"Champns" Star Josie Totah on Breakg Gay Stereotyp on Mdy Kalg's New Show | Teen Vogue

Contents:

• "CHAMPNS" STAR JOSIE TOTAH ON BREAKG GAY STEREOTYP ON MDY KALG'S NEW SHOW
• CHAMPNS STAR J.J. TOTAH IS READY TO CONQUER THE WORLD—OR AT LEAST TVTHE 16-YEAR-OLD POWERHOE LIVERS A PERFECTLY IMPISH PERFORMANCE NBC’S NEW S CHAMPNS—A SHOW WHICH HE PLAYS AN OPENLY GAY TEEN WHO’S “ALWAYS DOG THE MOST.”BY LRA BRADLEYMARCH 8, 2018BY PL DRKWATER/NBC.SAVE THIS STORYSAVESAVE THIS STORYSAVE“YEAH, I WAS VELOPG A SHOW WH NBC FOR A LTLE WHILE,” J.J. TOTAH TELLS ME SUALLY AS WE CHAT ABOUT HOW HE LAND THE ROLE OF MICHAEL, THE IMMACULATELY IFFED IMP AT THE CENTER OF NBC’S NEW S CHAMPNS, MDY KALG’S FOLLOW-UP TO THE MDY PROJECT. WHEN TOTAH’S PROPOSED SERI—A EDY BASED ON HIS RELATNSHIP WH HIS REAL-LIFE NT, ON WHICH HE WOULD HAVE SERVED AS A PRODUCER—H A AD END, HE WAS STEAD OFFERED AN DN FOR CHAMPNS. AFTER THE DN ME THE CHEMISTRY READ WH HIS FUTURE -STAR ANRS HOLM, AND SOON ENOUGH, THE PART WAS HIS. ALL OF THIS WOULD BE A PERFECTLY ORDARY ACTOR ANECDOTE, WERE NOT FOR THE FACT THAT TOTAH IS ONLY 16 YEARS OLD.SPEND SOME TIME TALKG TO TOTAH, THOUGH, AND HIS IMPRSIVE TRAJECTORY MAK MORE SENSE. HE’S REMARKABLY ARTICULATE AND SELF-POSSSED, EVEN FOR A MEMBER OF A GENERATN KNOWN TO CULTIVATE PERSONAL BRANDS PRACTILLY OM BIRTH. AND EVEN AT THIS YOUNG AGE, TOTAH’S BREAKOUT HAS BEEN GTATG FOR A WHILE. HE HAD A SMALL ROLE SPIR-MAN HOMEG, AND ALSO PLAYED MYRON MKOVZ, THE YOUNGT MEMBER OF GLEE’S FICTNAL MIC GROUP NEW DIRECTNS. IN CHAMPNS, HE PLAYS MICHAEL, A GAY, INDIAN TEENAGER WH A SGLE MOTHER (MDY KALG) AND A EP, ABIDG LOVE FOR SWEATER VTS. HIS ONE AND ONLY DREAM IS TO GET THE HELL OUT OF CLEVELAND AND MAKE TO A PERFORMG-ARTS SCHOOL NEW YORK. THROUGH A SERI OF ONLY--A-S EVENTS, HE WDS UP LIVG WH HIS BLOGIL FATHER—A MAN HE’S NEVER MET, WHO OWNS THE GYM OM WHICH THE SHOW RIV S TLE. AS MICHAEL, TOTAH IS SIMULTANEOLY SASSY AND AGILE; FOR EVERY SHARP-TONGUED ONE-LER, VIEWERS GET A WHIFF OF SECURY. THAT MASK OF BRAVADO, TOTAH SAYS, IS SOMETHG HE AND HIS CHARACTER HAVE MON.