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Peter Stickles
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Peter Stickles (born October 8, 1976) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as the voyeuristic Caleb in the John Cameron Mitchell film Shortbus and as Damian, leader of a gay vampire cult, in the Here TV original series The Lair.
Key Information
Career
[edit]Stickles was cast in Shortbus in 2003 from amongst some 400 actors who submitted audition tapes for the film, which was initially known as "Sex Film Project." No script had been written prior to casting and the story was built out of improvisational sessions once the cast was in place. The voyeuristic aspect of Caleb's character grew in part out of Stickles's own interests at the time. "I was exploring sex clubs at the time and not necessarily participating but watching from afar. I think John Cameron Mitchell was attracted to the idea of this whole voyeuristic aspect of the character. ... How far would you go to touch somebody from afar?"[1]
Stickles, along with others in the cast, was nominated for the Gotham Independent Film Award for Best Ensemble Cast.[2]
Stickles stars in The Lair, which premiered on here! in June 2007. His character, Damian, is the leader of a gay vampire cult. The series, although not critically well-reviewed,[3][4][5] was renewed for a second season which premiered in late 2008.[6]
Stickles has appeared in a number of low-budget and direct-to-video horror films, including such titles as Meat Weed Madness (2006) and its sequel Meat Weed America (2007), and has four films slated for release in 2008. He also appeared in the exercise video The Bedroom Workout for Men: Better Sex Through Exercise.[7]
Personal life
[edit]Stickles is openly gay.[8] He has been married to magician Michael Carbonaro since 2014.[9]
Filmography
[edit]| Year | Title | Role | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Shaft | Mickey Hunt 2 | |
| 2000 | Strangers with Candy | Track Team Fan | TV series - Episode: "Blank Relay" |
| 2004 | Personal Sergeant | Street Punk | |
| 2005 | Dead Serious | Hostage | |
| 2006 | Shortbus | Caleb, The Stalker | |
| 2006 | Cemetery Gates | Hunter Belmont | |
| 2007 | 2 Minutes Later | Victor | |
| 2007 | The Girl Next Door | EMT | |
| 2007 | Sexina: Popstar P.I. | Onski | |
| 2007 | Meat Weed America | Bin Smokin' | direct-to-video |
| 2007 | The Lair | Damian Courtenay | TV series - 26 episodes |
| 2008 | Eat Your Heart Out | Vincent | Skinned Alive |
| 2008 | Evilution | Stanfa | |
| 2008 | Watch Out | Brian | |
| 2009 | The Crystal Lake Massacres Revisited | V | |
| 2009 | The Conquest of the Silken Beaver | Peter | segment "Painting by Numbers" |
| 2009 | George's Intervention | Ben | |
| 2010 | BearCity | Executive | |
| 2010 | The Brides of Sodom | Dominic | |
| 2010 | The Black Box | Bob Wilkins, Newscaster | |
| 2011 | Sunday on the Set with George | Unknown | short |
| 2011 | Gingerdead Man 3-D: Saturday Night Cleaver | Jeffrey Dahmer | |
| 2011 | Evil Bong 3D: The Wrath of Bong | Alistair | |
| 2011 | Psychosomatika | Sage | |
| 2011 | For Christ's Sake | Pete Browning | |
| 2011 | I Want to Get Married | Jim | |
| 2011 | Showgirls 2: Penny's from Heaven | Godhardt Brandt | |
| 2013 | The Trouble with Barry | Barry Montenegro | feature |
| 2014 | Best Day Ever | James | |
| 2017 | Stage Fright | Kevin |
References
[edit]- ^ Hartl, John (2006-10-20). "Willing to go along for a long, circuitous ride". The Seattle Times. Retrieved 2008-03-25.
- ^ "2006 Winners and nominees". Gotham Independent Film Awards. Archived from the original on February 19, 2017. Retrieved February 24, 2019.
- ^ "Vampires Everywhere". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. 2007-06-01.
- ^ Swindoll, Jeff (2007-10-15). "DVD Review: The Lair: Complete First Season". Monstersandcritics.com. Archived from the original on 2007-12-04. Retrieved 2007-11-24.
- ^ Oliver, David (2007-11-11). "DVD Review: Lair, The - Season 1". CHUD.com. Retrieved 2007-11-24.
- ^ Nordyke, Kimberly (2007-09-28). "Here! comes a lot of originality". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 2007-10-10. Retrieved 2007-10-21.
- ^ "The Bedroom Workout for Men credits". Retrieved 2008-03-25.
- ^ Director, Noah Michelson Editorial; Voices, The Huffington Post (2017-02-03). "'Carbonaro Effect' Star Discusses How Growing Up Gay Changed His World View". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 2017-02-08.
