Noah’s Arc Star on Why the Groundbreaking Queer Comedy-Drama Still Resonates 20 Years On

20 years after Noah's Arc hit the airwaves, Christian Vincent, who plays the promiscuous Ricky is speaking out why the show still resonates with fans.

via: Pink News

Noah’s Arc aired from 2005 to 2006 on Logo and starred Darryl Stephens, Rodney Chester, Christian Vincent, and Doug Spearman as Noah, Alex, Ricky, and Chance (ARC) respectively.

The show was hailed as groundbreaking for focusing on four gay Black men in early noughties Los Angeles and tackling topics such as homophobia, sex, and AIDs at a time when not many shows did.

The comedy-drama was continued in 2008 with Noah’s Arc: Jumping the Broom. The cast then reunited again in 2020 for Noah’s Arc: The ‘Rona Chronicles.

Noah’s Arc: The Movie picks up the story of Noah and Wade (Jensen Atwood) as they prepare to adopt twins. At the same time, they’re both offered their dream jobs. A synopsis for the film teases “shocking plot-twists, laugh-out-loud comedy, and thrilling displays of dizzying, intoxicating, heart-lifting romance”.

Speaking to PinkNews exclusively ahead of the film’s release, Christian Vincent, who reprises his role as the promiscuous Ricky, said it felt “very different” entering the Noah’s Arc world now compared to 2005.

“It wasn’t really anything that you’d seen on television,” he says of the show’s debut two decades ago. “And it wasn’t popular. It wasn’t really popular for an actor’s career to venture into this [LGBTQ+] space.

“There were a lot of unknowns in doing it, but I did it because I wanted to.”

Even now, a show featuring predominantly Black queer characters remains rare, if it happens at all. Reflecting on the landscape at the time still, Vincent says the show felt “very niche.” Part of the reason for this was that it was broadcast on Logo, a channel that would become famous only a few years later for hosting RuPaul’s Drag Race, but at the time was brand new.

But Vincent isn’t convinced the show would have run longer had it been broadcast after Drag Race debuted. “That thought did go through my head, but I think Noah’s Arc was on re-runs at the time. So, it’s not that it wasn’t on the network.”

Vincent continues: “There wasn’t a lot of publicity. I don’t think they really knew what to do with it. I don’t know how many advertisers would get behind a show like that at that time. It did feel like we were stepchildren in the industry. It got a little bit of press, it wasn’t the greatest press,” he recalls.

Regardless, the show found its audience. The first two episodes are available in full on the Logo YouTube channel. One look at the comments shows how much the show means to people, namely queer people of colour.

Vincent says the response from fans, even in the pre-social media age, “outweighed all of whatever negative came”. There was a “mixed” response, he qualifies.

And the positive reception from his community affirmed to Vincent that doing the show had been the right choice. “A lot of people in my life were iffy about doing it. They didn’t think it was going to be super beneficial for my career”.

But having people talk to him over the years about they used to store the DVDs under their beds or sneakily watch it at night, has further validated Vincent. “It helped people”.

He continues, “It’s the reason why I came back when we did the ‘Rona Chronicles. I told Patrik [Ian-Polk, the creator], ‘I’m coming back to do this because of the people who love the show’. And the same thing now with the movie. I really appreciate people who appreciate us”.

Speaking further on the continued appreciation for Noah’s Arc Vincent believes “there’s still a void that has not been filled,” since the show came off the air. “That’s why I think it resonates with the fans.”

While Pose is touched upon as a potential successor, Vincent says the writers of Pose have described Noah’s Arc as its predecessor. “There still has yet to be a show that is equivalent to Noah’s Arc, which is just a group of black, LGBTQIA individuals on television”.

Addressing the void left by Noah’s Arc, Vincent puts it down to the outdated idea that media featuring non-white, cisgender, and heteronormative narratives “doesn’t sell”.

On whether there are still issues with racism and homophobia in entertainment Vincent’s reply is simple: “Always”. While recognising the progress that has been made in the last 20 years he adds, “There’s still a long way to go”.

Noah’s Arc: The Movie arrives at a difficult time for the LGBTQ+ community. While the film was made “a little while back” Vincent can say that it does still speak to the issues of today and is also more representative of audiences today than it was in 2005.

“There’s always a message there,” he said. “Just the fact that you have a show like this on television humanising black LGBTQ individuals is a statement”.

Noah’s Arc: The Movie is streaming on Paramount+ from 20 June.