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Letter to a G.I.: A Love Story
By Adam Crawford
Blaine Anderson, star of the upcoming Letter to a G.I., has a face that's been hard to miss for the last several years. Since his big screen debut as an All-American good guy with a bad streak of romantic luck in The Right One, his brown eyes and charming grin have been plastered across screens and busses almost continuously. He has a reputation as a manic hard worker; in addition to his work in seven films over the last five years, Anderson is widely known to have been recording an album over the last year, and he composed some of the music for the score of this last film.
When I arrived at his home, I expected to be met by Anderson's publicist, Britta Nadeem. Anderson has been linked with any number of other actors and Hollywood types, but he's developed a reputation for putting out a slick interview on a carefully vetted and cleared short list of topics. I prepared for the meeting with those in mind; I did some research on the film, on the short letter that is the original source material. Anderson has always been out, and so I had some questions ready about the challenges and responsibilities of portraying a gay man in a different era.
I should have known when he answered the door in a wrinkled white button-down, faded jeans, and bare feet that I was in for something more.
Out: Thanks for having me out today. I know it must be a busy time for you right now.
Blaine: Man, it's been crazy. Thanks for coming out, though. I'm glad we got to fit this in before the film comes out.
Are you excited about it?
Blaine: Well, yeah! Of course we are. We saw the final cut of it a couple weeks ago at Johnny's house, and it was – I know we always think our projects are good, but this is just – they did such a great job. I hadn’t seen the footage since really early days, and they made something magical out of it.
You did some of the scoring. How was that? Is that something you think you'd like to do more of in the future?
Blaine: Yeah, maybe. I'm trying to slow down a little bit right now, actually. I want to focus on the album I'm working on, and to be honest with you, jumping into another film won't be easy. Johnny let me take home a copy and I can't stop watching it. This one has real staying power for me.
Was that the first time you'd seen your music paired with the film, too?
Blaine: Yeah, definitely. I did a lot of the writing during the filming, which I think really helped. I had a very clear sense of what it should feel like, because when I would go home to write I would be able to think about the tone and tenor of what we'd shot that day. So I think it helped, and I think that's part of why I'm so happy with the film. It all works.
The early reviews are very good. Violet Lloyd said that, "there's a natural chemistry between the two leads, and Anderson's solidity and easy charisma as Brian surprised even me, and I've been a fan of his career since before he showed everybody what he could do in Latrobe."
Blaine: (With a wide grin) Yeah, that was very nice of her. But come on, you're burying the lede. What'd she say about Kurt?
"However, it's Hummel, a big screen newcomer, who is the real delight here. His performance is vulnerable, complex, capturing all the pathos and passion we'd expect to see from a character like poor Dave without ever becoming maudlin or weepy. If the offers don't come pouring in for him after this performance, there is no justice in the world."
Blaine: Yeah, exactly. I mean, I'm proud of my work in this film, but what Kurt did with Dave? That's on a whole other level. He's amazing in this film. I can't wait for people to see him.
So you agree, we should expect to see big things from him?
Blaine: I won't have it any other way. I know big things are coming from him. He's phenomenal.
You seem to have become a big fan of his.
(Anderson grinned at me then, boyish and playful, and waited for more. I timed it later – on the tape there's a seven second pause. It's a technique I've never seen him use, not with a smile that wide open, and so I decided to just go for it.)
In fact there were some photographs several months back that suggest that –
Blaine: Yeah. Yeah, I know just the ones you're talking about. It… yeah. Hey, you know, can you hold on a second?
(Anderson got up with an apologetic smile and disappeared into the kitchen. I sat there and let the tape run, unsure what I'd just done and worrying that the interview would come to an abrupt end.
When he came back in, he had Kurt Hummel by the hand.
A pause here, then: we've seen his headshot and the stills the studio has released for promotion, and none of us are likely to forget his performance of "Three Little Maids From School" with Stephen Colbert earlier this month. Forget what you've seen; the headshot makes him seem like your standard broad-shouldered Hollywood type, the stills are all about the character and the uniform, and he's obviously learned a thing or two about Hollywood packaging and promotion. In Blaine Anderson's living room, Kurt Hummel was something else altogether. He was also barefoot, but in tailored linen trousers and a crisp white shirt, topped with a Hermes scarf. He's a handsome man – his jawline crisp and his eyes bright with intelligence – but he moves like the Broadway star he was just a few years ago.
He cast a quick glance back at Anderson before he reached forward with a smile to introduce himself and apologize for crashing our interview. When he settled onto the sofa, though, it was under Anderson's arm and curling into his side.)
Blaine: So, I'm sorry, but you were asking?
Right. Okay. I was asking about the photographs and the rumors that started swirling around the pair of you during filming.
Blaine: The rumors that we were together.
Yes.
Blaine: Well, we are.
(There's another long pause here, but what the tape can't tell you is how Hummel rolled his eyes at Anderson while Anderson just grinned back at him, and the way Anderson tilted his head to defer the next set of answers.) Do you want to talk about that?
