Chad Harris-Crane

Chad Harris-Crane
Passions character
File:Chad Harris-Crane.jpg Charles Divins as Chad Harris-Crane
Portrayed by	Donn Swaby (1999–2002) Charles Divins (2002–2007)
Duration	1999–2007
First appearance	September 23, 1999
Last appearance	August 28, 2007
Created by	James E. Reilly
In-universe information Other names Chad Harris Occupation Businessman (formerly) Music producer (formerly) High school student (formerly; dropped out) Parents Alistair Crane (deceased) Liz Sanbourne Siblings Julian Crane Sheridan Crane Beth Wallace Spouse LaToya Harris (until 2003) Whitney Russell (2006–2007) Children Miles Harris-Crane Unnamed child Grandparents Ruby Lincoln (adoptive; deceased) Aunts and uncles Eve Johnson (adoptive; deceased) Nieces and nephews Vincent Clarkson Fancy Crane Fox Crane (deceased) Pretty Crane James Boothe (adoptive) Endora Lenox Marty Lopez-Fitzgerald Unnamed nephew First cousins Vincent Clarkson (adoptive) Whitney Russell (adoptive) Simone Russell (adoptive)

Chad Harris-Crane is a fictional character on the American soap opera Passions, which aired on NBC from 1999 to 2007 and on DirecTV in 2007–08. Passions followed the romantic and supernatural adventures in the fictional New England coastal town of Harmony. Created by the soap's founder and head writer James E. Reilly, Chad was portrayed by two actors over the course of the show: Donn Swaby (1999 to 2002) and Charles Divins (2002 to 2007). Swaby left the show in order to pursue roles outside daytime television and was replaced by Divins.

Chad is a member of the Russell and Crane families. Introduced as a music producer from Los Angeles County, California who is looking for his real family, Chad becomes involved in a love triangle with sisters Whitney and Simone Russell. His romance with Whitney is complicated by the possibility they may be engaging in an incestuous relationship. Chad's later storylines focus on his confusion over his sexual identity, and his sexual relationship with tabloid reporter Vincent Clarkson. Chad attempts to reconcile with Whitney, after his affair with Vincent is revealed, before being killed by Crane Industries founder and CEO Alistair Crane while trying to protect his best friend, Ethan Winthrop.

Critical response to Chad was mixed; some critics praised the sensationalism of the incest storyline with Whitney, while others criticized his relationship with Vincent as an irresponsible and problematic representation of racial and sexual identity. The character made daytime television and soap opera history for participating in the first instance in a soap opera of two men simulating sex. Chad has also been cited as expanding the representation of LGBT characters of color on daytime television. Divins discussed the storyline with his gay friends and researched LGBT culture to better shape his performance. Media outlets were uncertain of the exact nature of Chad's sexual orientation, debating if he was straight, gay, or bisexual.

Development

Creation and casting

Sheraton Kalouria, senior vice president of NBC's daytime programming, described the show's use of color-blind casting as part of an effort to build a diverse pool of characters that best reflected the various ethnic and racial groups living in the United States. Kalouria believed the show was set apart from other soap operas, by including "the African American Russells and the Hispanic Lopez-Fitzgeralds". Although Chad was not introduced as a direct member of the Russells, media outlet closely associated him with the family since he was the "object of affection [of] both Simone and Whitney".

The role was played by two actors over the course of the show: Donn Swaby (1999 to 2002) and Charles Divins (2002 to 2007). Passions was Swaby's first time acting in a television series. On May 27, 2002, Swaby announced on his official website that he had decided to leave the show in order pursue other opportunities outside daytime television. Divins assumed the role on September 12, 2002, and it was his first audition and acting experience; he had previously worked full-time as a fashion model. Divins explained that his desire to switch professions developed "because as a model you do commercials, you're in front of a moving camera rather than a film camera. That's kind of how I caught the bug and I figured that this is something I'd really want to pursue". Divins initially auditioned for another soap opera, but its producers suggested that he instead take a role on Passions. He described his time working on the show, as a "scholarship to acting".

