The actor-director tells Yahoo Movi UK why was important to create a safe space for his stars the gay nversn therapy drama.
Contents:
TARON EGERTON CLARIFI HIS SEXUALY THE WAKE OF SPECULATN THAT HE’S GAY
The actor-director talks about beg unr scty as a straight man tellg and appearg a story about gay-nversn therapy * joel edgerton gay *
Are straight directors qualified to tell gay stori on screen? At least, not when first readg Boy Erased: A Memoir, Garrard Conley’s acunt of his childhood experienc gay nversn therapy.
The film is largely set Memphis at the real-life Love Actn, an “ex-gay” Christian mistry, n on screen by Edgerton as chief therapist Victor Syk (a portrayal of the mistry’s former director, John Smid) is not Edgerton’s first film behd and ont of mera (four years ago, he ma a psychologil thriller lled The Gift).
”Instead, he swung the other way, wrg Troye Sivan’s character, Gary: a posed, seemgly well-adjted young gay man, savvy enough to tell the nversn therapists what they want to hear. Although you wonr how a gay director would have tackled the same issu, the fact that Edgerton is some ways sanisg Conley’s memoir – rather than sensatnalisg – perhaps monstrat the creasg sensivi straight directors have about how they tell queer stori. But by Edgerton’s own admissn, his eagerns to avoid feedg to gay trop or g offence limed his wrg.
* joel edgerton gay *
”Born New South Wal, Edgerton was raised a vout Catholic – a “Ned Flanrs kid” – a town he scrib as homophobic. Now agnostic (asi, he says, om some Catholic guilt), he ternalised the town’s attus and had to learn to accept homosexualy later Kidman and Rsell Crowe as the parents Boy Erased.
And I don’t thk anybody, or certaly I, never really knew what homosexualy was and yet we would all e the words, the slurs and the rogatory ways of teasg people. I was never aware of what any of that meant until I met my first gay man when I was 16.
”It wasn’t until he began drama school Sydney that he veloped meangful relatnships wh gay men and acquired a “real eper unrstandg of sxaly and s spectm. This at a time when the bate over whether straight actors should portray gay characters rag anew, followg Darren Criss’s announcement that he would no longer take on gay rol, and awards acclaim for Rami Malek and Olivia Colman playg LGBTQ characters. ”Regardls, he’s happy wh the Boy Erased stg this regard, and fairly so: Hedg (who has prevly stated he’s “not totally straight”) the ma role, while Xavier Dolan and Sivan (both out gay men) are st sendary rol as gay men.