Thea Gill Movies
An update of The Graduate with a decidedly gay slant, writer/producer/star Chris Hale's earnest tale of misunderstood love tells the story of a family man who lusts after his son's best friend during a life changing summer vacation. Tyler (Derek James) and Chase (Charlie David) are as tight as two college pals can be, so tight that when school lets out, Tyler invites his pal to spend the summer with his family at their quaint Prospect Lake home. As the summer wears on, nights spent talking around the family barbecue fade into days on the golf course, where Tyler and his father Nathan (Dan Payne) can frequently be found bonding over bogies. But there's something Tyler doesn't know about his good friend Chase, a secret that would make him realize just how futile his efforts to set Chase up with all of the beautiful girls around campus truly are. Increasingly comfortable around his surrogate family, Chase makes the fateful decision to come out to them - never truly realizing the implications that announcement may have on their family dynamics. One night shortly thereafter, Tyler and his mother (Thea Gill) return home to find Chase and Nathan locked in a lover's embrace. The drama coming to a head with this surprise revelation, Nathan struggles to find a means of staying true to himself while simultaneously preventing his family from falling apart. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
Director Joe Dante stirred up a great deal of interest in Showtime's Masters of Horror series with his bluntly anti-Operation Iraqi Freedom political satire, Homecoming, scripted by Sam Hamm. An unnamed president is running for reelection during a divisive war, and one of his speechwriters, David Murch (Jon Tenney), goes on TV to speak with talk show host Marty Clark (Terry David Mulligan) and strident right-wing sexpot Jane Cleaver (Thea Gill of Queer as Folk). Another guest is Janet Hofstader (Beverly Breuer), the Cindy Sheehan-like mother of a fallen soldier, who demands to know what her son died for. Murch gets a bit teary-eyed and explains that he lost his older brother in Vietnam. "Believe me," he tells the grieving mom, "if I had one wish, I would wish for your son to come back, because I know he would tell us how important this struggle is." Cleaver is so impressed with Murch's handling of the situation that she takes him out for a drink later, picks his brain, and eventually seduces him. The Karl Rove-like Kurt Rand (Robert Picardo) interrupts their tryst, calling to let Murch know that the president plans to make his line part of his stump speech. Well, as they say, be careful what you wish for. Soon, the soldiers killed in the war do start returning from the dead, and it doesn't go the way Murch predicted. They're not back to feast on the living, but unhappily for the president and his supporters, they just want a chance to vote in the upcoming election. "We'll vote for anyone who ends this war," one explains. The spin machine goes into overdrive, but the dead are determined to make their voice heard. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jon Tenney
Gerald McRaney stars in this made-for-TV nailbiter as Jake Arledge, a dedicated meteorologist. Having invented a device to predict the patterns of tornadoes, Jake is unable to convince the higher-ups of the device's value. All this changes when Jake joins forces with his estranged TV-weatherperson daughter Dee (Thea Gill) and his former protégé Mark Scott (Steve Braun) to prevent the wholesale destruction of a town smack-dab in the middle of a tornado's path. Also in the cast is Joan Van Ark as the town's politically ambitious mayor, who insists upon throwing a huge vote-raising party despite impending disaster from the skies. Shot in Winnipeg, Manitoba over a hectic 13-day period, Tornado Warning debuted over the PAX network on September 13, 2002. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Clements, Gerald McRaney, (more)
Based upon an allegedly factual story featured in the paranormal reality series Sightings, this made-for-cable chiller stars Beau Bridges as Derek, a cynical TV producer. Despite his own personal skepticism concerning supernatural activity, Derek agrees to visit a supposedly haunted house in Kansas for the purposes of a television documentary. With his field director Lou (Nia Long) and prominent psychic Allen (Miguel Ferrer) in tow, Derek launches his investigation of the "bad" house. Not unexpectedly, the trio soon learns that the haunting is genuine -- and in so doing, they solve a mystery that has baffled local authorities for 100 years. Heartland Ghost made its Showtime Network debut on October 27, 2002. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Randy Birch, Beau Bridges, (more)
- 2000
The romantic misadventures of a handful of gay and lesbian friends living in a working-class section of Pittsburgh set the stage for this made-for-cable series, based on a popular (and controversial) British television serial. Brian (Gale Harold) is a professionally driven advertising executive whose take-charge attitude extends to his love life; he's looking for a good time and has little use for commitment. One of Brian's few close friends is Lindsay (Thea Gill), a photographer and art instructor he met in college; Lindsay and her longtime lover Melanie (Michelle Clunie), a lawyer, recently had a child using sperm donated by Brian. One of Brian's biggest admirers is Michael (Hal Sparks), a comic-book artist and bookstore manager who has known Brian since high school; Michael, however, has just entered into a relationship with David (Chris Potter), a sensible older doctor who has only been out of the closet for a few years (after divorcing his wife) and is looking for a stable, long-term relationship. Justin (Randy Harrison) is a 17-year-old high-school student who was picked up by Brian at a club; Justin is convinced he's in love, though Brian hardly feels the same way. Rounding out Brian's circle of acquaintances are Ted (Scott Lowell), a shy accountant who has had bad luck with relationships and spends too much time looking for lust on the Internet, and Emmet (Peter Paige), a flamboyant club maven and owner of a cutting-edge boutique. Queer As Folk kicked off with a two-hour movie on December 3, 2000, and subsequently aired as a series of one-hour episodes; the show's appearance on the premium cable network Showtime allowed the producers to approach the material in a much bolder fashion than any conventional network would allow. As a result, the series is recommended for adults only. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gale Harold, Hal Sparks, (more)
- 2000
Harvey Fierstein, Terrence McNally, and Paula Vogel each wrote episodes for this three-part made-for-cable drama which examines changing attitudes and issues facing the gay and lesbian community in the small town of Homer, Connecticut. Opening in the 1950s and leading up to the present day, Common Ground features Eric Stolz, Mimi Rogers, Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Margot Kidder, Edward Asner, Beau Bridges, Jason Priestley, and Steven Weber, as well as co-writer Fierstein. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ed Asner, Beau Bridges, (more)
- 1993
A dry cleaning shop is not exactly the sort of place a romantic girl in her late teens yearns to be, particularly if it is run by her family. Lilly (Shelly Hong) is a mysterious girl to her family and friends; the only thing they know for sure about her is that she is moody and daydreams a lot. She also has a lot of quarrells with her family. When a man she had a date with is found murdered, she perks up and goes to claim his body. Why? It's hard to say, but when she is accused of his murder nobody much is very surprised. They only wonder what her motive might have been. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Shelley Hong
