Playing Molested Priest Not One Of Isaiah Washington's Twelve Gayhab Steps
In a disturbing career development that will require Grey's Anatomy set menace Isaiah Washington to tap into deep pockets of rage not already neutralized by a stint in gayhab, the actor has been cast in an independent film as a priest haunted by childhood sexual abuse. It's a role he won, ironically, when the filmmaker heard he was having trouble finding parts since the T.R. Knight controversy:
"Grey's Anatomy" star Isaiah Washington is set to star in the indie drama "The Least of These," playing a priest returning to the Catholic high school where he once was sexually abused.
His character replaces a missing teacher who molested several teenage boys and might have been killed by one of them.
"Least" marks the feature debut of writer-director Nathan Scoggins, a campus church founder, former Christian singer-songwriter and nondenominational Christian worship leader, who said that his wife suggested Washington for the role.
Scoggins approached the actor about a month and a half ago after reading an interview where the star said he wasn't being offered film or television roles after making his criticized remarks.
The controversial subject matter paired with this particular actor could become a troublesome coupling, as it will be difficult to separate the famous gay-epithet hurler with the pedophile victim they see on the screen. Luckily, Scoggins is aware and sensitive to that issue, and will make every effort to avoid linking pedophilia to homosexuality in his film: It's a small price to pay in exchange for scoring the kind of free publicity you get by putting a world famous gaybasher in your low-budget indie.
