Since his days on Dawson’s he’s been known as a fixer. He is called MapQuest by studio executives, who say he’s the best in the business at keeping successful shows on track and, more important, giving direction to flagging shows and charting a better course for them. His biggest success to date has been Brothers & Sisters, which he was brought in to “rescue” after the show’s pilot had been filmed in 2006. Though it’s hard to imagine now, it was plagued with casting and script problems early on.

Berlanti is quick to say that his strengths lie in script direction and character development, both of which turned things around on Brothers & Sisters (in a matter of days, according to producers), but it’s clear that he also has an uncanny sense of people -- not just how to write them but also how to get the most from them. “When you’re the writer and executive producer, you’re doing something that’s supposed to be creatively fulfilling, but you’re also kind of the actors’ boss,” he says.

There’s nothing “kind of” about it. Berlanti is the boss -- to Hollywood heavy hitters like Sally Field, Donald Sutherland, and Jill Clayburgh—and his stars are the first to point that out. “He doesn’t need to posture or grandstand,” says Matthew Rhys. “His work commands respect. But he’s so good about his approach that you never feel like you’re getting a called into the principal’s office. He does it without intimidation.”

“You know how some guys’ personalities lend themselves well to getting their balls busted? He’s not one of those guys,” says William Baldwin, who plays Patrick Darling, a married politician carrying on an affair with a transgender woman on Dirty Sexy Money. “When Greg’s there, it’s sort of like talking to a priest.”

Dave Annable, who plays Justin Walker on Brothers & Sisters, is equally respectful, if a bit less reverent: “For a guy in his position he’s incredibly accessible. He might say he’s a control freak, but he also is never invasive.”

Baldwin agrees. “It’s not like what I’ve heard from friends who worked on The West Wing, where actors are told how to say absolutely everything...he’s hired me because he believes in my talent and trusts me and trusts all of his actors,” says Baldwin, taking a clear swipe at Aaron Sorkin, The West Wing’s notoriously detail-obsessed creator. “There’s mutual respect and trust there that you don’t always get.”

Berlanti’s also humble. “When I’m around actors, I have this sense of having to do for them what they do for me all the time,” he says. “It’s like with parents -- there’s that urge to please them. You want to make them as happy and as comfortable as possible, and you hope that you’re giving them something they like.”

Still, though, gay critics fault him and his shows for two primary things: casting straight actors in gay roles (as he did with Matthew Rhys’s Kevin and Jason Lewis’s Chad on Brothers & Sisters) and not taking gay story lines far enough. To both charges, Berlanti’s response is pragmatic.

“I think at this point people get that it’s about getting the best actor for the part,” he says. “It’s always nice to have a gay actor in a gay role, but you can’t ask people [about their sexuality] in the casting room anyway. I’ve put gay actors in straight roles.”

As far as Kevin’s story line, he’s very satisfied with where he’s been able to take it. “If this were a cable show I might say, when Kevin and Scotty get into a long relationship, ‘How monogamous do they want to be?’ But tonally it just doesn’t feel right for us, and I don’t know that I’d explore that with a straight couple either. But his character has had just as many fully explored romances and romantic foils on the show as Kitty.”

In creating Kevin Walker on the multigenerational family drama, the show’s writers and Rhys never take the bait to go for a stereotype. He’s often the family’s voice of reason and its moral compass, and open and unapologetic about his deeply flawed personal life. “We could tell after the first couple of episodes that Matthew was creating a new gay character that had not been on TV, and that’s always exciting,” says Berlanti, before giving most of the credit to his actor. “I think most people are so won over by Matthew that it’s hard to not get equally invested in him as a romantic lead.” The show also has no fewer than four additional supporting gay characters.

Jon Robin Baitz, the Brothers & Sisters creator who was ousted from the series after a tumultuous ride, recently cited Barry Diller and David Geffen as personal and professional heroes for, among other things, their bellicosity. But Baitz hearkens back to an old-school era of gay power in Hollywood, characterized by the closet and a need to prove you’ve got a bigger dick than the next guy -- a game Berlanti never needed to play. “No, it’s not my style,” he says. “But I have my moments. I’m Italian, and there are times when I get frustrated or upset about things.”

The rigors of television work are catching up to him, he says, and a return to movies is in the works. “I felt like when I started I had tons and tons of stories that I wanted to tell,” he says. “I quickly learned what writing works and what doesn’t, how to get the most from a scene. Now I have enough episodes, where I have some that I hate, that I learned from. I would rather have learned from those than on some expensive feature and blown it. But the pace eats up your life. It’s definitely more of a young person’s game, and as I look down the road at my life over the next 10 years, I don’t know that I’ll be able to continue at this pace.”

It doesn’t look like Berlanti’s going to be taking up fly-fishing or gardening anytime soon. When he’s not running his three TV shows, he’s cowriting the adaptation of the Green Lantern comic that he’s also set to direct. “Whatever free time I have left is pretty much thinking about Green Lantern. That’s all I’ve got time for mentally right now,” he says before mischievously flashing a telegenic grin. “Otherwise, I’d probably be single again and getting into a lot of trouble.”


Fashion and styling credits, first photo: White button-down shirt by Z Zegna. Gray v-neck sweater, striped silk tie, and black patent leather lace-up shoes by Gucci. Gray wool two-piece suit by Salvatore Ferragamo. White and gray plaid cotton button-down by Tom Ford. Black and charcoal-gray suit by John Varvatos. Silver cuff links and shoes by Salvatore Ferragamo. Lavender cotton button-down shirt and charcoal-gray suit by Ralph Lauren purple label. Gray wing tip loafers by Salvatore Ferragamo. Gray button-down shirt with contrasting collar by Salvatore Ferragamo. Charcoal-gray double-breasted suit with gray chalk stripes by Tom Ford. Black lace-up shoes by Giorgio Armani. Second photo: Gray cotton button-down shirt by Tom Ford. Vest, trousers, and striped silk tie by Bottega Veneta. Prop stylist: Lisa Bozadona. Prop assistant: Jeff Klassy. Photo assistants: Drew Schwartz, Andar Sawyers, Nick Walker. Hair for Berlanti: Carola Gonzalez at the Wall Group. Makeup for Berlanti: Annie Wolfson. Grooming for Baldwin: Garen Tolkin for Exclusive Artists/Matrix Men. Grooming for Annable and Rhys: Jenn Streicher.

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