[Blindtlk] Meet Christopher Gorham, Star of Covert Affairs on the USA Network

[Sherri]

Covert Affairs is a great show and the blind character in the show is 
portrayed very well. Part of his character is that he is a blinded veteran 
as well. Please see intervview below. Please share.

Meet Christopher Gorham, Star of Covert Affairs on the USA Network

In honor of US Veterans' Day, VisionAware's [1] Editorial Director Maureen 
Duffy is pleased to interview Christopher Gorham, who stars as blind 
military intelligence agent August "Auggie" Anderson in the hit dramatic 
series Covert Affairs [2] on the USA Network.

Covert Affairs tells the story of a young CIA trainee, Annie Walker (Piper 
Perabo), who is summoned to duty, with minimal explanation, as a field 
operative with the Domestic Protection Division (DPD), housed within CIA 
headquarters.

Auggie Anderson is currently head of the Technical Operations Department 
within the DPD. Auggie is a former Captain in the 82nd Airborne Division and 
Special Forces operative who was blinded while on a mission in Tikrit, Iraq. 
Auggie understands the intricacies of the CIA in a way that few others do 
and serves as Annie's guide through the tangled CIA bureaucracy.

Maureen Duffy: Hi Chris. I appreciate your taking time to visit with our 
readers! I've read several interviews in which you discuss your audition as 
Auggie, including the fact that you didn't know very much about blindness 
back then. I am curious, however, about this: What drew you to audition for 
Auggie, the blind character? What did you believe you could bring to the 
role?

Christopher Gorham: Initially, like most of the guys who read for this part, 
the challenge of playing a physically convincing blind character is what 
caught my attention. What I needed to know before I accepted the role, 
however, was that Auggie would also be an emotionally convincing character 
with depth and complexity.

I liked the fact that he excels at what he does, but also wanted to make 
sure he didn't become the typical quirky computer geek that so many 
procedural shows have now. I wanted him to be a leading man, who happens to 
be blind, and I think we've succeeded.



Piper Perabo and Christopher Gorham M.D. And of course I have to ask this 
question: How do you respond to people who believe that the role of Auggie 
should be played by a blind actor?

C.G. Honestly, I'm almost never asked that question. Certainly, a blind 
actor can be capable of playing a role like this. I think that goes without 
saying. I really can't speak for the producers, nor the network, as to why 
they chose as they did.

The only thing we've done, that a blind actor might not be able to do, is 
the flashback episode [3] showing Auggie in Iraq before he lost his sight.

M.D. Have your ideas about blindness - and disability in general, perhaps - 
changed since you first auditioned? If so, in what ways?

C.G. Oh, sure - of course! My admiration for people living with disabilities 
has absolutely soared since I started working on this show.

I met a man who lost his sight at twenty years old who gave up his mobility 
training [4] for an entire year because he was too embarrassed to practice 
walking with his cane on his street. He then worked up the courage to do the 
work, moved on with his life, and now works as a professional and is married 
with children.

I met a young man who is congenitally blind and plays drums in a heavy metal 
band.

And David Lepofsky, who's well known in Canada as a lawyer and disability 
advocate, has introduced me to all the newest, coolest technological gadgets 
for the blind [5] (some of which have made it onto Auggie's desk!).

The people I've met and the reading that I've done have all served to 
educate me about the technical, and emotional, aspects of living without 
sight; but, as importantly, they've reminded me how different each 
individual is.

It's the uniqueness of each individual with a disability that, I feel, has 
driven us to make Auggie a "real" person, not just a "blind guy."

M.D. In a recent interview, you mentioned that most sighted people don't 
know any blind people, and, as a sighted person who happens to have many 
blind friends, I do agree with you. Now, of course, you've spent quite a bit 
of time around blind people, both as colleagues and friends. What is the 
most interesting thing you've learned - as Auggie or as Chris - about living 
with blindness?

C.G. The most interesting thing I've learned is how differently each person 
lives; at the same time, the training blind people receive seems to be 
pretty standardized. For instance, mobility training [4], as I understand it 
and have (in a limited way) experienced, is based on a standard body of 
knowledge. Safe cooking technique [6] is another example of something that's 
fairly standard, such as using trays, not leaving knives in the sink [7], 
etc.

