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

[T. Joseph Carter]

Of course he's a Braille reader!

And if you could have a very attractive guy as a sighted guide, 
wouldn't you take the opportunity?  (Or is that a guy thing?)  *grin*

Joseph


On Wed, Nov 02, 2011 at 04:42:46AM -0400, Penny Duffy wrote:
>I have only seen him use that tool in the CIA building. When he is out and
>about he uses a white cane. That and he uses sight guide with Anne because
>I think they like it.   All that snuggling. He is a pretty postive
>charactor. As a huge bonus he is a braille reader
>On Nov 2, 2011 3:10 AM, "T. Joseph Carter" <tjcarter at spiritsubstance.com>
>wrote:
>
>> Is he still using that cheeseball laser cane prop?
>>
>> I was relatively impressed by the character—it was the main protagonist of
>> the series who required just a little too much suspension of disbelief for
>> me.  This from a guy who faithfully watches Burn Notice and superhero
>> cartoons.
>>
>> Usually, I don't have much trouble suspending my disbelief to watch a
>> generally mindless action/drama with clever agents doing seemingly
>> preposterous things as if it were commonplace.
>>
>> Then again, I didn't make it past the Covert Affairs pilot.  Perhaps I
>> ought to have given the show more of a chance to find its footing.
>>
>> Joseph
>>
>>
>> On Tue, Nov 01, 2011 at 03:54:44PM -0400, Sherri wrote:
>>
>>> 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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