- ^ "Michael Carbonaro Lies About Everything—Except Being Gay". Logo TV. Archived from the original on 2017-02-09. Retrieved 2017-02-08.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)Additional on February 8, 2017.
External links
[edit]- Peter Stickles at IMDb
- Peter Stickles interview on Pop Entertainment
- Peter Stickles interview in Philadelphia (video) Archived 2016-08-18 at the Wayback Machine
- Peter co-stars in Steve Balderson's WATCH OUT
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
Peter Stickles
View on Grokipediafrom Grokipedia
Early life
Birth and family
Peter Stickles was born on October 8, 1976, in New York City, New York, USA.[1][2] While some biographical accounts list his birthplace as Oswego, New York, more established references, including actor databases, affirm New York City as the location of his birth.[6][1] Public details about Stickles' parents, including their names or professions, are scarce, underscoring his guarded approach to sharing family history. He grew up in a middle-class family in upstate New York, where his parents disapproved of his early interest in horror. He spent his early years in upstate New York alongside his family, but little is documented about the specific dynamics of his upbringing or any influences from his home environment.[7][6][8]Education and early career aspirations
Peter Stickles exhibited an early fascination with the horror genre during his childhood, often hiding copies of Fangoria magazine under his bed, much like other boys might conceal adult publications, despite his parents' disapproval. This intense interest provided an adrenaline rush through elements like fear, violence, and suspense, shaping his lifelong aspiration to act in horror films. He has described it as a dream he held from a young age, viewing horror as a medium that allowed for raw emotional expression.[8][9] Motivated by this passion, Stickles reached out to Fangoria magazine in his youth, which directly connected him to his initial acting opportunity in a horror production. In the late 1990s, he relocated from upstate New York to Manhattan, drawn by the city's dynamic independent arts and film scene, where he sought to immerse himself in creative pursuits. This move marked the beginning of his commitment to a professional acting path amid New York City's influential theater and cinema culture.[8] Upon settling in New York, Stickles engaged with a close-knit network of indie horror filmmakers operating in the tri-state area, including New York, New Jersey, and Philadelphia. These collaborations on low-budget projects in the late 1990s and early 2000s represented his first minor professional endeavors, honing his skills through hands-on experience rather than formal programs and solidifying his entry into the industry.[8]Acting career
Early roles
Peter Stickles entered the film industry in 2000 with uncredited minor roles in two major productions. His screen debut came as Mickey Hunt in John Singleton's action thriller Shaft, where he portrayed a background character in the urban crime narrative starring Samuel L. Jackson. That same year, he appeared as an unnamed student in Gus Van Sant's drama Finding Forrester, a coming-of-age story about mentorship and writing that featured Sean Connery and Rob Brown. These early appearances marked Stickles' initial foray into feature films, providing him with on-set experience amid established Hollywood talent. From 2000 to 2005, Stickles built his resume through low-profile independent projects, often in supporting or ensemble capacities. In 2004, he played a street punk in the comedy-drama Personal Sergeant, a small-scale film about family dynamics and personal growth directed by Timothy Wayne Fetter. The following year, he took on the role of a hostage in Dead Serious, an indie thriller exploring themes of extremism and survival in a New York City setting. These roles in lesser-known shorts and features, primarily shot in the New York and tri-state area, reflected his grassroots entry into acting, collaborating with emerging filmmakers on passion-driven productions. As a newcomer navigating the competitive landscape of early 2000s Hollywood, Stickles encountered significant challenges, including the unpredictability of securing consistent work and the rigors of frequent auditions. In a 2007 interview, he described the profession's feast-or-famine nature: intense bursts of activity on set lasting about a month, followed by extended periods of uncertainty and job hunting. Typecasting in supporting roles further complicated his path, as limited visibility in minor parts made it difficult to transition to more prominent opportunities, a common hurdle for aspiring actors in the industry. His New York roots and acting aspirations from youth served as foundational preparation for these initial screen endeavors.Breakthrough with Shortbus
