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

Thu Nov 10 22:23:47 UTC 2011

This is wonderful! Although I have never seen this show (I will 
have to watch it now,) I'm sure it's a great show and (especially 
after hearing about the ridiculous portrayals of blind people in 
movies that was discussed in Dr.  Maurer's banquet speech from 
this year's national convention) am glad that the blind character 
in it is portrayed as a conpident, confident, smart citizen of 
his community.  This is something that (unfortunately) is lacking 
in our media today, both in TV and films.  The sad part is that 
this portrayal of blind people is one of the things that causes 
the public to have misconceptions about us.  I hope this show 
helps to remedy that and starts to turn around the public's 
misconceptions about blind people.  It's not going to fix 
everything, but it's a great step! Thanks for passing this on, 
Sherri!

Chris

 ----- Original Message -----
From: "Sherri" <flmom2006 at gmail.com
To: <blindtlk at nfbnet.org
Date sent: Tue, 1 Nov 2011 15:54:44 -0400
Subject: [Blindtlk] Meet Christopher Gorham,Star of Covert 
Affairs on the USA Network

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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