NICK BURNS
CHAD ALLEN HAS CERTAINLY BEEN KNOWN to explore uncharted territory in his work
of late. The openly gay actor recently starred as TV’s first out queer
detective in the here! Networks series Third Man Out. And this month, he forges
wilder frontiers with End of the Spear, a big-screen indie flick—oddly
enough, shepherded by conservative Christians—in which he portrays both
the evangelical missionary, Steve Saint, and his son. The true story of five
missionaries who were murdered in 1956 in the Ecuadorian Amazon, End of the
Spear documents a family’s journey back into the jungle to make contact
with the violent tribe once again. We tracked down Allen at the W Hotel in Chicago
and interrogated him as to how an out and proud gay man landed two pivotal roles
in the film, and why gay moviegoers shouldn’t skip it.
What attracted you to End of the Spear?
It’s an amazing story! The film’s not only about the deaths of the
missionaries, but the family’s journey. At the same time, it’s about
the tribe’s radical spiritual transformation from hate and fear to love—which
ended the killing that threatened to wipe out their society.
Were you nervous about playing a Christian missionary in a Christian-funded
film? That’s a gamble for all parties involved, right?
I had my hesitations, but not about playing a missionary. I knew the people
who were producing this story were conservative, Evangelical Christians and
how important this was to them. So, I wondered if they knew what they were doing
by casting me. I scheduled a meeting with the filmmakers and said, “I
think it’s great that you guys want me to do this film, but you have to
understand that this is who I am. I need to know that you get that and respect
that.” But they already knew all about it. We all made a commitment to
work together.
Do you think that gay audiences might hesitate to see the film because
it’s associated with conservative Christians?
I hope my audience will go because it’s a great story. Some
gay people may automatically feel that it’s coming from the enemy, but
my goal is to dispel that idea. The message of this movie is the same message
that I hope to carry in the work that I do—a message of love. It’s
only our perceived barriers that hold us back. Our perception of anybody as
an enemy is destructive. And the producers resisted making an overtly preachy
Christian film.
Although the film takes place in the Amazon jungle, it was shot in
Panama. Why not shoot the film in the Waodani village in Ecuador?
The Waodani live three days from the nearest telephone in Ecuador,
and it’s hard to shoot a movie without telephones. [Laughs.] We worked
with a tribe in Panama that lives in a traditional manner. Some had never seen
a movie. We cast them to play the Waodani and brought movie cameras into their
world. We discovered they were extraordinary actors! They were able to give
themselves over to make-believe in a powerful way. They didn’t have the
same hesitations or fears that some actors have. The director would ask a tribe
member to believe they were dying and they were able to go there 100%. I saw
some terrifyingly realistic performances coming out of these kids who had never
spent a day in acting class. It made me wonder what the hell I’ve been
doing all these years.
 You lived in the jungle for three months?
No. We lived at a hotel on the Panama Canal. We shot in the surrounding
jungles and traveled out to nearby locations. We shot along the riverbanks,
and had arsenals of long riverboats with huge Hollywood lights.
So,
you weren’t exactly roughing it.
No. [Laughs.] The roof did leak a little, but Panama wasn’t
roughing it — Ecuador was roughing it! I was invited by the Waodani to go
into the Amazon and live with them for a couple weeks after we finished filming.
We learned to hunt with poison darts and blowguns, we speared catfish in the
river, we built and thatched our own roofs — it was just incredible.
Did you miss city life?
Not really. Well, actually I craved peanut butter, I don’t know
why—and air conditioning. We slept in hammocks because you can’t
sleep on the ground — it’s always wet and there were snakes. And we
had to cover our heads, hands and feet while we slept, because vampire bats
would land on you and suck your blood at night. And evidently, I’m a bug
magnet, so bugs came from miles away just to hang out with me.
How did you communicate with the tribespeople?
A lot of the younger kids speak Spanish. When you are living with
people, you find ways to communicate. There was one boy, he was probably 16,
and he just followed me around. We couldn’t speak a word to each other
because he couldn’t speak Spanish. But we communicated and it was like
I had a little brother for a week.
Off-camera, how are you these days? How’s your love life?
I’m dating; I’m happy.
Who are you dating?
A special person.
A special person, but not a famous person?
My current guy and I met about 5 months ago. So far, so good. Relationships
are scary and beautiful and amazing and the most significant way that we learn
about each other.
Finally, was your experience with End of the Spear worth it?
I would do it all again in a second—bug bites and all.
End of the Spear (Jungle Films) opens in theaters
on January 20th.
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