October 11, 2026
When we think of celebs who were early AIDS warriors, Elizabeth Taylor, Dionne Warwick, Madonna and others come to mind. I also wrote about fabulous Vivian Blaine and Mamie Van Doren’s unsung contributions, and of course Dionne, Stevie Wonder, Elton John and Gladys Knight sang their hearts out for AIDS awareness with “That’s What Friends Are For,” a no. 1 hit in January 1986.
But what about Danny Nucci?
The ill-fated Fabrizio from Titanic (1997) deserves some recognition for — at the age of 18 — deciding to star as a teen who comes up HIV positive years after receiving a blood transfusion in the earnest and then-informative An Enemy Among Us.
Initially conceived as a CBS Schoolbreak Special intended for daytime airing, the network bumped it up to prime time, ostensibly because of the urgency of the subject — but possibly also because they feared blowback over broaching the topic of HIV/AIDS directly to kids during the day.
Nucci, who had a growing following in teen mags and was working on kid-targeted films like Explorers (1985) and guesting on shows including Family Ties (1985), Mr. Belvedere (1985) and Growing Pains (1986), had the previous year appeared in the grittier TV movie The Children of Times Square (1986). That one was about gangs and drugs, but acting in An Enemy Among Us carried some of the same risks his character, Scott Fischer, carried as a schoolkid whose HIV status was outed to the media.
In the film, Nucci must deal with the fear of AIDS at a time when much less was known about HIV — the film’s cheerful health worker character, played ably and affably by Gladys Knight, says there is a 30% chance someone with HIV will get AIDS, “Maybe more” — and that includes navigating a blossoming romance with his longtime friend, played by Tammy Lauren.
Though his parents — Stephen Macht and Dee Wallace — are supportive, his girlfriend’s parents — Robin Gammell and Gail Strickland — are anything but. Luckily, he has an unshakable bestie in the form of Kris Kamm to rely on.
Ultimately, the very short film (available on Amazon Prime, it’s just 45 minutes long and ends abruptly) doesn’t allow for a lot of character development, but Nucci is more than up to the task, especially in two scenes in which he expresses frustration over his impossible situation.
Wallace’s initial reaction, to hate the man whose donated blood infected her son, is succinctly covered in such a way as to suggest nobody deserves HIV/AIDS, an oblique but at the time much-needed reminder that gay men were not getting sick on purpose, or as part of God’s divine plan.
Nucci told The L.A. Times (July 19, 1987) he expected viewers would have preconceived notions, but, “I hope that when it’s over, they’ll be a little less naive about the disease and that young people especially will think about their own behavior.”
I think it’s fair to suggest the dramatized PSA accomplished that, using scenes of kids asking a doctor (Knight) questions about transmission that included answers about anal sex and condoms at a time when condom ads were banned on TV.
It was certainly a view through rose-colored glasses. Real-life PWA Ryan White, also a kid who became infected via blood transfusion, was diagnosed in 1984, leading to members of his community and even teachers angrily protesting his presence in the classroom. But the film was presenting a more optimistic approach, one in which people who are shown the truth will recognize it as such. If only that were the norm.
Nucci’s career did not suffer, of course. Along with Titanic, he has worked steadily ever since. I remember him as the lovable straight stud on Some of My Best Friends (2001), the sitcom version of the film Kiss Me, Guido (1997) — that was the one with Jason Bateman as his gay roomie, a show created, by the way, by Desperate Housewives’ gay Republican creator Marc Cherry and also by Tony Vitale, who’d created the film.
Along with his most-seen performance, in Titanic, Nucci acted in Crimson Tide (1995), The Rock (1996) and other big blockbusters, and was Mike Foster on the long-running TV series The Fosters (2013-2018), which centered on lesbian moms.
Interestingly, Nucci has been married for 20+ years to actor Paula Marshall, whom he met on the set of That Old Feeling (1997), meaning they were among the last people ever directed by Carl Reiner in a feature film.
Nucci’s wife Marshall is maybe most famous as the NYU student reporter on the classic Seinfeld episode “The Outing” from 1993 … not that there’s anything wrong with it. She’s also the 20-years-younger sis of the odious Virginia politician Bob Marshall, the Republican who spearheaded the first bathroom bill, only to later get creamed, losing his seat to Danica Roem, the first out trans candidate ever elected to any state legislature in U.S history. (Spoiler alert: Paula’s politics are diametrically opposed to her brother’s.)
At any rate, I think Nucci’s decision to appear in An Enemy Among us in the bad old days of AIDS hysteria is admirable, and I wonder if the fact he was born in Austria and raised in Italy had anything to do with his cosmopolitan approach and lack of fear.
I don’t think many other boys with pinups in Tiger Beat in 1987 were champing at the bit to play a kid with HIV.
Nearly 40 years later, as we look around at all the cowards in politics and in the media, it’s appropriate to remember individual acts of bravery in the arts along the way. ⚡️
the "innocent victim" phrase was passive aggressive victim blaming (homos with HIV were guilty victims). May seem innocuous today but at the time it riled lots of gays.