyed considerable success worldwide on the film festival circuit. In Mulligans, a father has an affair with his college-age son’s best friend and the entire family is nearly torn apart when the secret comes out.
“I’ve always really enjoyed writing,” says David. “The process of writing screenplays is a very different animal and one that I truly enjoy. I’ve found that writing keeps my imagination active when I’m not acting.
“Mulligans is the first screenplay that I’ve produced and that process has been hugely educational and rewarding. We are very close to signing broadcast and distribution deals in Canada, the US, France, Germany and Australia.”
In 2005, Out magazine named David as one of their 100 influential contributors to queer culture. Recently, he was named as an honorary director of the Gay American Heroes Foundation.
“I like to work with different advocacy groups to create visibility on important issues in our community. Gay American Heroes brings attention to the senseless hate crimes and murders that are still all too common against LGBT people. I’ve also been involved with Love, Honor, Cherish which aims to protect the new marriage legislation in California. I don’t look at these as achievements by any means — it’s simply a way to support the amazing individuals who started these organizations and the tireless work they do everyday.”
David admits that it is often difficult to balance his time between his many passions and activities. “I try to write at least once a week, stay in acting class, and of course move the businesses forward.”
And don’t look for this hunky dynamo to slow down any time soon. In addition to new seasons of Bump and Dante’s Cove, David is busy lining up even more projects.
“I’m putting together the financing for my next two features — a psychological thriller called Side FX and a comedy called Sunny Sheldon: Motivational Speaker. I’m also excited to have my first novel, Boy Midflight, about to be published in January ’09, and I will be unveiling a new clothing line in the late fall. I like my life to be productive and action packed!”
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