BRIEFS GUY

FURRY FRIDAY! Jared Allman
From:  The Backlot

 Jared Nicholas Allman is an American actor and aspiring author.

Allman’s father was in the Air Force during his early childhood, so the family moved around more than most. He attended three different schools during his kindergarten year. When Allman was 12, his father fulfilled a longtime dream of settling on a 500-acre farm in East Tennessee that had been in the family since the late 19th century. On the farm, the family raised American Milking Devons, a triple-purpose rare breed of cattle that can be used for draft, milk, and beef. As Allman’s family further developed the farm, his childhood duties grew and they added more animals to their inventory, including horses, ducks, chickens, sheep, and goats. His father still runs the Lazy A Farm, but Jared had another path in mind for his career. “I would always dream about getting away from the farm. I didn't want to work in a sewing factory and do the whole family and kids thing,” he said in an interview with FENUXE magazine.

Allman finished high school in 2002 and enrolled at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville for three years before moving his studies to a school in a quieter area. In 2007, he earned a bachelor’s degree in business from Tusculum College, a private Presbyterian-affiliated institution in Greeneville, Tenn.

During his time at Tusculum, Allman came out to his family when he was 22, following an upbringing that left him internally embattled with the opposing forces of growing up gay in a Southern Mormon family. “It was almost life and death for me. I felt very isolated, alone, and empty. Like anyone who feels those feelings you start thinking the unthinkable,” he said in an interview with The Advocate. “Being gay and Mormon is one of the worst sins — basically, I will burn in ‘spirit prison.’ When I finally came to terms with myself, I came home and told my parents. My dad drove me out into a hayfield on our farm because he said we couldn't talk about such things inside the house.” Since coming out, Allman’s relationship with his family remains positive. “I don’t think they were really surprised when I did tell ‘em, or maybe they were but they didn't act it. They were always very, very nice about it,” he told David Atlanta magazine. “Over the years, I’ve had boyfriends come home for the holidays and [my family] even let us sleep in the same bed. I don’t think that’s the norm, but I think maybe love conquered all in that instance.”

Following college graduation, Allman’s first job was in the music business doing merchandise for a variety of touring artists. He later worked with WME, a major talent agency in Nashville. After a little over a year at the agency, he left his position to pursue his passion for acting as a career.

Allman got his start in acting by appearing in several country music videos on CMT, as well as in docu-series on the Travel Channel and Disney Channel. His first appearance on film was in “Figure/Ground,” a short film by Daniel Henry that premiered at the 2011 Nashville Film Festival. Also in 2011, he was a key player in season 2 of the Sundance Channel’s popular reality series “Girls Who Like Boys Who Like Boys: Nashville," the highest rated original series ever for the network.

His next role and feature film debut, the Indie hit “Scenes from a Gay Marriage” by Matt Riddlehoover, was filmed in Nashville and premiered in 2012. Since its release, “Scenes from a Gay Marriage” has been one of the top selling DVDs on TLAgay.com, a leading site for gay home entertainment. Allman appeared in another Riddlehoover film, “West Hollywood Motel,” which was completed in 2013. Another of Jared’s acting projects, a comedy called “Daughter” (2013), is currently in post-production.

“Girls Who Like Boys Who Like Boys” was nominated for a GLAAD Media Award in 2012, and Allman visited Atlanta for the event. He took an immediate liking to the city and decided to relocate to the metro-Atlanta city of Lawrenceville, Ga. in December 2012. He had become highly recognizable in Nashville, so the move to Atlanta was motivated by his desire for a less conspicuous fresh start and the city’s thriving film industry. Shortly after becoming an Atlanta resident, Allman was on the cover of FENUXE magazine and within the pages of David Atlanta, two of the city's most significant publications for the LGBT community.

Allman is collaborating with Riddlehoover on a romantic comedy in pre-production that will be shot partially in Atlanta, “You Could Have Called First” (2014). He will also appear in the sequel to “Scenes from a Gay Marriage,” set to be released in 2015.

When he’s not working, Allman enjoys reading and playing video games such as “The Elder Scrolls” and “Dragon Age” and watching “Star Trek: The Next Generation.” He’s also developing his latest labor of love, penning his first book “Kinda Good at Everything: Growing up Southern, Mormon, and Gay.”