Dancer and Emmy-nominated choreographer turned actor Christian Vincent reprises his role in the highly anticipated film revival of “Noah’s Arc,” the groundbreaking comedy-drama series that made history as the first American drama to feature a cast of all-Black gay characters.
Originally airing on Logo from 2005 to 2006, “Noah’s Arc“ garnered critical acclaim for its authentic portrayal of queer Black life and its fearless exploration of topics such as same-sex marriage, LGBTQ+ families, HIV/AIDS awareness, homophobia, and intolerance. Christian’s portrayal of Ricky, the free-spirited boutique owner, was a standout in the original series. His return to the role promises to bring fresh depth and energy to the character, resonating with both longtime fans and new audiences.
Check out our interview with Christian:
First off, can you share a little bit of your story about– what brought you to dance, and kind of how you got into the career you have?
Christian: What got me into dance? So, my mother put me in dance when I was like five years old. I was a little boy in this tap class with a bunch of little girls, and I didn’t like it. I quit. ThenI think I was around 12, I remember [my mom] asking me, “did I want to go back to dance?” She says I asked her, but either way. Let’s say she asked me, “Did I want to go back to dance?” And I said, “Yeah.” And I used to watch music videos, you know, artists like Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson, Prince, so I was inspired by those artists. So I got into dancing and I started competing as a dancer. And at my first dance competition, called Tremaine, this was a dance convention, and it had dancers that were working choreographers, working dancers in the industry, doing music videos and at the time, I’m dating myself, but [the artists] were Janet Jackson or Whitney Houston or Natalie Cole. So after going to my first dance convention at 13, I told my mother, “I want to be a dancer.” So that started the course of getting me trained. And I grew up in Windsor, Ontario, across from Detroit, Michigan… so, I used to train in Windsor and then eventually I started training over in Michigan, in Bloomfield Hills. Throughout my formative years in high school, I used to go to conventions and win scholarships to go to LA to train at studios in LA. So my mom and dad would take me there, and I’d train for the summer and in the studios, I would see Madonna’s dancers in class, or the Fly Girls were in class. It made me even more inspired, and I could see the path to getting to where I wanted to get…
Long story short, I was out in LA after I graduated from high school. Ultimately, my mother said, “it’s your choice if you want to stay here or not.” I knew that I wanted to get an education, I wanted to go to college. So my first year, I went to University of Windsor. I didn’t use all those scholarships for sciences, I went for visual arts. I had a professor who said to me, “Christian, what do you want to do? You’re good in the arts.” I said, “I want to dance.” And he said, “inundate yourself in whatever it is you want to do.” So cut to, I was still dancing with my home studio, and we would do The Nutcracker at the Fox Theater every year, and dancers from New York would come in, and I said, “Well, what’s a good school for dance?” One of the dancers had just graduated from Butler University in Indianapolis, so I decided to audition for Butler my second year of university, and I got a scholarship to go there…
Two weeks after I graduated from Butler, I moved to LA and my first job was “Baywatch” and then the next job was working for Prince. That was like the beginning of my trajectory of living the dream. I knew I wanted to move to LA, I wanted to do music videos, and I wanted to dance for the Madonnas, the Princes. So, over the course of the next few years, that’s what I did. I auditioned and I worked as a commercial dancer. I did movies, I danced for Ricky Martin, Madonna [as Madonna’s dance captain], Shakira, Britney Spears, I was doing it… I wanted to do more. I wanted to utilize myself more. I wanted to have a voice, so I started studying acting and I started assisting a choreographer named Michael Rooney, Mickey Rooney’s son. I learned a lot working with him– cut to – I was in New York doing a show at the Public Theater called Radiant Baby. This was my stint of trying to decide, “do I want to go the New York route? Do I want to do musical theater?” I thought, “you know, I really want to go back to LA.”
I came back to LA and I auditioned for this experimental pilot called “Noah’s Arc” as an actor, and I auditioned for three different roles on the show, and found out that I had booked the role initially of Noah, and then found out a little bit later that they wanted me to play Ricky. So, that started my trajectory into becoming a working actor…
The part of my career that was consistent was being an educator. In 2013, I decided I wanted to get my masters in dance, in case all of this stuff went away. I wasn’t auditioning as a dancer anymore, I was working as a choreographer and acting and teaching, and I thought, “if all this goes away, I want to be able to pay my bills.” So I got my Masters in Fine Arts and Dance. After I graduated, USC started their prestigious program, the Glorya Kaufman School of Dance. It was like the Juilliard of the west coast and I taught there for a couple years… then out of the blue, I got this Hallmark movie as a lead, which was a shocker, because I didn’t audition for it… I went back to USC to teach a little bit, and then I choreographed the Madam CJ Walker film, and the Salt-N-Pepa film. And so, that’s been the trajectory in a nutshell– where I am now, still choreographing, still acting, still teaching..
The only word that comes to my mind is just congratulations. What an incredible journey.
