The moment US TV network ABC announced it was planning a sitcom loosely based around the early life of pundit and It Gets Better co-founder Dan Savage, which would centre on a staunchly Catholic family dealing with one of their children coming out, it’s drawn protests from conservative religious groups in the US. Now it’s on its way to American TV screens and ABC has introduced it to journalists with a TCA panel on Saturday.
The panel included the news that 21-year-old theatre actor Noah Galvin, who plays 16-year old Kenny O’Neal in the show, is gay in real-life as well as in the series. He told those listening, “There is a very clear distinction between how young people view the show as opposed to older people, who [may] have gone through this. I’m gay myself and I haven’t gone through a lot of the things that Kenny goes through in the series.”
His issue was partly that having come from background where he didn’t have to struggle against his sexuality in the way his character does – apparently his mother asked him whether he was gay three times and reassured him about it before he finally told her – made him question whether the TV show was bringing anything new to the table. He says, “I [thought], ’Is this crazy, is it new and groundbreaking?’” However after he showed the pilot to an older friend, “They were astounded by it.”
The producers were also pleased to have found a gay actor for the role, with producer Todd Holland, saying “As a gay man, this is a landmark role on network television. It was very important to me that a gay kid play this role.” However, he added that they didn’t insist on it while casting the role – not least because non-discrimination laws barred them from asking the auditionees sexuality – but that he was extremely pleased that the right person for the role was openly gay – “For the top dog in the whole competition to be a really confident gay kid is just so satisfying,” he said.
Martha Plimpton, who plays the devout Catholic mother of the family said one of the things she hoped the show does is that, “It’s normalising Kenny and making the fearful homophobes the weirdos, which is what I like about it.”
As well as the main character’s sexuality, the show sets out to challenge the idea of the perfect nuclear family in other ways, such as Kenny’s brothers issues eith eating disorders. It debuts in the US in March.
When the Hollywood Foreign Press Association hired Ricky Gervais to host the Golden Globes after a three-year gap, you’ve got to think they were hoping for a bit of controversy. After all, all of his previous experiences has commenters asking whether he’d gotten too close to the knuckle.
While there are a lot of gay-themed movies, there aren’t that many that that have dealt directly with ex-gay conversion therapy, perhaps because it’s a difficult subject that many wouldn’t be brave enough to tough. However, the upcoming Fair Have takes it on with the story of a young man who’s been through the ex-gay mill and what happens to him on the other side.
There aren’t many movie directors who’ve ended up gracing the catwalks or becoming one of the faces for a designer’s new season of clothing, however now The Matrix and Cloud Atlas’s Lana Wachowski can add model to her resume, as she is helping to front Marc Jacobs’ new Spring/Summer 2016 ready-to-wear collection.
It’s not too many year ago when the idea of coming out at the beginning of your acting career would have been seen as almost inevitably career killing. However now more and more young actors are feeling the ability to be open about their sexuality, and that includes Amandla Stenberg, who revealed she is Bisexual during a Snapchat takeover for Teen Vogue.
It was Carol and Bridge Of Spies that had most to celebrate yesterday with the news that they each scored nine BAFTA nominations. It was widely expected Carol would do well, although Spielberg’s Bridge Of Spies cetainly did better than many expected it to going into the awards season.
Ireland’s official entry for Best Foreign Language Film at this year’s Academy Awards is actually set in Cuba, but as director Paddy Breathnach is Irish it could go on the Oscar shortlist. It’s also a queer-themed movie that looks like it’s be well worth a watch.
We’re big fans of Peccadillo’s gay short film collection, Boys On Film, which is returning soon with its 14th edition, World’s Collide, which they’re billing as ‘the most daring collection yet’. The newly released trailer suggests that might not just be hyperbole!