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'Warehouse 13': Aaron Ashmore on Steve Jinks, the Warehouse's first gay team member
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Aaron Ashmore, who won us over with memorable roles on "Veronica Mars" and "Smallville," is continuing his sci-fi career and joining SyFy's "Warehouse 13" as Steve Jinks, an ATF agent who is recruited onto the team because of his ability to tell when a person is lying, without fail.Ashmore and series creator Jack Kenny recently sat down with Out to discuss bringing the first gay agent into the series, now in its third season. Kenny says that it was actually the network suits who first suggested making Jinks gay. "We were pitching this character and a couple of the execs are gay and said, "What if Steve was gay?" We immediately jumped on the idea -- but it's just a part of who he is, it doesn't define the character."
Jinks' action-packed life doesn't leave much time for romantic relationships. "These people's lives are crazy trying to save the world, so there's not a lot of time for love," Ashmore says. "I think when he interacts with some people, in the back of my mind as an actor, I'll decide that he thinks a guy is cute. But it doesn't play into how he does his job."
"It's the same thing with the straight characters. There's really no time for that. Last season, we tried to get into relationship stuff and what we found that we really don't have the space. They're always out in the field," Kenny adds.
Of course, even without the workaholic factor, the ability to be able to tell when a person isn't telling the truth, even with little white lies, can sometimes get in the way of romance. "That's a big thing that influences who Steve is. We all know that people lie, but when you know that it's happening every time, it makes it hard to be in a relationship with someone," Ashmore says.
Though the character's backstory isn't deeply explored as far as family life or history, Kenny does have an idea of what his life was like before joining the team. "We haven't explored a lot of Steve's history, other than we know he has a sister," Kenny says. "In the back of my head, it was a difficult coming out. I don't think his parents were accepting right away. Steve's an emotionally conservative guy and I think that came from the way his parents reacted. I think he's been in a couple of relationships and he's hurt. He's hesitant about opening himself up to somebody. These are things we'll explore as we get to know the character more, but I base a lot of that on how Aaron has played the character. It's fun to watch him fill out Steve."
Tune in to "Warehouse 13" on Mondays at 9 p.m. EST on SyFy.
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Photo/Video credit: SyFy
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Seriously? Gays are over-represented in television shows given the small percentage they are in society. Other groups are severely under-represented, especially Hispanics and African Americans. Not too mention overweight people.
Artie's overweight, Frederic and Leena are African American, and everyone else is Canadian. Come on, they're hiring Canadians, are you really going to give them a hard time?
small % of glbt that are out, there are so many glbt that never come out and have families. my 8th grade english teacher had 2 kids and he was gay. so no i don't think! but i agree with Hispanics and African Americans.they do need more! they don't like overweight people, which i am 1,really on tv. glee is really the only show with one.
What would fat people do on TV? They're useless. You ever chase a fat person? No, no, because they won't run.
Myka - "Why did you let the monster of the week eat Artie?!"
Fat Guy - "I am fat and couldn't walk quickly enough, plus I was too out of breath from trying to get that fireaxe and stab it. Also, do you smell donuts?"
Yeah, that sounds great.
I don't understand why it has to be advertised what sexual preference a character has. If he's gay, that's fine... bring it out during the show's storytelling. But if you have to announce each character's sexual preference before they are even introduced on the show, what does that say about our society?
Losing Joanne Kelly is the death knell for this show anyway. Gays are way, way over represented in the media today. It is absolutely ridiculous.
His "memorable" role on VM that "won us over" lasted what, three episodes? I had to research to confirm that he was on the show. He was Veronica's abusive ex-boyfriend who dealt drugs, dumped her for a con-artist/thief and later begged for her help when he was accused of rape. Really won me over. As for the producer's assertion that being gay is "just a part of who he is, it doesn't define the character," what baloney. What else have you told us about him? Does he like music? Into sports? Does he drink? Cook? Read? Collect DVDs? We don't know because all you've told us about him is that he's gay. I don't see anyone explicitly pointing out that the other characters are straight. He's a stereotype, a token, and you've admitted that the only reason he's is gay is because gay network execs wanted a token. It had nothing to do with the development of the character, it's tacked on like a printed T-shirt, yet it's presented and hyped as the only characteristic that you feel is worth mentioning. It's not "part" of who he is, it's all he is, and that defines the character.
Aw geez. Why do they even have to go there? Can't a show be good fun without it having to be politically correct?
Wait - what? We're losing Joanne Kelley? Where'd you read that? Say it ain't so??????
If it's handled the way they handle the character of Diana Berrigan on White Collar, it should be fine. On that show, the character's being gay is just another part of the character, but not her whole definition.
It's good, because normally Hollywood writers are about as subtle as a brick on these things.