Peter Stickles was cast as Caleb, a voyeuristic character who observes the intimate lives of others while grappling with his own emotional isolation, after submitting a simple audition tape among over 500 others received by director John Cameron Mitchell.[8] The selection process for Shortbus (2006) emphasized authenticity, with Mitchell reviewing videotapes where actors discussed formative sexual experiences; Stickles' straightforward submission stood out, leading to callbacks involving group theater sessions where around 40 actors anonymously rated each other's "sexual compatibility" to facilitate improvisational pairings.[10] This unconventional approach reflected the film's year-long workshop phase, during which the cast developed scenes through extended improvisation, allowing Stickles to portray Caleb's arc from detached observer to participant in vulnerable connections.[11] Shortbus, an explicit comedy-drama written and directed by Mitchell, centers on a diverse group of New Yorkers navigating love, identity, and desire in a post-9/11 city, converging at an underground Brooklyn salon known as Shortbus that blends art, music, politics, and uninhibited sexuality.[12] The film boldly incorporates unsimulated sex scenes as a narrative "language" to explore themes of emotional openness and communal healing within the city's sex-positive underground scene, marking a departure from mainstream cinema through its raw, celebratory depiction of human intimacy across sexual orientations.[13] Stickles' performance as Caleb earned critical acclaim for its nuanced portrayal of repression and longing, contributing to the ensemble's recognition with a nomination for the 2006 Gotham Independent Film Award for Best Ensemble Performance, shared with co-stars Sook-Yin Lee, Paul Dawson, Lindsay Beamish, PJ DeBoy, Raphael Barker, Jay Brannan, and Justin Bond.[14] The role significantly elevated Stickles' profile in independent cinema, positioning him as a compelling presence in queer-themed projects and opening doors to further explorations of complex, introspective characters in the indie landscape.[10]Television work
Stickles gained prominence in television through his lead role as Damian Courtenay, the charismatic and ruthless leader of a gay vampire cult, in the Here! network series The Lair (2007–2009).[3] He appeared in all 28 episodes across three seasons, portraying a vampire club owner who navigates supernatural intrigue and romantic entanglements in a small town plagued by mysterious deaths.[15] Created by Fred Olen Ray, The Lair was a pioneering LGBTQ+ horror drama that blended vampire mythology with explicit explorations of sexuality, identity, and power dynamics within queer subcultures, airing initially as six episodes in 2007 before expanding to nine in 2008 and thirteen in 2009.[16] The series' underground club setting served as a metaphor for hidden desires and societal taboos, marking one of the first cable television offerings to center gay male leads in a supernatural thriller format.[17] Earlier, in 1999, he had a brief uncredited role as a track team fan in the Comedy Central series Strangers with Candy. His television work, particularly The Lair, broadened Stickles' visibility within LGBTQ+ audiences on emerging cable and streaming platforms, building on his film breakthrough in Shortbus to secure opportunities in queer-centric narratives.[8] This phase of his career highlighted his versatility in horror and drama, contributing to the growing representation of diverse sexualities in episodic television during the late 2000s.[16]Later film roles and producing
Following his breakthrough in Shortbus, Peter Stickles transitioned into a series of low-budget genre films, often embracing horror and comedy elements in independent and direct-to-video productions. In 2006, he appeared in Meat Weed Madness, a satirical horror-comedy directed by Aiden Dillard that parodies drug culture and exploitation tropes through a tale of carnivorous marijuana plants, where Stickles contributed to the ensemble cast alongside Troma Entertainment figures like Lloyd Kaufman. That same year, he took on the role of Hunter Belmont in Cemetery Gates, a zombie horror film set in a haunted New Mexico town, showcasing his ability to portray characters in high-stakes, supernatural scenarios.[18] These early post-Shortbus roles marked Stickles' growing affinity for genre filmmaking, allowing him to explore themes of fear, satire, and outsider narratives often infused with queer undertones reflective of his earlier work. By the early 2010s, Stickles further diversified within the horror-comedy niche, appearing in Evil Bong 3: The Wrath of Bong (2011) as Alistair, a character entangled in the film's absurd alien invasion plot involving a demonic smoking device, produced by Full Moon Features and emphasizing campy, stoner humor.[19] He also starred as Godhardt Brandt in Showgirls 2: Penny's from Heaven (2011), a direct-to-video sequel that satirizes the original film's excess through a tale of aspiring dancers in Las Vegas, where Stickles delivered a supporting performance amid the movie's over-the-top erotic thriller elements.[20] In addition to acting, Stickles served as associate producer on Showgirls 2, contributing to its production and highlighting his emerging interest in behind-the-scenes roles within independent cinema.[21] This period illustrated his specialization in low-budget projects that blend horror, satire, and queer representation, often prioritizing creative freedom over mainstream visibility. Stickles' producing involvement expanded in the mid-2010s, notably as co-producer and associate producer on the holiday romantic comedy A Prince for Christmas (2015), a Hallmark-style film about a European royal evading an arranged marriage, where he also had a small acting role as a servant.[22] By 2025, his filmography had amassed over 50 credits, with recent appearances in direct-to-video genre fare such as Spider Baby (2024), Exteriors (2024), Teddy Told Me To (2023), Space Sharks (2024), and the upcoming A Boyfriend to Die For (2025), a thriller involving obsession and danger.[1] In interviews, Stickles has reflected on his genre focus as a passionate fit, stating his genuine love for horror's emotional intensity and its opportunities for diverse storytelling, including queer themes that echo his career's foundational elements.[23] This evolution underscores a sustained diversification into acting and producing within independent cinema, emphasizing cult appeal and thematic depth over commercial scale.Personal life
