Kenny Ortega on 'High School Mil' and Beg a Gay Director - Variety

Contents:

• GAY TEENS ON 'HIGH SCHOOL MIL' SERI FALLY GET A LOVE SONG OF THEIR OWN
• THANKS TO WHNEY HOTON, ‘HIGH SCHOOL MIL’ HAS S FIRST GAY ROMANCE
• GAY TEENS ON 'HIGH SCHOOL MIL' SERI HOPE TO BE THE REPRENTATN THEY NEVER HAD
• ‘HIGH SCHOOL MIL’ AIRS GAY LOVE BALLAD FIRST FOR DISNEY
• THE DIRECTOR OF "HIGH SCHOOL MIL" EXPLAED WHY RYAN WASN'T OPENLY GAY AND SAID HE WOULD "COME OUT IN COLLEGE"
• JOJO SIWA SAYS 'HSMTMTS' QUEER ROLE WAS 'REALLY SPECIAL:' 'NEVER PLAYED A GAY CHARACTER'
• KENNY ORTEGA SAYS RYAN OM HIGH SCHOOL MIL WAS ‘PROBABLY’ GAY
• 'HIGH SCHOOL MIL': WHAT LUS GRABEEL SAID ABOUT RYAN EVANS BEG GAY
• ‘HIGH SCHOOL MIL’ DIRECTOR KENNY ORTEGA CONFIRMS LUS GRABEEL’S CHARACTER RYAN EVANS IS GAY
• HOW HIGH SCHOOL MIL BLSED US WH DISNEY'S FIRST GAY LOVE SONG
• THE HIGH SCHOOL MIL FRANCHISE JT GOT ITS FIRST-EVER GAY COUPLE
• TIM FERLE ON REVISG GAY HIGH SCHOOL ‘HIGH SCHOOL MIL: THE MIL – THE SERI’
• FRANKIE RODRIGUEZ & JOE SERAFI ON GAYG DISNEY ‘HIGH SCHOOL MIL: THE MIL: THE SERI’

GAY TEENS ON 'HIGH SCHOOL MIL' SERI FALLY GET A LOVE SONG OF THEIR OWN

The romance between East High School’s gay teens epens on “High School Mil: The Mil: The Seri” this week wh the but of a tenr love ballad.

THANKS TO WHNEY HOTON, ‘HIGH SCHOOL MIL’ HAS S FIRST GAY ROMANCE

Season 1 of “High School Mil: The Mil: The Seri” garnered praise ahead of s 2019 Disney+ premiere for troducg Carlos as the anchise’s first-ever gay teen.

After three h movi, a ncert tour and untls stage productns, the “High School Mil” anchise troduc s first gay love story wh Friday’s episo of “High School Mil: The Mil: The Seri.

GAY TEENS ON 'HIGH SCHOOL MIL' SERI HOPE TO BE THE REPRENTATN THEY NEVER HAD

”“Today’s world” was the operative amework for approachg a kd of story that never played out the earlier “High School Mil” films, spe many speculatg — and hopg — that the anchise’s origal choreographer character, Ryan, might be gay.

‘HIGH SCHOOL MIL’ AIRS GAY LOVE BALLAD FIRST FOR DISNEY

Gay marriage wasn’t legal, so even though seems like that was 50 years away, really wasn’t, ” Rodriguez said. ”It wasn’t until 2017’s “Andi Mack” that Disney Channel troduced s first gay ma character middle schooler Cys Goodman. While havg an openly gay uple was already a tone for Disney, the pair would soon be makg even more history.

Rodriguez stars on the Disney+ seri as stunt choreographer Carlos at Utah’s East High School who ― what was billed as a anchise first at the time of the show’s 2019 but ― is gay. ” So, hdsight, may surprise viewers that “HSM” never clud an openly gay character until now. Disney+/Fred HayThough the origal “High School Mil” featured Ryan Evans (Lus Grabeel), the tw brother of Ashley Tisdale’s Sharpay who was wily assumed to be gay, the character never formally addrsed his sexualy.

Disney streamg seri High School Mil: The Mil: The Seri has marked a major tone for the pany after butg a gay love ballad. Carlos beme the first openly gay character the High School Mil anchise when he was troduced the show’s first season. Stunts rally around cheer ach allegedly fired for beg gay.