Characterization and cast response

Chad was initially characterized as a "street-kid" by the show's official website and "a tough dude from the hood" by David Alexander Nahmod of the Bay Area Reporter. Swaby called his character "talented, ambitious, adventurous, passionate", and opined that his guarded personality was a way of "defying the good guy, bad guy stereotype". The role was expanded following the casting of Divins. An article on Soaps.com wrote that Divins adapted the character from being a "West Coast music producer to [an] ambitious and tortured Crane heir". Over the course of the show, Chad was defined by his "possibly incestuous relationship with his supposed half-sister Whitney, and the gender-bending incestuous relationship with his nephew-niece, Vincent-Valerie". Swaby expressed disapproval of the direction of the character's storyline when played by Divins.

"I hope to do justice to the community this story will represent. These things happen. I'd love to see the writers delve into Chad's denial at being gay."

— Charles Divins on his character's potential impact in the LGBT community

Despite the controversy, and negative reception of Chad's sexual encounters with Vincent, Divins noted "the characters and their relationship [are] important aspects of the show". According to the blog "Out in Hollywood", which is affiliated with the Los Angeles Daily News and cited as "one of the only gay-themed blogs at any mainstream news organization in the country", Divins identified Chad's confusion over his sexual orientation as a "really strong undercurrent" of the storyline, saying "[t]he underlying drama of what's going on is Chad's denial and coping with it". When asked by an interviewer about the revelation of Chad's sexuality, Divins said the show would include clear representations of "male intimacy". Divins described feeling uncomfortable shooting the scenes related the storylines, but viewed it as the perfect opportunity to sharpen his skills as an actor by adding "I confronted what was uncomfortable in me, and faced it". He added that he wanted to make the character and storyline as "grounded and real as possible" and keep the focus on how Chad reconciles with his sexual orientation.

To prepare for the storyline, Divins consulted with his gay friends and asked them, "How do you approach a character like this and as a straight guy how do I play a convincing gay character?" and also asked them how to ensure the character was "being represented correctly and honestly". Oprah Winfrey's discussion of the down-low on her talk show The Oprah Winfrey Show also helped Divins better understand the character. He believed the character's tumultuous romance with Whitney and Vincent met viewers' expectations for a soap opera and said, "People watch soaps as an escape. People need drama. Whether you love it or hate it, people will talk about it." Divins was unaware of the developments in Chad's sexuality until he was given the script four days prior to the filming of the episodes. He said he was surprised by the reveal that Chad's affair was with a man, but thought the soap opera's "storytelling style lends itself to dramatic changes". Divins praised the show for being "socially conscious" and having a black, gay character on daytime television regardless of any negative feedback from fans who supported Chad and Whitney as a couple. He stated the development of the character reflected the increasing visibility of LGBT issues on television and in everyday society.

Throughout his run on Passions, the character received mixed feedback from the show's cast members. Brook Kerr, who plays Chad's primary love interest Whitney Russell, viewed her scenes with Chad as allowing her to explore more of Whitney's independence and act the character in new and different ways. Phillip Jeanmarie, who plays the villain Vincent Clarkson, perceived Chad and his storyline with Vincent as a part of the larger history of the representation of LGBT persons in daytime television and cited it as inspiring future soap operas to address LGBT issues. Alternatively, Tracey Ross, who plays Russell family matriarch Eve Russell, revealed she disliked the storyline involving the possible incest between Chad and Whitney.

Storylines

Chad Harris-Crane first appears in the episode airing on September 23, 1999, in which he moves from Los Angeles to Harmony, after discovering he was adopted, in order to find his real parents. While in Harmony, Chad encounters two people with information on his past - Orville Perkins and Crystal Harris. Orville, a senile old man, erroneously believes Chad is Eve's long-lost son with Crane Industries CEO Julian Crane and claims to have evidence proving this connection. In a desperate attempt to keep her past hidden, Eve burns down Orville's house and any evidence inside and places him in a retirement home. Chad later meets jazz singer Crystal Harris, who was Eve's confidante during her relationship with Julian and subsequent pregnancy. Crystal also offers information about Chad's birth and parents, but is killed by a French drug cartel's assassin Antoine, who mistakes her for socialite Sheridan Crane, before she can deliver it to him.