Kurt: Have you seen the movie yet?
No. There's supposed to be a screener waiting for me by the time I make it back to the office.
Kurt: Well, the filming was long. And very intimate, at times. Getting into Dave's head was… it's a process. It's nothing I haven't done before, obviously, but this is a different kind of character, and that he was a real person – a fictionalized version, obviously, but still. There's a certain responsibility that comes with playing somebody like that.
Your character, Dave, plays a young GI during the North African Campaign of World War II who falls in love with a fellow soldier.
Kurt: Yes, exactly. And, not to give too much away since the letter has now been published everywhere, but they separate with promises to be together after the war, but Dave never quite makes it home.
It's good material.
Kurt: Such good material, and what the screenwriters made out of it is amazing, but it's also very – Don't Ask Don't Tell has been over for years, and the world is different now than the one we grew up in. But that feeling, that sense that what you care about could be whisked away from you by coincidence and bad timing, compounded by a world that doesn't quite understand – every gay man over the age of 25 knows those feelings, still.
Definitely.
Kurt: I'm saying all this because this is what we were both thinking about when we were making this film, the tragedy of this story and also, I think, our own disappointments and hopes. I think that the film will give viewers a chance to think about their own lives and the things they always wished for, and I know that we both thought about it while we were making it. And when you're being thoughtful like that, reflective on your life and what you've always really wanted, the things that can bring you joy are suddenly very clear.
Like each other.
Kurt: Yes.
Blaine: Exactly.
(Their gazes were steady, and there's a solidity to them that made the next question seem fair.) So you think the two of you might get the happy ending Brian and Dave never quite got?
Blaine: I hope so. We were married last week.
(This time the pause was all mine. I've never had an interview run away from me quite like this, and from the smug grins on the sofa across from, they knew it.) Oh, shit. Really?
Blaine: (brandishing his left hand and laughing) Really. We were planning to wait until after the movie was out, but it just –.
Kurt: (putting a hand on his husband's knee) Like I said: sometimes things are just very clear.
My goodness. Okay. Congratulations! That will… change a few things, I think. About the article.
Blaine: Yes. I know, and I'm sorry to ambush you. It's just – we wanted to get out in front of this, to tell the story our own way, and I wanted it to be from you guys. It just seemed like the best way.
Kurt: This film, it's a piece of our history. It's a broader film, it has to be, and I hope that it's seen by a big audience because I think it has a lot to offer people. And because I'd like to work more. (His smile was playful, charming.) But it's also ours. And so is this.
Blaine: Yeah. This is my seventh film, and it's the first time I've been able to play a gay character of any real substance. Brian's story isn't mine, but it could have been.
Yeah.
Blaine: And so I think, you know, Kurt and I are newlyweds, just like any other. We're going to want some time to enjoy that, and I hoped that putting this out there would help with that and help cut through some of the questions. Yes, we're together. Yes, Kurt is my husband. Yes, we met during the filming of this movie. But this is bigger than that, and I hope that people will understand if we just want a little privacy, and if I take a little time to learn how to do this. (He waved the hand with the ring again. To be honest, he seemed unable to stop once he'd started.)
What about you, Kurt? Are you going to take some time out?
Kurt: Oh goodness, no. I don't have Blaine's ridiculous schedule to sort out. I'm looking for work, waiting for the next perfect part to fall into my lap.
Anything looking good?
Kurt: Nothing that I want to talk about yet. Just keep your fingers crossed for me.
Will do. Okay. (I remember looking down at my notebook then, at the list of questions I had written out before I showed up, and thinking what a perfect tit of a journalist I was.) Anything else?
Blaine: Go see the movie.
Kurt: Bring tissue. And all your friends. It'll be like group therapy.
Blaine: It's a great love story.
---
Blaine drops the tablet on the bed, and looks to where Kurt is evaluating a robin's egg blue brocade vest against two shirts, holding it up against one and then the other. They still have hours before they have to be at the theatre, but Kurt has been making noises about giving each other facials, and he seems to be focused on the clothes.
"They both look fine, Kurt. I don't really think it matters."
Kurt spares him a glance of utter disdain. "Easy for you to say, Mr. I'll-just-pull-out-the-Armani-and-go. It matters. This one has such a gorgeous weave, but the collar spreads a little too much for the cut of the vest. And this one's collar is better, but the fabric is just… dull."
Blaine watches him. He's still disheveled, his hair messy from the morning they'd spent in bed before Kurt had remembered that their piece in Out was scheduled to be up their morning. Kurt had read it in ten silent minutes, his face still and impassive while he'd read and Blaine watched him carefully, and then he handed the tablet to Blaine while he rolled out of bed and headed for his closet.
He wants to ask Kurt what he thought about the interview. He wants to ask Kurt if he's okay with how it turned out. Instead he says, "You have so many clothes. Do you want to just find another vest?"