Christian: Yeah. I mean, I tried to get it in a nutshell. I mean, when you think about it, if you wanted to know the highlights, the highlights are like you move to LA, you get your first job, but you know what? I’m gonna say graduating and getting my degree, because I will say it has sustained me throughout my entire career. So that was like the first milestone, then dancing for Prince, then years of dancing, then getting Madonna was like the dream job. I was like, I always wanted to dance for her. Got that job, became her dance captain, you know, toured the world, did a music video for her. You know, it was like all those things as a kid you dreamed of doing that came to fruition, and then you continue on this journey. But then as you evolve, it’s like certain things don’t feel the same. I think that was when I started teaching at conventions and started choreographing and getting some choreography gigs, but mostly assisting at the time. But then getting “Noah’s Arc” was a big jump into the acting realm. That was a groundbreaking– I would say, at the time, I didn’t realize it, but it’s historical in that it was the first Black, gay television show ever, period, to this day, and it started the groundwork, and, you know, there’s so many people that come up to me today saying, “thank you for doing this, or you guys changed my life, or you made me feel validated.” So, from “Noah’s Arc” and then years of teaching and do a job here, do a job there… And I think getting my masters was another big one [milestone]. Teaching at USC was another big one. And then the Hallmark movie was another big one. And then choreographing films that I think are poignant to the Black culture, historically. Like, to me, Salt-N-Pepa is and The Porter is because it was about black railroad workers in the 1920s. And then my Emmy nomination and to where we are today with this reboot and having a family. So hope that gets it in a nutshell for you.
Thinking back to when you were first working on “Noah’s Arc,” did you anticipate that this would be so groundbreaking?What were your thoughts then versus now in terms of what it has become?
Christian: You know, it’s funny. This is a question a lot of people ask me… I think, you know, your 20-something year old self, you think, like, you hope that this is kind of a jump off to bigger things in your career, but at the time, it was uncharted territory on television. So, in the process, you realize, oh, this is not the norm. You didn’t know how it was going to be received. You really didn’t know how it was being received a lot of the time because it was so unconventional. So, I would say, I didn’t know what it was going to be. You only hoped it would be the beginning of great things. And then seeing the trajectory of it– I will say this, it wasn’t the easiest path at the time, but I’m really happy that it’s had some legs and that it’s had some staying power thanks to everybody that’s been involved, from Patrick to the other actors to, you know, to the studios, to the network like that, have continued to put some money behind this and time and energy and love. It’s surreal that it’s happening right now. And right now I’m just in the moment, there’s really no expectations, I’m just enjoying what it is. And I’m very grateful to the fans that have supported it this long.
I came across a statement from glaad.org that says that this film arrives not just as a celebration of the 20th anniversary, but it’s also a necessary act of cultural affirmation. Given the climate that we’re in currently, do you believe this statement to be true? And then what are your thoughts kind of around what “Noah’s Arc” is to people today?
Christian: I think, for the people who were the fans that know Noah’s Arc, to them, I think it’s kind of like a return to seeing their friends, their people. It’s like home or good home cooking, like something that they love, they miss, and they want more of. To new viewers, to be honest with you, I don’t know what it’s going to be to them. That remains to be seen, because it is the same, but it’s going to be different, because this is 20 years later. There’s new characters, they’re at different points in their lives, and the climate in society has changed towards the LGBTQIA community, and it’s continuing to change. So, I do think what GLAAD is saying is very true. I think it is a great thing to have this marginalized, you know, group represented on television, especially now, because there has yet to be a show just like “Noah’s Arc.” In over 20 years, there is still yet to be a show that focuses on black, LGBTQIA individuals solely and to represent them in a manner that is not just monolithic. It’s diversified and it’s complex. I mean, the show “Pose” was on, but it wasn’t the same thing. So I think it’s valuable that we have this representation, and because I think it validates a lot of people, and it makes them feel worthy, makes them feel included, makes them feel seen. That’s the importance of it today, because it still hasn’t been done.
With Noah’s Arc: The Movie, can you give a brief synopsis of the plot, and then kind of like, what’s in store for Ricky?
Christian: I wish I could, but that part is kind of on lock. I mean, like, I can tell you what is online. The central couple of the movie are about to have twins, and it’s really a return to– I think what I can say is it’s really a peek into what the audience is seeing, especially for people that know the show, it’s like, where are these characters now? What are they doing now? The friendship and the field of friendships are still the same, the same characters. We’re all back, which is great, along with more. You know, as life evolves, things change. We all change. I can say that the heart of the characters is still the same. You know, they haven’t changed their spots. They’re the same individuals, but based on where they are, their circumstances in life, for some of them is a bit different. It’s life. It’s showing the evolution of growth and aging and friendship.
I also heard that you got to add some of your own choreography to the film.
Christian: Yes! So, at the beginning of this, I actually said to Patrick, I’m like, “you need me to choreograph for this. You have to have dance scenes. Let me do them.” And he was game and I’m excited to see them. They were fun to create. I think they add a pop in the movie, from what I hear. I haven’t seen it yet, but I have heard from a few people that they really enjoyed the dance scenes. I love when I get to act and then also get to choreograph and create in that manner as well. So I’m excited to see how it turned out.
Did you choreograph everything or–
Christian: Everything. There’s like two– hopefully, you never know with editing, but there should be two big dance numbers in there.
It’s really interesting that you haven’t seen the movie yet. Are you going to tune in on the 20th with the rest of us or do you have something special planned?
Christian: No, there’s a premiere in LA that’s scheduled within the next couple of weeks, so that will be the first time that I see it. And then, yeah, and then on the June 20th, I’ll probably watch it with my family. I’m usually a one-timer, like I usually watch something I’m in once, and then I’m good, but I will definitely see it before the 20th.
Is there anything else that you want people to know about Noah’s Arc: The Movie?
Christian: Tune in on June 20th. The series is streaming on Paramount+ now if people want to get acquainted with the characters and become acquainted with what the show is about, then they can check that out. And hopefully, you know, everyone just enjoys it. It should be a fun ride. That’s what I’m hoping, that you get a fun ride out of it. And again, thank you to the people who have supported us all these years to get us to this point, because it does really make a difference in society. Representation really does matter.
