‘Love, Victor’ star: gay role sparked death threats

Michael Cimino, the straight star of the coming-of-age series Hulus, Love, Victor, says he has been attacked by some members of the LGBTQ community and even some members of his own family. He said the former went so far as to threaten his life.

In a new interview with Attitude, Cimino who plays the incumbent Victor says: I received homophobic comments, I expected this to happen. I didn’t expect that from my own family members, however.

He added: Some of them reached out and said: You were so cool before; now you are so gay. I attribute it to ignorance. People have this programming and they often don’t have to evolve and try to get past it.

The 21-year-old Las Vegas native is of Puerto Rican and Italian-German descent and has previously spoken about the racism he faced growing up. But he said IndieWire in a 2020 interview that his community had its own issues of prejudice.

It’s strange [the Latinx community] is liberal when it comes to Latinos, but when it comes to gay rights, it’s like, eh, question mark, Cimino said in the interview. We need to change the narrative on this, right now. Because it’s not fair. There are some issues that you may not be satisfied with that concern your people but not all. Just because someone’s sexuality is different from yours doesn’t mean they aren’t part of your community.

In the Attitude interview, Cimino said: There is nothing wrong with being gay. This ignorance is often something that has been passed down from previous generations. I always approach that [by saying]These are normal people who struggle and they shouldn’t have to struggle.

Cimino has said in several interviews that he has been warned against gay roles for fear of being labeled. Meanwhile, the young actor also faced violent flashbacks for playing a role a gay actor could have played.

I have certainly had criticism from the LGBT community for playing the role in which I received death threats, which is horrible. But the show is important to me. The hate messages, I went in knowing it would happen, no matter how good I was, he told Attitude, which did not detail the threats or their sources.

But there are straight actors who play gay characters, who support all LGBT rights while promoting their project, but once they’re done, a year later, it’s kind of forgotten.

It’s not like that [to] being an ally is not how you support LGBT rights. If you are not a real ally, then what do you do?

Straight actors playing gay roles have been the subject of debate for some time, often drawing on the Hollywood story of forcing gay actors to stay in the closet in real life and only offering limited chances to explore the humanity of gay characters on screen.

In a meeting With the Sunday Times, actor Richard E. Grant, who received an Oscar nomination for playing a gay character in Can You Ever Forgive Me ?, said: I’ve always had this concern … The transgender movement and the #MeToo movement means, how can you justify straight actors playing gay characters? If you want someone to play a disabled role, it should be a disabled actor.

In one commotion interview, Emmy winner Darren Criss basically agreed. Criss, who played famous queer characters including Andrew Cunanan in The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story and Hedwig in Hedwig and the Angry Inch onstage, said he won’t take on gay roles anymore, because I want to make sure I won’t be another straight. boy taking gay male role.

Oscar winner Cate Blanchett, however, said the hollywood reporter, I will fight to the death for the right to suspend disbelief and play roles beyond my experience.

Blanchett, who received one of her Oscar nominations as one of the protagonists of the lesbian love story Carol, touted her as essential to the art and task of acting.

Being an actor for me is an anthropological exercise. So you have to look at a period, a set of experiences, a historical event that you knew nothing about, she said in 2018.

For his part, Cimino told Attitude: It’s an honor to play Victor, and a great responsibility. I entered with the pure intention of representing this correctly.