Diggin' Six Feet Under.

American Beauty writer Alan Ball talks about taking on life, death, and the closet in his new series for HBO 

The movie American Beauty blew through America's cineplexes like a much-needed creative breath of fresh air in the fall of 1999. The film's sweep of the 2000 Oscars--winning four, including Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay--turned first-time screenwriter Alan Ball into Hollywood's newest literary "it" boy. But rather than jumping at any of the feature film projects dangled before him, the openly gay former sitcom writer and producer (Grace Under Fire, Cybill) decided instead to create an hourlong comedy-drama series for HBO: Six Feet Under, set in a family mortuary.

With Ball as executive producer, head writer, and sometime director, Six Feet Under unfolds as a jaundiced look at a typically dysfunctional suburban Los Angeles family who just happen to be in the funeral business: High-strung mother (Frances Conroy), prodigal son (Peter Krause), rebellious teenage daughter (Lauren Ambrose), and the heir apparent to the embalming Wade, the closeted gay son (Michael C. Hall) with a policeman boyfriend (Michael St. Patrick). And Dad? Hit by a bus in the June 3 series debut, he was the first of many clients to come through the Fisher & Sons Funeral Home. "Somebody dies in every episode, and their body goes through the funeral home--and that's what we base that week's episode on," Ball says with a wry smile. "Sometimes it's black comedy, and sometimes it's scary and very unsettling."

The discussion of sex--of any kind--still freaks out many Americans, and the same can be said of talking about death.

I think one reason our culture is so shallow is that we ignore death--we pretend it doesn't exist. The death care industry in America has become all about hiring professionals to take care of it all and sanitize it. This show about a family in the death care industry was the idea of [HBO executive] Carolyn Strauss, and I immediately thought, Wow, that's a show I'd really like to work on. I was in a car accident when I was 13 years old--my sister was driving the car, and she was killed--and that has always been a defining moment in my life. It separated my life into "the life before" and "the life after." Then my father died when I was 19. Friends of mine died of AIDS during the '80s and early '90s. So death has been something I've experienced--not inordinately but certainly early and right there in my face.

You're among a generation of gay men who saw more death than people usually do in their 20s and 30s.

Absolutely. There is a point in our lives where death becomes a reality on almost a cellular level, and we sort of accept it. Once we really do accept it, our life becomes deeper, richer, and more meaningful.

Do you feel that the frequency of death in the gay male community in the past 20 years has affected our outlook on life?

Especially as a gay man, the specter of death certainly fuels a lot of the rampant hedonism. At the same time, as people get older, those of us who did survive the AIDS crisis--and now find ourselves in our 40s--feel like everybody we knew is dead, and we're like these weird survivors. I certainly think many of us have tried to be more decent--at least I have.

Tell me about the relationship between the straight and gay brothers on the show.

That relationship really fascinates me a lot. I think there is a real deep bond--and deep love--between the brothers. As kids they would have been inseparable. Then I'm sure David realized at some point he was different. Then he had more of a need for approval and the need to be the good boy--that's what I did when I was a kid. I thought, I'll get good grades, and I'll behave, and I'll do everything right, and that will compensate for the fact that deep down somewhere inside, I'm a freak.

You've called yourself a mixture of cynic and romantic. That seems to be a quality shared by a lot of creative lesbian and gay people in our culture. Do you agree?

If you've got a brain in your head and look around at the culture we live in, it's really hard hot to be cynical. But at the same time, I think we yearn for the same thing: We're romantics. I surprise myself sometimes. I get suckered in by a commercial and want to slap myself. That's just a mixture of who I am, and I'm sure being gay has a lot to do with it because, again, it's that whole outsider's status. If I were a straight guy who could have gotten married and had kids, I'm sure I wouldn't be quite so cynical about it.

Do you think there is a gay sensibility when it comes to films and TV?

I do believe that gay writers, gay directors have a different view of the world, one in which not only gay men but women, especially, are less objectified. I don't think it's a mistake that gay writers throughout history have written more interesting, meaty roles for women. I think it's because we know what it's like to ...

... be marginalized in society?

Yes, be marginalized, but also to relate romantically to men [laughs]. It's so frustrating.

Was your ability to explore the characters' sex lives the reason you decided to do a series on HBO rather than return to network TV?

I don't push the envelope just for the sake of pushing the envelope. But these characters are adult sexual beings, and we deal with that and a business that is about confronting death. I have never gotten a single note [asking for changes] from HBO about even one episode. When I was working on network TV, I was told I couldn't use the word "G spot." HBO wants my voice.

So does Tom Hanks, we hear. Can you tell us anything about the feature film you're writing for him?

I'd prefer not to. Only because I'm hot finished with it. I don't like talking about things before I'm finished, because what I've done in the past is talk about it, then change it. I just feel like the energy I'd take talking about it needs to go into the script itself. But it's based on an idea that he gave me and I really responded to.

We've heard that Tom's playing a gay role again, a closeted detective investigating a murder. Is that true?

Well, there is a gay element to it, but it's not just that. But I'd prefer to wait until I'm finished.

Clinton is a television correspondent for CNN and reviews films for CNN Radio and CNN.com.