What's great, and should be expected but often is not, is how each 
individual takes that training and then modifies it for their individual 
needs. For instance, I've seen one, maybe two, blind people on the street 
who are holding their canes the "proper" way. The rest of them are just 
holding it however they find comfortable.

In Istanbul, where we were shooting for Auggie's flashback episode [3] of 
Covert Affairs, I saw a blind man walking, quickly, in the middle of 
hundreds of people with his beat-up, bent cane just kind of held out in 
front of him and he was one of the happiest-looking people I saw on that 
trip.

M.D. I've also read about your rehabilitation training at CNIB [8] in 
preparation for your role. This especially interests me because, for many 
years, I was a university professor who taught the adapted "skills of 
blindness" course at Salus University [9]. What was the most difficult skill 
for you to learn? Is there any daily living activity (blindness-related) 
that you still want - or need - to master?


 C.G. Street crossing was the most difficult. I know that anyone who's gone 
through that training knows what I'm talking about. Until you've stood, 
sightless, on the corner of a major intersection, trying to listen for the 
traffic pattern and planning your veer so you don't walk into oncoming 
traffic, then walk not knowing, for sure, how far you have to go, nor, if 
the corner isn't very tactile, knowing for sure when you've made it all - 
well, you know what I mean.

That was tough, and I wouldn't go out and try it alone. And let me say this, 
I haven't "master"ed ANY of the blindness-related living activities [10]! 
This is, very much, a work in progress.

M.D. Speaking of mobility, will Auggie ever get a guide dog? As you know, a 
dog can definitely be a "babe magnet," so to speak!

C.G. I've wondered the same thing. The answer is, I don't know. But, you 
know what they say about dogs and kids in film. (In case you don't know what 
they say, they say dogs and kids will always steal the scene, so don't work 
with them!)

M.D. What are some of the more humorous things that have happened to you (on 
or off the Covert Affairs set) related to your role as a blind person?

C.G. Early on, in Season One, we had to re-shoot a scene because I realized 
halfway through that if Joan (senior DPD officer Joan Campbell, portrayed by 
Kari Matchett) wasn't leading me, and she hadn't been, there's no way I'd be 
able to turn the corner, during the "walk and talk," exactly at the same 
time she turned. To make my point, on one take I just kept walking 
straight - out of the shot!

Also, I added a moment, in the pilot, where Annie takes off without me, 
forgetting that I'm blind because we'd just met. Real, and funny.

M.D. I imagine that an actor's defining role, such as your portrayal of 
Auggie Anderson, has particular meaning for the actor. What will you take 
away from this role that will remain with you?

C.G. I didn't anticipate the very real positive impact that this fictional 
man has had, and will continue to have. I'm so proud of how we've been able 
to reflect, with Auggie, the capability and humanity of not just the blind 
community, but the disabled veteran community as well.

I'm very active in social media and have received hundreds of messages of 
support and thanks from veterans and their families. Some of those words 
will stay with me forever.

M.D. Do you have any words for our readers who (along with their family 
members and friends) are dealing with vision loss every day?

C.G. You stand up and move forward when others would lie down and give up. I 
don't know the strength you have. I can promise you that I do everything in 
my power to honor you, and yours, with my work on Covert Affairs.

M.D. And finally, on US Veterans' Day, is there anything you'd like to say 
to our veterans who have lost their sight due to combat injuries?

C.G. I hope that we make you proud. I hope that, by portraying a disabled 
veteran as a strong, smart, capable, even sexy (!) member of his fictional 
community, we're honoring the very real roles you play in your very real 
homes, neighborhoods and careers. You are our heroes.

We thank Christopher Gorham for his support of VisionAware [1] and urge you 
to watch Covert Affairs, which began Season Three (congratulations!) on 
November 1, 2011. You can also watch full episodes online at the Covert 
Affairs web site [2]. All photos courtesy of USA Network.

Where you can find Christopher Gorham online:

Sherri Brun
flmom2006 at gmail.com
Character is the side of yourself you choose to show the world.
Integrity is what you do, what you say and how you act when you think no one 
is paying attention.
 NFBF Newsline® chair
www.nfbnewsline.org
E-mail:  newsline at nfbflorida.org
Secretary FDCP INC
www.fdcp.org
Vice-president National Federation of the Blind of Florida Greater Orlando 
Chapter
http://nfbfgoc.org
Chair Orange County Disability Advisory Board
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