LOOK WHO’S TALKING: ‘LOVING’S’ DENNIS PARLATO

Some actors love doing interviews, while others are reluctant or shy away from the press. The latter has always seemed to be the case with Dennis Parlato, who plays Clay Alden on “Loving.”

Parlato turns out to be very talkative and charming, however.

“Actually, I’m just not the best self-promoter,” says the actor. “I’m not comfortable talking about myself. Also, I’m usually doing other projects in the theater so I’m just too busy.”

Parlato, a native Californian, formerly taught high school English in San Francisco.

“I realized teaching was not what I wanted to do as my primary career,” says Parlato. “I knew I wanted to perform in some way. While teaching I sang with chamber concert groups. Then I began to study ballet and started to perform, cutting my teaching to half-time and then to substituting.

“At the age of 30, I came to New York City assuming I’d eventually get into acting. I auditioned for everything--musicals, plays--even ballet companies from Ireland and Canada.”

Although he studied dance, Parlato admits, “I had no training in acting or singing. It was all raw instinct until two years later when I was in ‘A Chorus Line’ on Broadway. Then I was making enough money to afford lessons.

“I feel most at home when I’m acting,” he adds. “At first I worried that it would never be as fulfilling as dance, since dance was so engaging of the entire body. I was happy to discover acting engaged my entire being. I found I had more of a natural gift for acting. I found the career perfectly suited to me.”

Parlato says he realized Clay Alden is one of the most multidimensional characters in daytime and sees his recent confinement to a wheelchair as another way to open Clay up--instead of restricting him.

“Clay has been so shut out by his father Cabot (Wesley Addy),” says Parlato, “that he will do whatever it takes to get back into the game--with Alden Enterprises and with Cabot. “When I first came on the show, I felt it was such a shame that Cabot was dead. Clay had so much history with him that it would make for dynamic confrontations. Now that Cabot is alive after all, I get to play all that out.

“I’d also love to play out the fact that Clay sees that his parents actually love Alex Masters (Randolph Mantooth), who had once impersonated Clay. It’s maddening to Clay.”

Parlato also has no doubt who should be Clay’s leading lady.

Gwyn Alden (played by Christine Tudor), he says. “There is such rich understanding and humor between them. Now that Gwyn has been allowed to blossom and let go of Clay, it would be two different people coming together. I don’t know how much more I can take of Deborah Brewster (Nancy Addison Altman). Sometimes I’d like to shove something down her throat to shut her up.”

The actor credits the show with giving him the freedom to rework the scripts when necessary if he feels they are not being true to his character. He feels so strongly that he says, “If they refused, and if it was on something I felt compromised by, I’d tell them to get another actor to do it. Luckily, that hasn’t happened.”

“Loving” airs weekdays at 11 a.m. on ABC.