Looking too good to be true

MANILA, Philippines - Could looking good be actually bad, especially if you are an actor?

Apparently yes. Ask Rob Lowe, star of the hit TV series Brothers & Sisters and he will tell you it’s true. It was in the news recently that Rob looked too good to be believable as Sen. Robert McCallister, his character on the highly-rated ABC-Disney drama.

He was reportedly asked to stop tanning and stay out of the sun. Surprisingly, the producers seem to be not really much into news lately. If they were, they would know that looking good in politics is no longer that unusual. Last year, paparazzi pictures of US Presidential contender Barack Obama in swimming trunks graced tabloids and reputable newspapers everywhere and as recently as three weeks ago a junior US congressman, Republican Aaron Schock, was photographed shirtless and looked superb with ripped abs.

Rob was reported to have received a phone call from the president of ABC himself to tell him that he was “too dark” on TV. The good-looking actor, who professes his love for surfing and kayaking, was forced to re-evaluate his outdoor activities. He now covers himself up with sunscreen, hats and all other “dorky” paraphernalia. Rob was said to have dryly quipped that anyone who stands next to Calista Flockhart, his love interest and the show’s main draw, would look “dark.”

For those following the show’s current season on Studio 23, Rob’s character will have (spoiler alert!) not one, but two major heart attacks. He will appear in succeeding episodes recuperating from the surgery while doggedly running for the state governorship position — and not sporting any tan at all!

The 44-year-old actor, who rose to fame in the ‘80s as a member of the brat pack, is not the only handsome face in the cast of the domestic drama. In fact, all actors in the cast of Brothers & Sisters are what one would call unfairly — so unfairly — good-looking.

The male cast of the show (minus Rob) recently met with entertainment journalists from all over the world in Hollywood to talk about their characters and their experiences on the show.

When ABC launched Brothers & Sisters in the fall of 2006, audiences welcomed back to television two of its best loved actresses: Sally Field and Calista. The premiere season drew from the strength of its lead-in show, Desperate Housewives, and quickly became a huge hit.

The show began with the death of the family patriarch William Walker. The death opened a proverbial can of worms and brought the lives of once closely-knit Pasadena-based family to an uncompromising series of painful discoveries, shocking revelations, loud confrontations, and eventual heartbreaks.

Now on its third season, the show continues to follow the Walkers through the complicated maze of American life today. They continue to face life with all the challenges normal families face at one point in their lives. Inevitable fights and confrontations still break out over what is seemingly a quiet and normal dinner table.

Eldest sibling Sarah (Emmy Award nominee Rachel Griffiths) is now a newly-divorced mother of two who finds herself in a power struggle with her father’s lifelong mistress, Holly Harper (Patricia Wettig), over control of the family business, Ojai Foods.

Also running the business is loyal brother Tommy (Balthazar Getty). Tommy, this season, finds himself torn between his loyalty to his family and the desire to make his father’s company profitable again, while trying to keep his own marriage alive and provide the emotional support needed by his beautiful wife, Julia and baby daughter Elizabeth.

Balthazar related that working with such a huge cast of big actors was an amazing experience for him although he admits to being frustrated in the beginning. “Every actor wants to work and likes to be challenged. Everybody that says they’re just happy coasting along is probably not being honest with themselves. For me, it’s never been about how often I’m in an episode or if I’m just there, but that I’m pushed and that I have the opportunity to push myself as an actor. I mean, I didn’t feel that I was being pushed enough. But this year’s been amazing for me. I’ve been really, really happy. And, you know, I’ve just had more opportunity to push myself, which is why I got into acting.”

Dave Annable, who is the baby of the family, Justin, echoed Balthazar’s observation. “There’s like 45 of us on the show. So in an hour of television, I mean, obviously story lines are up and down. And, you know, sometime you are sort of in the back seat for a couple episodes, and then you get your moment — your story line that goes for a couple of episodes. And you just do what you can and run with it.”

“Like Balthazar had said we’re working with an incredible group of actors. And for me, it’s just a wonderful experience. And, obviously, like anybody, I want to work and be pushed. And, you know, I think everybody does. And our show has found that way to give us all our shot. And we all sort of get our shots.” adds Dave, who, this season, finds himself unsuccessful in resisting his attraction to Rebecca (Emily VanCamp), who he once thought to be his illegitimate half sister.

During the first two seasons, Dave’s character has struggled with war trauma, injury and addiction.

Balthazar is rumored to be leaving the show at the end of the current season. That rumor was never addressed during the junket.

British-born actor Matthew Rhys portrays another brother, Kevin, an openly gay lawyer who has finally found his soul mate and a new spouse in compassionate, loving, chef-in-training Scotty Wandell (Luke Macfarlane).

Matthew thinks it was fantastic that some sexual boundaries have been pushed in a very subtle way on TV. “You know, I think we’ve accomplished that very well. He’s an integral part of the family who happens to be gay. I think that’s great. Then we get the opportunity to explore several specific issues that might affect only same-sex relationships.”

Did he hesitate in taking the part? “I’ve played several gay characters before. It’s never an issue,” he says. “It wasn’t the first time, to be perfectly honest. I just treat every role exactly that.”

He also added that what makes his work more fulfilling are the reactions he gets from gay men who write him fan mails. “They’re all very happy that the positive has been presented.”

“I think it speaks to a sort of lack of role models that there is a real support for Kevin and Scotty and what they represent on the show,” adds Luke. “And I really applaud the creators and ABC for showing a real romance story from beginning to end.”

Kevin and Scotty are not the only gay characters in the series. Saul Holden (Ron Rifkin), the emotional pillar of the Walker family, has finally chosen to live his own life now as an openly gay man.

The role is quite a departure for Ron who is more familiar to TV audiences for his sinister turn in Alias, the hit ABC series that catapulted Jennifer Garner to stardom.

“Brothers & Sisters is a much bigger hit than Alias was. Alias was really a “cult” hit so the people are “obsessed” with it,” observes Ron. He said that fans were particularly obsessed with his Alias character Sloane than his Uncle Saul character on the show. “I get all these, you know, Alias freaks. Brothers & Sisters is just families-go-crazy. So, you know, it’s a totally different experience for me.”

Calista portrays the fifth Walker sibling, Kitty. In the current season, she and Robert (Rob) move forward with their plans to adopt a child after a devastating miscarriage and an unsuccessful Presidential run — and other life-threatening developments, that is.

Sally, who has won countless awards for her role as Nora Walker, the family matriarch, continues with her own share of problems while trying to solve each of her five children’s problems.

Brothers & Sisters airs Monday nights at 9 on Studio 23.