Kurt hums and then says, "Well, yes. But I always thought this one was nice with my eyes. And also…."
Kurt looks at him and smiles, and brings the vest with him when he crosses back to the bed. Blaine scoots over to make room for him, and Kurt perches on the edge, holding the vest and its hanger out at arm's length so they can see it. Subtle silver thread woven through it catches the morning light.
"I made this vest, actually. Well, with some help from the costume shop. It's cut from the jacket I wore when I was Ariel."
Blaine melts; this sweet, sentimental man. "Your first role on Broadway. Kurt."
"Yeah."
Blaine thinks for a moment. He wishes he could have seen him. "You were in period costume?"
"Leslie wanted to go with something a little more subtle. The goddesses were dressed like ladies from court. The idea was that the other-worldly elements were more grounded in our reality – she had a vision of the magic within each of us which, I mean, obviously it worked."
"How long was the run?"
"Just over 1000 shows."
Blaine whistles. "That's a long time for Shakespeare."
"Yes. It was… it felt like it was never going to end. And by the end I hated those jackets but… well, it was an important time for me, and I didn't want to let it go completely. And the production was closing." Kurt shrugs, stares at the vest. "I've saved it, since then – I've never worn it."
"So yes. You need to wear it. Definitely. Go with the first shirt. And you're right – the color will make your eyes look amazing."
Kurt lowers the hanger so it's resting against his knees, and turns to look at him. "Okay. You're right. Once I have a tie on it, the collar should be fine." Kurt looks… vulnerable. His eyes are soft and his mouth is a little turned down at the corners.
Blaine leans forward and drops a kiss there. "Are you okay?"
Kurt nods against him, pressing their foreheads together. "I'm fine."
"Did you like how the interview turned out?"
Kurt looks at him for a minute, and then he says, "Are you sure that was the right thing to do?"
Yes, Blaine wants to say, but instead he says, "Which part?"
"The bait and switch. Making an interview about the movie into an interview about us." Kurt's back to staring at the vest draped over his knees, running one finger along the swirls in the brocade.
Blaine gets one hand on his back, and Kurt leans back against it just for a moment. "I still think it was the best of our options, yes. I'm not taking the ring off, Kurt, and if we didn't leak it before, it was going to come up tonight. This way, we'll get questions about it, sure, but the news won't come out tonight. I think it was the best way to keep the focus on the movie, as much as possible."
Kurt sighs. "You're right. I think I'm just anxious. Maybe a little sad."
"About the carpet?"
"About the end. This is the end of it – everybody will be there tonight, and then that's it. It's really over, and there's no reason for us to see everybody again."
Blaine grins at him. "That's not all bad. No more Dan."
Kurt's face is priceless, and oh Blaine loves him so much. "I wonder if we can get your uniforms. I have no idea what you'd make out of that much olive cotton, but if you're feeling sentimental I'm sure we could – "
Kurt slaps at him, soft and sweet, but he grins back at him, too, which was the point. "I think I'm already saddled with too much baggage off of this film, don't you think?"
His mock outrage makes the smile turn brighter, and they get stuck grinning at each other, quiet and peaceful in their bedroom. Blaine says, "So the interview?"
Kurt straightens his spine, huffs out a breath, and says, "I have no regrets. About any of it." He holds the vest up again, stares at it critically, and adds, "Except that I don't have the perfect shirt for this vest."
Blaine nudges against his side. "Leave it. It will be fine. Wanna take a shower with me this morning?"
Kurt's brow is up, a smile teasing around his eyes and his mouth, and Blaine knows his husband enough to read yes on his face.
---
Eight hours later Blaine steps out of a car onto a red carpet. He turns to Kurt, watches him climb out of the car with a smile stretched across his face. The crowd is screaming, and the lights bounce off the silver threads in Kurt's vest and the ring on his finger when he goes to button his jacket once he's standing. Blaine takes his hand, locking their fingers together, and together they start walking toward the crowd of reporters gathered under the awning.
When they pass the crowd of fans in the bleachers, it's obvious which of them have read the article or heard about it, because they blow bubbles and shout their congratulations, hold up hastily made signs with bells and rings shedding glitter by the minute. Kurt laughs high and loud, and Blaine has never felt so light. He smiles at them, waves and holds up Kurt's hand, and makes his way down the carpet, sneaking glances at Kurt while he goes. He leans over and whispers, "You look wonderful," just as they stop in front of Ruben Ford. He's interviewed Blaine before at these things, and he looks like he's going to faint from excitement right now. Blaine shares a grin with Kurt, then lets go of him to shake Ruben's hand.
"Blaine! Congratulations, oh my goodness. Big night for you tonight!"
He puts his arm around Kurt, pulls him close and says, "Yes, it is."
Kurt leans against him, flashes pop, and Ruben starts asking questions Blaine could answer in his sleep. Marley walks by behind Ruben, beautiful in pale green and pulling a face, and Blaine smiles brighter. This is his life, and it's amazing.