Marriage and relationships
Stickles is openly gay and has been public about his sexuality since early in his career, embracing roles that reflect his identity while acknowledging the professional challenges of being out in Hollywood.[8] He has been married to actor and magician Michael Carbonaro since July 20, 2014.[24] The couple met through MySpace via a mutual friend, bonding initially over their shared experiences in queer-themed films like Another Gay Movie and Shortbus, and they fell in love at the DVD release party for the latter.[25] They had been together for several years prior to their marriage and continue to share a close partnership, with Stickles often traveling with Carbonaro for his performances, assisting backstage alongside their poodle.[25] Stickles maintains privacy regarding any prior relationships, with no public details available about his dating history before Carbonaro.[26] His openness about his sexuality has influenced his career trajectory, leading him to prioritize authentic LGBTQ+ representation in projects like Shortbus and The Lair.[8]Public persona and interests
Peter Stickles maintains a public image as an openly gay actor deeply embedded in the independent film scene, often embracing roles that challenge conventional norms in queer and genre storytelling. After beginning his career in New York City, where he resided in the Chelsea neighborhood—a hub for LGBTQ+ culture—he relocated to Los Angeles by late 2008 to pursue broader opportunities in the industry.[8][23] As a working actor in indie circles, Stickles has cultivated a lifestyle centered on collaborative, low-budget projects, including collaborations with filmmakers and performers from diverse backgrounds, such as those in adult entertainment and horror genres.[8] Stickles has long expressed a profound interest in the horror genre, stemming from his childhood fascination with the medium. He has shared that as a young boy, he hid Fangoria magazines under his bed and dreamed of creating horror films, a passion that continues to define much of his career choices.[23] "If I could do horror films my whole life, I would die a happy man," he stated in a 2012 interview.[23] Additionally, Stickles has demonstrated an affinity for improvisation, particularly highlighted in his involvement with the 2006 film Shortbus, where he participated in multi-year workshops that relied heavily on unscripted scenes and actor-driven development before formal shooting began.[10] In interviews, Stickles has advocated for greater visibility and acceptance of LGBTQ+ actors in Hollywood, emphasizing his decision to be "out and proud" despite potential professional repercussions. He has taken on explicitly gay roles, such as the leader of a vampire cult in the series The Lair, viewing them as opportunities to normalize queer narratives in media.[8] Stickles has also spoken candidly about industry challenges, including typecasting and bias that limit opportunities for openly gay performers in straight roles, noting, "A lot of times, it’s not good, and it hurts," while expressing optimism that attitudes would evolve over time.[8]Filmography
Film roles
Peter Stickles has appeared in over 25 films, often in supporting roles within independent, horror, and comedy genres. His credits include both acting and occasional producing work. The following table provides a comprehensive chronological list of his film roles, drawn from verified film databases.[1]| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Finding Forrester | Student (uncredited) |
| 2000 | Shaft | Mickey Hunt (uncredited) |
| 2004 | Personal Sergeant | Street Punk |
| 2005 | Dead Serious | Hostage |
| 2006 | Shortbus | Caleb / The Stalker |
| 2006 | Cemetery Gates | Hunter Belmont |
| 2006 | Meat Weed Madness | Peter |
| 2008 | Watch Out | Brian |
| 2008 | Evilution | Stanfa |
| 2009 | George's Intervention | Ben |
| 2009 | The Perfect Sleep | Trevor |
| 2010 | The Black Box | Bob Wilkins / Newscaster |
| 2013 | The Brides of Sodom | Dominic |
| 2011 | Showgirls 2: Penny's from Heaven | Godhardt Brandt |
| 2011 | Evil Bong 3-D: The Wrath of Bong | Alistair |
| 2014 | Best Day Ever | James |
| 2015 | A Prince for Christmas | Servant 1 |
| 2017 | Stage Fright | Kevin |
| 2019 | Robowoman | Officer Krueger |
| 2019 | Deathcember | The Man (segment "Dead Mail") |
| 2023 | Las Vegas Frankenstein | Peter |
| 2023 | Break In | Zeke |
| 2023 | Teddy Told Me To | Christopher Peterson |
| 2023 | Big Freaking Snake | Sheriff |
| 2023 | Axeman at Cutter's Creek 2 | Father |
| 2023 | Spider Baby | Peter |
| 2023 | Exteriors | Dr. Lesh |
| 2023 | Rattlers 2 | Morris |
| 2024 | Space Sharks | Pilot |