Just One Time With Lane Janger
Interview by Brandon Judell
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Director/actor/writer/co-producer Lane Janger's
Just One Time (JOT) might
just be making film history. It's probably the only feature made out of a
short that got to be released to theaters before the short it was based on
was. Got that?
Let's try again. Earlier this year you saw the full-bodied JOT. Now you will
see the tiny JOT which is being unspooled at art houses across the country
with four other shorts. The conglomeration is called Boys Life 3. (Trivia
fact: Two of these shorts boast celebrity connections. "Inside Out" is helmed
by and stars Jason Gould, Barbra and Elliot's little boy, while "$30" is
written by the late Michael Landon's cute offspring Christopher.)
But this PopcornQ reporter is very excited to be sitting in an East Village coffee
shop opposite Mr. Janger, as opposed to Gould and Landon, because in JOT,
which is about a straight fireman who wants his fiancee to have girl-on-girl
sex before they tie the knot, Janger is often shirtless -- and Mr. Janger has
a stunningly sculptured chest with a terrific hair pattern. That he is also a
talented director, writer, and comedian is a bonus.
Anyway, after yours truly mopped up the coffee spilled from his
trembling coffee cup, the following interview took place.
PopcornQ: You've said in a previous interview your film is not autobiographical.
Does that mean you've never been a straight fireman?
Lane Janger: Right. I've fantasized about it but I haven't actually been there.
[Chuckles]
PopcornQ: This was your second short?
LJ: Yeah, I had done one short three years previously. Actually 5 or 6 years
previously. I had done it while I was in film school and it was at the
Sundance Film Festival.
PopcornQ: Which film school?
LJ: NYU, the Graduate School.
PopcornQ: Now I haven't read much on you. I don't know if you're straight or gay.
LJ: I'm gay.
PopcornQ: You're gay!
LJ: Yeah.
PopcornQ: You're openly gay?
LJ: Yeah.
PopcornQ: I guess you are. So I'm too late on the scene to out you?
LJ: Well, we can make believe I haven't been out until now.
PopcornQ: But lots of people must think you're straight after seeing the film.
LJ: A lot of people do, yeah.
PopcornQ: Does that put a damper on your social life?
LJ: Well, I have a boyfriend so it really hasn't affected it. The boyfriend
actually put a damper on my social life.
PopcornQ: I really thought you were straight.
LJ: Most people do. It really throws some people. They just assume because I
played a straight character. ...
PopcornQ: Has being gay affected your career agent-wise?
LJ: I think as an actor that being gay kind of screws you. I think even
gay managers or agents often tell you to keep it under taps or they won't
represent you. I think if you are playing more charactery-type roles,
it's not so bad. But I think it's really hard for a leading man.
PopcornQ: Have you gotten tons of fan mail because you're pretty nude
throughout the short and the feature made from it?
LJ: [Laughs] I've gotten some. I was getting some obscene phone calls so I
got Caller ID. But I don't get those kind of phone calls anymore. Some
people have been bold enough to just call and say they saw the movie and they
liked it. I have their numbers on Caller ID so I definitely appreciate that.
I've gotten a little bit of mail, too.
PopcornQ: Have you met the directors of the other shorts in Boys Life 3? Are
you hanging around with Streisand, Jr.?
LJ: The funny thing is that I went to junior high school with Jason so we
know each other from way back. Yeah. And I've met one of the other directors.
The other two I haven't met.
PopcornQ: Jason Gould has supposedly been gayed out. After The Advocate, he's
supposedly taking a break from gay publications.
LJ: Oh, really. ...
PopcornQ: Maybe he's tired of being asked the same questions over and over.
LJ: Yeah, some of the gay press I really find annoying. I remember I had one
interview that I thought was about my movie, and it's like, "So have you
been in a sling?" A lot of it gets so personal about sex. I don't mind
talking about sex with my friends, but ...
PopcornQ: ... there should be some boundaries.
LJ: Yeah.
PopcornQ: Unless it's Drummer or some magazine like that.
LJ: It was actually HX that it happened in. When I finished the interview, I
was like "Oh, my God! I can't believe I answered some of those questions."
PopcornQ: It appears Howard Stern has pushed the boundaries of proper reporter
etiquette.
LJ: Probably.
PopcornQ: So do you have your next feature set up?
LJ: Not really. I've been doing some writing and I've been waiting for these
films to come out because I think once these are out, then I won't have to
knock on doors so much which would be nice. And I just actually had kids.
Baby twins, so I've been focusing on them.
PopcornQ: [Stuttering then gaining control] I was going to ask, were they made with
your own sperm? So how did you get twins?
LJ: Surrogacy.
PopcornQ: That's fabulous.
LJ: They're one month old. So like the only thing I'm really doing right now
is writing at home and doing some acting classes. Then the rest of the time,
I'm just being a dad.
PopcornQ: Some British gay male couple just got twins or something close to that,
but they're millionaires.
LJ: Not us. We're living in a small East Village apartment right now.
PopcornQ: So our readership should send you baby presents.
LJ: Yeah.
PopcornQ: Pampers.
LJ: No, Huggies.
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