'London Spy': Tom Rob Smh on gay love stori - TV Show Patrol

Contents:

• ARMY VETERAN ROB SMH: SAYG I'M CONSERVATIVE HARR THAN COMG OUT AS GAY
• ‘LONDON SPY’: TOM ROB SMH ON GAY LOVE STORI
• ‘THE ASSASSATN OF GIANNI VERSACE’ WRER ON WHY EQUALY MEANS MORE COMPLITED GAY VILLAS

ARMY VETERAN ROB SMH: SAYG I'M CONSERVATIVE HARR THAN COMG OUT AS GAY

21, is the story of Danny Holt (Ben Whishaw), a young gay man who falls love wh a stranger and sudnly fds himself the middle of a high-profile mystery volvg the secury servic, the Fleet Street prs, his iend and former spy Sttie (Jim Broadbent), and his lover’s mother, played wh extraordary rtrat by Charlotte Ramplg. I spoke wh the show’s creator, Tom Rob Smh, about how the show me to beg, why the central characters had to be gay, and what ’s like to work wh Ben Whishaw. And feels like ’s related to his beg gay, that sense of nstantly lookg for signals and of beg surveilled and judged.

For so long gay people were exclud om the secury servic, whereas beg gay might be a better ditn that you’d be a good spy than beg good at math or crossword puzzl. There was a history of famo gay spi England. It’s now this huge irony that the Wt has gay marriage and equaly, and Mosw has gone back time to prejudice and tolerance.

I also wanted to addrs this notn that somehow beg gay mak you trsilly ls reliable, which was, I gus, the premise of the ban on beg gay at MI6, which was force until the late ‘90s. You also show, wh the way the prs blows up stori of sexual sndal and the way HIV stigma to , that even today supposedly tolerant, acceptg natns, ’s much easier to discred a gay person. It had to be a gay story.

‘LONDON SPY’: TOM ROB SMH ON GAY LOVE STORI

I really enjoyed Danny’s relatnship wh Sttie, partly bee Sttie is a great character, but also for the mentorship that may be a ltle ls important the days but has been a tradnal part of gay life: You learn about gay history form olr gay people. I image that a few years ago the difficult part of sellg this project would be the gay ntent. When Army veteran Rob Smh me out as gay, was a personal moment rerved for his fay and close iends.

As an openly gay man who was proment the LGBTQ rights movement, he wanted his fear to be met wh a strong msage agast terrorism om his natn's lears. As a gay, Ain-Amerin man he knew he'd be gog agast the gra and worried about the repercsns of speakg out agast the polil left.

‘THE ASSASSATN OF GIANNI VERSACE’ WRER ON WHY EQUALY MEANS MORE COMPLITED GAY VILLAS

"Hontly, g out as nservative has been more of an earth-shatterg, life-alterg move for me, personally, than g out as gay was, " Smh said. "I me out [as gay] to my fay and iends but g out as nservative has been a very public thg...