“Baywatch” star Alexandra Paul recently opened up about a unique role she played in her friend and costar Jaason Simmons’ life. During an interview at the premiere of the docuseries “After Baywatch: Moment in the Sun,” Paul revealed that she acted as Simmons’ “beard” during the 1990s—a time when being openly LGBTQ+ could significantly impact one’s career and personal safety.
Paul shared that in an era when being out could jeopardize both professional opportunities and personal safety, she and Simmons maintained a public image that helped protect him from unwanted scrutiny. “Back in the 1990s, 30 years ago, if you were a gay actor in Hollywood, not only would that affect your career negatively, but it could also affect you just out and about in the streets,” Paul reflected. “You weren’t as safe.”
As Simmons portrayed the character of Logan, a handsome and flirtatious Australian lifeguard on “Baywatch,” Paul noted that his personal life had to remain under wraps. “He was gay, but he played a character who was quite the ladies’ man,” she said. “That just shows what a good actor he is.”
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The dynamic between Paul and Simmons was such that maintaining the illusion of a relationship was not particularly challenging. “We were very affectionate with each other, both on set and off. So, pretending to be romantically involved wasn’t too hard,” Paul explained. “We just went along with it because people saw us together and started the rumors on their own. I was only 22 or 23 at the time.”
Director Matthew Felker, who worked on “After Baywatch,” recalled the intensity of the paparazzi’s pursuit of Simmons during the ’90s. “Outing gay actors was like a sport for them. They hunted him like an animal,” Felker remarked.
Simmons publicly came out in 2008, sharing his relationship with Irish actor John O’Callaghan in the Australian magazine New Idea. Reflecting on his time on “Baywatch,” Simmons expressed gratitude for his castmates’ respect for his privacy. “Everybody knew, I just didn’t speak about my private life,” he told TooFab in a 2014 interview. “So to go into a show like that, being shy and introverted, it took a lot of adjusting. My castmates were fantastic and understanding.”
Paul’s story highlights the lengths to which people sometimes go to protect friends and colleagues in challenging times, shedding light on the broader struggles faced by LGBTQ+ individuals in Hollywood during the 1990s.