During this time, Chad meets and falls in love with Whitney Russell. Their relationship is complicated by her sister Simone Russell's crush on him, and her parent's disapproval of him. Eve discourages both of her children from pursuing a relationship with Chad, fearing he will be a bad influence on her daughter in the same way Julian was on her teenage self. Whitney and Chad keep their romantic and sexual encounters secret for years while he pretends to be in love with Simone. The love triangle continues until Simone catches Whitney kissing Chad. Simone breaks up publicly with Chad and tells everyone in Harmony about his relationship with Whitney. During 2003, Chad's connection to Whitney steadily unravels after the discovery of his marriage to Latoya Harris and her attempt to murder Whitney.

In 2004, Eve's vengeful adoptive sister Liz Sanbourne arranges for Eve's past relationship with Julian to be exposed to the Russell family and the rest of Harmony, resulting in Chad being erroneously identified as their son. The possible incestuous implications of Chad's relationship with Whitney serves as one of his primary storylines on the soap opera. Whitney discovers that she is pregnant with Chad's child who would later be known as Miles Harris-Crane. She initiates a relationship with Fox Crane in order to be able to insinuate that he is the father and protect herself, and her child, from the stigma of incest. She gives birth to a son and immediately uses her then-boyfriend Fox Crane's power of attorney to put him up for adoption. Two couples—Julian and Eve, and T.C. and Liz—compete to adopt the boy, but Chad is awarded custody of the child. He attempts to use the child to reconnect with Whitney. Whitney and Chad name their baby Miles Davis Harris after jazz musician Miles Davis. During the show's 2005 summertime extravaganza, Whitney has sex with Chad in the middle of a tsunami and admits to Chad that he is Miles' biological father. Identified as the Vendetta plot, the show's 2006 summertime extravaganza centers on Alistair Crane luring Whitney, Chad, and several other residents of Harmony, to Rome. While in Rome, Chad is given his birth certificate by tabloid editor JT Cornell and discovers that he was conceived during Alistair's rape of Liz. Following the revelation of his true paternity, Chad marries Whitney and they decide to raise their son together.

Unbeknownst to Whitney, Chad previously began a sexual relationship with the tabloid reporter Vincent Clarkson at an unspecified time around the Vendetta plot, and continues the affair after their reunion and wedding. Chad is unaware that Vincent is Eve's child with Julian and his half-brother, making Vincent his half-uncle, adoptive half-cousin, and half-brother-in-law. He is also initially oblivious to the fact that Vincent is intersex, and that Valerie Davis, the executive assistant to Crane Industries' vice president Theresa Lopez-Fitzgerald, was his split personality. While confessing his affair to his friends Paloma Lopez-Fitzgerald and Noah Bennet, Chad repeatedly insists that he is not gay, and that his relationship with Vincent is based solely on sex. Whitney becomes increasingly suspicious of Chad's fidelity after discovering she is pregnant with their second child. Furious with Chad for continuing to sleep with Whitney, Vincent engineers a scenario in which Whitney sees Vincent and Chad having sex in the back of a gay bar; Whitney leaves Chad immediately and he distances himself from Vincent. The estranged couple start to reconcile as they try to help Theresa and Ethan reunite, but that possibility is cut short on August 28, 2007, when Chad is killed by Alistair while trying to protect his best friend Ethan Winthrop. Chad dies while professing his love for Whitney and their children.

