Alex Porter

Alex Porter is a fictional character on Center Stage. He is portrayed by Kevin Levine.

Biography
Alex was born in rural Oklahoma. His father grew marijuana and was arrested when Alex was nine. His mother taught at a deaf school and had a drinking problem. Alex was an intelligent but introverted kid, and decided that he wanted to be an actor after appearing as an ant in his second grade school play. He also acted in school, playing Tituba in a production of ''The Crucible. ''Despite his dysfunctional upbringing, Alex has alluded to having been a happy child. He once mentioned to Bebe that "As long as I pretended not to notice [my mother's] drinking problem and she pretended not to notice my extra-long showers, we were good."

Alex once played Alan Strang in the junior version of Equus, and Mark Zuckerberg in a stage adaptation of The Social Network. He also had a role in a musical version of Angels In America.

Diane Porter
Alex's mother Diane (played by Kristen Whise) is a recovering alcoholic and retired teacher. Despite her alcoholism, Diane was always a nurturing, supportive mother.

Randall Porter
Randall Porter is Alex's father. He has never been seen, but Alex has mentioned that he grew marijuana and was arrested when Alex was nine years old. Alex's mother has described him as a "useless lump of a bastard".

Wayne Dixon
Wayne Dixon is Alex's cousin on his mother's side. He appeared in several episodes in the first season, but then disappeared. Alex later explained that he had gone off to join a traveling group of stoners.

Personality
Alex is a loyal and caring friend, though he is very socially inept. Jack once described him as "the social equivalent of a million Hindenburgs". He has a habit of saying inappropriate or awkward things without thinking, especially when he feels uncomfortable. Bebe once described him as "foot-in-mouth disease Patient Zero"

Alex is a very talented actor, but lacks singing and dancing ability. He was once asked by a director to exploit his lack of dancing ability "for comic relief" in a musical version of Angels in America ("Significant Others"). His lack of vocal talent was once exploited by Jack, who asked him to perform at a children's hospital to show sick kids that "it could always be worse". ("What's In A Name").

Alex is very intelligent and often serves as the voice of reason. He is a loyal friend, and will often go out of his way to help others. Bebe described Alex as having "a certain allure that people find hard to resist. Much like a crippled kitten."

Sexuality
Alex's sexual orientation has been alluded to only on occasion and is ambiguous at best. He has only had one known girlfriend, and has said numerous times that he prefers to be single. Nevertheless, there have been hints that Alex may have bisexual tendencies. In one episode, Bebe asked "were you just hitting on that guy?", to which Alex replied "I don't know."

Kathy Parish has said that she keeps Alex's sexuality deliberatly ambiguous. Kevin Levine described him as "Alex-sexual".

There have been hints that Alex masturbates frequently. He once off-handedly mentioned the difficulty that comes with having to calculate the amount of time available to masturbate before his favorite TV shows come on, and admitted that, at age sixteen, he was caught masturbating in the treehouse of his neighbor's deceased daughter.

Relationships
Alex has alluded to only one romantic relationship, with a girl named Sarah who he broke up by leaving a note on her car windshield because she didn't like The X-Files. He has mentioned on a few occasions that he is "better off" single.

Bebe Crane
Bebe and Alex have a very close relationship. Bebe once described Alex as being like "the bastard son I never wanted".

Cory Jenkins
Cory was one of Alex's closest friends, having met in a college stagecraft class. Evidently they are both banned from the Goodwill store and, according to Alex, the clerk there considers them "horrible people."

In season three, Cory's appearances became more sporadic until he stopped appearing all together. In season four, Alex mentioned that Cory had disappeared, and he has not been seen or mentioned since. (It is rumored that Cory Jenkins, who played Cory, was fired from the series for an undisclosed reason).

Mark Andrews
Mark is Alex's best friend, and the two share a brotherly relationship despite their personality differences. They met after Mark saw a play Alex performed in. After the play, Mark came up to Alex and told him he sucked, which Alex respected and the two became best friends. Jack once described Mark and Alex as "Lucy and Ethel".

Brock Anderson
Alex and Brock met at an audition. They both made fun of each others outfits and became close friends thereafter.

Trivia

 * Once considered opening his own restaurant, believing himself to be qualified to do so because he has seen every episode of Kitchen Nightmares
 * Has admitted to being a fan of Amy Grant
 * He once mentioned that he hit puberty at age 20
 * Was kicked out of a theme park when he was 9 because he asked Pocahontas if she was naked under her costume
 * Lost his virginity to the Michael Bolton version of "Go The Distance"

Quotes
"Sometimes I feel bad about being single during the holidays. But then I go home and role around naked in all the money I would have spent on a partner and everything's okay"

"Yeah, well, your mama went to Sea World...and...rode the whales...and they sank...cuz she's so fat."

(Trying to avoid a man's coming on to him) "Hey, look at that moon...all pretty, with its crescent shape there...it looks like a thumbnail, huh? Like God is giving us a big thumbs up"

(When asked what he knows about the penis) "I know I have one...that's about it."

"Well, I better get going. That sim city isn't gonna build itself."

"Sometimes I feel insecure about my height or my receding hairline or awkwardly pitchy voice. But then I think, 'fuck it, I'm Alex Porter'"

"Look, I've got a lot on my mind right now. There's a water shortage in my sim city."

"Don't I deserve fake happiness?"

(After Peter told him he wanted to have an intimate experience with him) "Can't we just share a Pop Tart?"

Creation and Reception
Katharine Parish had Levine in mind when she created the character, and incorporated some of his quirks into Alex.

Like Michelle Carson and Michael Monahan, Levine often ad-libs when performing. On a Center Stage DVD extra, Kathy Parish comments that Levine has "one of the quickest minds I've ever seen...he comes up with this stuff almost instantly. You give him a topic and he'll just go off nonstop for ten, fifteen minutes."

Levine has received critical praise for his portrayal of Alex. He has been nominated for a Trinity Award three times, and critics have praised his performance. Critic Michael Nash wrote that "Levine's razor-sharp comic sensibilities mesh perfectly with Parish's trademark style."

Kathy Parish once remarked "Center Stage without Kevin would be like The Simpsons without Bart." Michelle Carson called Levine "one of the hardest-working actors I know. His sole focus from the minute he walks in the door is on giving his best."