15 years sce Mean Girls' release, the actor reflects on Hollywood's "gay glass ceilg," holdg out for eper queer characters, and his favore moments om the inic film.
Contents:
- FOR MEAN GIRLS ON BROADWAY, "TOO GAY TO FUNCTN" IS A MANTRA
- ‘TOO GAY TO FUNCTN’? MEAN GIRLS ACTOR OUT LETTER TO CHARACTER TEN YEARS AFTER FILM RELEASE
- TOO GAY TO FUNCTN
- NOT TOO GAY TO FUNCTN
FOR MEAN GIRLS ON BROADWAY, "TOO GAY TO FUNCTN" IS A MANTRA
Grey Henson, who plays Damian the Broadway productn of 'Mean Girls,' tells how he updated the inic gay character for 2018. * mean girls too gay to function *
And the actor who plays him — Man, GA native Grey Henson — was certaly up for the challenge, havg honed his mil chops tourg wh The Book of Mormon for two years before jog s Broadway pop culture wasn’t pletely void of queer characters 2004, for Grey and so many others who grew up watchg Mean Girls, the openly-gay and overly nfint Damian felt like a revelatn. Wh Grey at the helm, the mil’s Damian go beyond beg “too gay to functn” — Grey gets to lean to his queerns a way he simply wasn’t given the chance to the film. As a gay man, seeg Damian out and proud as a teen was a really awome experience, bee g om Geia you never saw embodi that sort of theatril weirdo every high school had.
‘TOO GAY TO FUNCTN’? MEAN GIRLS ACTOR OUT LETTER TO CHARACTER TEN YEARS AFTER FILM RELEASE
* mean girls too gay to function *
I’ve spoken to a lot of queer men who’ve sgled out Damian as one of the first openly gay characters they ronated wh onscreen. Before the ter and social media took off, beg gay was jt somethg you didn't hear about. Lots of kids, quote un-quote Damians themselv, have told me 's amazg to see someone reprented and celebrated on such a big platform that isn't a geo, okie-cutter, tan, bleach-blon gay guy wh abs.
TOO GAY TO FUNCTN
Ten years after the release of the film, an actor who played Damien Mean Girls has e out as gay. * mean girls too gay to function *
As vic as girls n be, the gay muny n be pretty vic too, pecially as you go through your 20s.
The biggt thg for me g to the show was not to make him a stereotype the way you thk of the "gay bt iend" like a flamboyant, over-the-top queen wh purs fallg out of his mouth. When he isn’t phg the gay agenda, you n ually fd him talkg about Big Ltle Li or Lryn Hill to anyone willg to listen. “He’s almost too gay to functn.
”In 2004, when Mean Girls was released, characters like Damian — also known as the Gay Bt Friend trope — were few and far between. The stg director that put me Party Monster lled me for Damian; the script said that he was “probably fat and fely gay, ” which I thought was hysteril. Nobody was gog to stop do you thk Damian f to the leage of the “gay bt iend” trope film?
NOT TOO GAY TO FUNCTN
A male who is blatantly gay but acts like he is still the closet and no one knows, when around other mal, he nnot help but be fltered and out of sorts" name="Dcriptn" property="og:scriptn * mean girls too gay to function *
I thk Damian was the first gay role I saw where the character was jt fortable beg himself and there wasn’t too much foc on his beg gay. You knew he was gay. But they told her that my character was gay and that’s why she let me sg the movie.