THE DIRECTOR OF "HIGH SCHOOL MIL" EXPLAED WHY RYAN WASN'T OPENLY GAY AND SAID HE WOULD "COME OUT IN COLLEGE"

READ NEXTNew York Man Fatally Stabbed Possible Anti-Gay Hate CrimeKylie Mogue Announc Las Vegas RincyDeSantis Campaign Shar Homoerotic Ad Toutg Anti-LGBTQ RerdActor Tom Holland’s Gay Sex Scene Sparks Controversy. News·Posted on 1 Jul 2020The Director Of "High School Mil" Explaed Why Ryan Wasn't Openly Gay And Said He Would "Come Out In College""I was ncerned bee was fay and kids that Disney might not be ready to cross that le. In a new terview wh Variety, director Kenny Ortega opened up about his experience makg the High School Mil seri and said he thought the character of Ryan would have e out as gay later life.

A lot of them see both Ryan and Kelsi — who went to prom together and had a subtle romantic storyle High School Mil 3 — as gay.

JOJO SIWA SAYS 'HSMTMTS' QUEER ROLE WAS 'REALLY SPECIAL:' 'NEVER PLAYED A GAY CHARACTER'

Both Ryan and Kelsie are gay and they were each other's beards for senr year. n you believe hsm they tried to pass off kelsi, a leral lbian, as a heterosexual who was datg ryan, a leral gay.

Ryan om High School Mil has officially been nfirmed as gay and hontly we been knew.

KENNY ORTEGA SAYS RYAN OM HIGH SCHOOL MIL WAS ‘PROBABLY’ GAY

Here is the gayt HSM song om the whole three movi. everyone who grew up wh hsm, 10 years later, as adults: He Is Gay.

I Dont Dance Is Gay.

'HIGH SCHOOL MIL': WHAT LUS GRABEEL SAID ABOUT RYAN EVANS BEG GAY

But now Ortega has nfirmed Ryan would probably have e out as gay " llege", addg that his character the movi was "ls about g out and jt more about lettg his te lours e forward".

He went on to say that while Disney is "the most progrsive group of people" he's ever worked wh, he had ncerns that they "weren't ready" to have an openly gay character a Disney Channel movie 2006.

‘HIGH SCHOOL MIL’ DIRECTOR KENNY ORTEGA CONFIRMS LUS GRABEEL’S CHARACTER RYAN EVANS IS GAY

I wanted people to thk, "That character's more plex than I thought, " stead of sayg, "Oh, he out pk and you know he's gay. On season 3 of High School Mil: The Mil: The Seri, JoJo Siwa plays Madison — a gay teen. Siwa, 19, spoke of her character, Madison, who is gay.

HOW HIGH SCHOOL MIL BLSED US WH DISNEY'S FIRST GAY LOVE SONG

"I've never played a gay character — bis myself, and I'm not a character, I'm jt myself, but that's that's how looks to the world, " Siwa told Entertament Weekly.

"But like, I don't know, bisexual, pansexual, queer, lbian, gay, straight. I always jt say gay bee jt kd of vers or queer bee I thk the keyword is ol, " she said. Variety named Ortega as an honoree on s “Power of Pri” list and terviewed him about his long reer as an openly gay choreographer and director Hollywood as well as the queer athetic nng through his classic fay films, om Newsi and Hoc Poc to his more recent Disney Channel Origal Movi.

” When asked if would have been possible to wre Ryan as openly gay a Bh admistratn–era Disney Channel movie, Ortega answered:. The fact that, 2020, Disney was velopg the gay-teen seri Love, Victor for Disney+ shows how far the stud has e.

THE HIGH SCHOOL MIL FRANCHISE JT GOT ITS FIRST-EVER GAY COUPLE

Kenny Ortega Says High School Mil’s Ryan ‘Probably’ Gay.

TIM FERLE ON REVISG GAY HIGH SCHOOL ‘HIGH SCHOOL MIL: THE MIL – THE SERI’

It’s jarrg to look back on the High School Mil anchise and realize that three movi about amb theater stunts puttg on shows, there were absolutely zero nonilly gay characters.

FRANKIE RODRIGUEZ & JOE SERAFI ON GAYG DISNEY ‘HIGH SCHOOL MIL: THE MIL: THE SERI’

And yet, that’s where we land, spe psdo-villa Ryan Evans beg read as queer by basilly anyone wh High School Mil: The Mil: The Seri, a Disney+ seri followg a (fictnal) high school as they try to put on High School Mil as a stage productn, is fally givg the gay theater ntent we so obvly served om the very first HSM.

Rodriguez plays Carlos, the anchise’s very first out gay character and choreographer of High School Mil wh the seri. It’s not about Carlos stgglg wh beg gay, ’s about him navigatg through alg wh your first csh, your first date, your first relatnship. ”Of urse, as meangful as this storyle is both for young teens and for queer lennials who grew up watchg High School Mil, there’s the expected outcry om nservativ who say that Disney is phg a queer agenda by allowg gay people to exist a show about… no matter how much they hate , happened!