Gordon Thomson, best known for playing the villainous and sexy Adam Carrington on the primetime soap “Dynasty” in the 1980s, had some harsh words for the new CW reboot set to premiere this fall.
“I have had a look at the new ‘Dynasty’ and I am appalled,” he said in a sprawling Daily Beast interview on Monday. “What the f— is the CW doing? It’s utter s—.”
He called the acting “dreadful” and the writing “appalling” and noted that while the new series shared character names and general plot points, he was disappointed that the new show is a reboot of producer Aaron Spelling’s original soap in name only.
“Why call it ‘Dynasty?’ It’s nothing to do with ‘Dynasty’ at all. It’s insulting. If the afterlife exists — it doesn’t, but if it did — Aaron would be having major fits in his grave,” he said. “And the audience the CW is aiming for is going to think it’s s— because it is such s— that a cretinous 6-year-old would not be interested. It’s abominable.”
Elsewhere in the interview, the 72-year-old discussed his homosexuality, a fact that he’s kept under wraps up until now. “It’s not something I’ve ever announced,” he said. “I’m assuming that people know, and now that I’m my age that’s fine. I don’t go out of my way because it’s my generation, I think. I’m probably as homophobic as any gay man alive because of my background.”
Thomson, whose character Adam was actually homophobic, said that he didn’t come out earlier due to cultural attitudes at the time, which included the AIDS panic of the 1980s. He also mentioned that he had self esteem issues that stemmed from him growing up.
“I wasn’t out, are you kidding?” Thomson said. “The show, the time, the fact I was a leading man to look at. No. No. No. Rock [Hudson] only came out when he got sick. This was an utterly different time.”
“Dynasty” featured gay characters — including Adam’s brother, Steven, played by Al Corey and Jack Coleman — but wasn’t always kind to them in its storylines and in how it handled their sexuality.
In the CW reboot, Steven, played by James Mackay, is out of the closet and, at least in the pilot, accepted by his family.
Thomson said he regretted how the original series handled the issue. “It was appallingly handled. They opened a can of worms and weren’t true to it, and they could have been,” Thomson explained. “They had good actors playing the parts. It was a big shame. I’m very sorry.”