Queer As Folk is having its renaissance, now as a Peacock original series that's debuted over 20 years after Russell T. Davies first launched his show at the turn of the century. The 8-episode first season created by Stephen Dunn (Little America) follows a group of LGBTQ friends living in New Orleans, and it charts their triumphs and tribulations in the wake of a tragedy that occurs in the first episode.
Two of Queer As Folk's main characters are Ruthie (Jesse James Keitel, Big Sky) and Shar (played by up-and-comer CG). The former is a high school teacher who struggles with the idea of giving up her partying ways to become a parent, while the latter is her heavily pregnant, non-binary partner who must often be the responsible one in the relationship. The duo have a rocky path to travel in the first season, between Ruthie's best friend Brodie and her own reckless behavior.
Screen Rant spoke to CG and Keitel about the romance between Shar and Ruthie is complicated by Brodie, the importance of delving into parenthood for their characters, and how Queer As Folk handles some of its most sensitive subject matter.
Screen Rant: I'm already in love with Ruthie and Shar's dynamic and relationship. We meet them when they're already well into it, so what can you each say about your perspective on how they met or where they've been up to this point?
Jesse James Keitel: How they met versus where they are now are definitely two completely different worlds. Shar's in a punk band and Ruthie's definitely a little bit of a party girl. Where they started to where they are now, they definitely are in the process of trying to reclaim their roots.
I also love the trio dynamic with Brodie, which you both have somewhat differing perspectives on. CG, can you talk about the little bit of friction between Shar and Brodie?
CG: Yeah. Brodie and Ruthie come from way back, and Ruthie and Shar come from a more recent way back. So, of course, there's things that Shar knows about Ruthie that Brodie might not know about Ruthie, and there's a lot of things that Brodie knows about Ruthie that Shar doesn't know about Ruthie.
I think that's one of the players in the tension between the two of them, and just how those relationships are weighted differently.
I think it's so important to see non-traditional roads to parenthood, which can only come from the perspective of a room full of LGBTQ writers. Can you talk about embodying that in this storyline, and what it feels like for you?
Jesse James Keitel: Getting to see two clear parents, [when] one of them isn't necessarily ready to be a parent, is major. So often, with stories about queer people becoming parents, in reality they need to work so much harder for that - either financially, or through adoption, or et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.
A lot of the queer experience is found family, and I think what's beautiful about our show is that there's this incredible found family in this group of friends, and then also a really modern take on a family dynamic with children. And it's so fun that we get to explore both of those things on the show.
The premiere leads to a terrifying event that's obviously meant to be reminiscent of Pulse, but it is handled very carefully. What was it like having to deal with that, and to carry that through in the story? CG, your character wasn't there, but still has to know that your loved ones have gone through that.
CG: Yeah. When I first read that this was the tragedy taking place in New Orleans, the place that I'm from - a place of freedom and creativity and spirit, and just all of the things in goodness - I was a little shaken and like, "No, but why? Why do we have to do [this]? Why?"
But then, while I was speaking to Jaclyn Moore, one of the show runners, she actually filled me in on one of the largest hate crimes before Pulse to take place in New Orleans - at the UpStairs Lounge, which I did not know about. And I'm from there, so to know that took place on the land in real life and knowing Pulse and knowing how that is reflected in the show, all three of those aspects just feel like a reckoning and an honoring of those people who were lost and the people who were not lost.
Queer As Folk Synopsis
Set in New Orleans, the series is a re-imagining of the 1999 Channel 4 series created by Russell T Davies, which follows a diverse group of friends who find their lives transformed in the aftermath of a tragedy.
Check out our other interviews with Queer As Folk stars Devin Way & Johnny Sibilly and Fin Argus & Ryan O’Connell, as well as creator Stephen Dunn and showrunner Jaclyn Moore.
More: 10 Best Shows Like Queer As Folk
All 8 episodes of Queer As Folk season 1 are currently available to stream on Peacock.