Reception and impact

The exact nature of Chad's relationship with Whitney attracted frequent speculation from media outlets. The incest storyline led media outlets to sensationalize Harmony as the place where "half-siblings sleep with one another". An article in Soap Opera Digest listed the 2006 revelation that Whitney and Chad were not related by blood as one of Passions' most shocking secrets. In her book The A to Z of African-American Television, professor Kathleen Fearn-Banks wrote that Chad's romance with his presumed half sister was the direct result of "the indiscretion of his parents, a white man and a black woman"; Fearn-Banks added that television frequently associated a biracial character with a traumatic existence.

Two men are naked in bed. One man is looking over the other and they appear to be in the middle of a conversation

Chad's storyline with Vincent made daytime history for its explicit representation of two men having sex, but received generally negative reviews from critics.

Media outlets expressed confusion over the exact nature of Chad's sexuality. Soap opera journalist Roger Newcomb of We Love Soaps included Chad in his review of gay, lesbian, and bisexual characters in the history of daytime television, but questioned the character's self-identification. Newcomb said that Vincent's reveal as intersex leads to Chad's heterosexuality being "rescued" as he "was sleeping only with Vincent's female anatomy". Hartinger called Chad a "closeted bisexual", and Nahmod referred to him as a gay black man. An article on NewNowNext.com listed Divins' interpretation of the character as a choice for the "Favorite Gay (Male) TV Character Poll". Joel McHale from E!'s weekly television series The Soup turned a scene in which Chad insisted he was "not gay" despite his affair with Vincent into a running gag by referring to the character as "Not Gay Chad". During the show's season five premiere, Divins made a cameo appearance on The Soup to explain to McHale that he was not his character and was neither dead nor gay. After Divins leaves the shot, McHale jokingly asks "so your character sleeps with transsexuals?" in reference to the reveal that Vincent was intersex.

Chad's sexual relationship with Vincent received a mixed response from television critics. The soap opera made daytime history by being the first to represent two men simulating sex. Jamey Giddens of Daytime Confidential opined that Chad and Vincent's relationship should have received more media attention in comparison to Luke Snyder and Noah Mayer from the CBS soap opera As the World Turns, and Oliver Fish and Kyle Lewis from the ABC soap opera One Life to Live. NewNowNext.com's Brent Hartinger applauded the development of Chad's sexuality for increasing the representation of LGBT people of color on daytime television. A writer from Soaps.com wrote the storyline concerning Chad's sexuality reflected the show's "unique perspective and zest for controversy" while challenging the "often too safe and predictable world of soaps". Ross von Metze of Edge Media Network applauded the show for "taking risks where other TV shows have failed" through its inclusion of gay and black characters. Gawker's Kyle Buchanan praised the "insanely convoluted incest storylines" involving Chad and Vincent as one of "the most insane things that have ever happened on television".

Some critics characterized Chad's storyline with Vincent as being poorly written, and irresponsible in terms of racial and sexual identity. Herndon L. Davis of Windy City Times was critical of the character's development, saying the soap opera "recklessly wrote a down-low storyline which involved an African-American man but eventually turned it into an outrageous intersex serial killer storyline". Slate's Ta-Nehisi Coates determined that Chad's sexuality was an example of the down-low narrative, criticizing its continued use in media like Passions as leading to a "distrust that haunts relationships between black men and black women". Mike Perigard of the Boston Herald criticized the death of lesbian Rae Thomas following the reveal of Chad's affair with a man. Perigard believed Thomas' removal from the show was only written to maintain a low quota of gay characters on the show. Viewers were divided over Chad's relationship with Vincent. Some felt the scenes between Chad and Vincent were "appalling" and inappropriate for daytime television, while one viewer praised the soap opera for "continu[ing] their outstanding jobs as they teach the people of today's world about daily life experiences". A writer from Soaps.com defended the show by pointing out graphic sex scenes between men and women were previously aired without complaint.

See also

• Russell family
• Crane family
• List of soap operas with LGBT characters
• List of soap opera recasts

Bibliography

Fearn-Banks, Kathleen (2006). The A to Z of African-American Television. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 0-8108-6348-0. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)

External links

• Template:IMDb character