“I THK WE’RE BOTH A LTLE OVERNFINT TO HI OUR SECURI AND OUR NERVONS, BUT SO DIFFERENT THE SENSE THAT MICHAEL IS VERY, VERY OVER THE TOP,” TOTAH SAID. “HE’S ALWAYS DOG THE MOST. AND I JT N’T TRY THAT HARD. LIKE, I LOVE A GOOD PAIR OF SWEATPANTS AND A SWEATSHIRT ON MY DAY-TO-DAY. I HAVE TO BE FORCED TO PUT ON LIKE, A JEAN OR A SLACK BEE I’M SO LAZY.” AND WHILE HE HAS ECLECTIC TV TAST—HE LIK HAWAII FIVE-0, BLACK MIRROR, AND NBC’S NEW SERI GOOD GIRLS—HE’S NEVER SEEN AN EPISO OF REAL HOEWIV. “MICHAEL,” HE SAID, “WOULD BE VERY MAD.”WHEN TOTAH FIRST PAGED THROUGH CHAMPNS SCRIPTS AFTER GETTG THE PART, HE WAS STCK BY HOW SGULAR HIS CHARACTER IS. MICHAEL IS OF A PIECE WH THE OTHER YOUNG, GAY, THEATER-OBSSED TYP WHO HAVE APPEARED ON TELEVISN SCE THE MID-GHTS—UGLY BETTY’S JT SUAREZ, GLEE’S KURT HUMMEL—BUT HE ALSO HAS UNEXPECTED DIMENSNS. AND CHAMPNS ON THE WHOLE IS MORE SUBVERSIVE THAN AN APPARENT RIFF ON TWO AND A HALF MEN MIGHT AT FIRST SEEM: MICHAEL’S FATHER, VCE (MDY PROJECT ALUM ANRS HOLM), IS A LADI MAN AND A BACHELOR, BUT HE’S ALSO A NEAT EAK WHO SISTS ON EATG DNER WH HIS FAY AT THE TABLE. MICHAEL, THOUGH PERFECTLY IFFED, IS ALSO A TOTAL SLOB. EVEN HIS AGE IS SOMETHG OF A NOVELTY; BARRG GLEE, ’S STILL PRETTY RARE TO SEE QUEER TEENAGERS ON TV WHO ALREADY HAVE A STRONG SENSE OF WHO THEY ARE AND HOW THEY INTIFY. AS TOTAH SAYS, “NOT EVERYBODY OUT WHEN THEY’RE THEIR TWENTI, YOU KNOW? LIKE, WE LOVE WILL AND GRACE, BUT NOT EVERYONE’S SEAN HAY. . . . WE LOVE HIM, THOUGH.”TOTAH IS AN OUTSPOKEN ADVOTE FOR L.G.B.T.Q. PRI. HE WROTE AN SAY FOR POPSUGAR LAST YEAR, WHICH HE RELLED HIS EXPERIENC BEG BULLIED AS A YOUNG CHILD AND URG QUEER YOUTH TO EMBRACE WHO THEY ARE—EVEN WHEN ’S DIFFICULT. BUT WHAT MA HIM CI TO START WORKG SO YOUNG? IN PART, WAS A TOUCH OF JEALOY. HIS SISTER WAS VERY TO THEATER AS A KID, HE SAID, AND WHEN SHE DID A BROADWAY PRODUCTN OF WHISTLE DOWN THE WD, HE WAS BOTH ENV AND TRIGUED. WHEN SHE GOT TO U.C.L.A., HE AND THE FAY ME WH HER FOR ORIENTATN. HE TOOK AN ACTG CLASS, “AND REALLY STARTED OM THERE. AND THEN, YOU KNOW, EVERYTHG TOOK OFF.”WH CHAMPNS, TOTAH HOP TO OFFER OTHER KIDS A FEELG OF SOLIDARY; THE ACTOR EMPHASIZED THE IMPORTANCE OF REPRENTATN, NOTG HOW HE DIDN’T A HAVE A LOT OF ROLE MOLS WHO REMBLED HIM ON TV WHEN HE WAS YOUNGER. (WELL, EVEN YOUNGER THAN HE IS NOW.) “IF I WERE TO HAVE SEEN MORE PEOPLE THAT LOOKED LIKE ME—BEE I’M PALTIAN AND LEBANE—AND TALKED LIKE ME AND ACTED LIKE ME, I PROBABLY WOULD HAVE HAD A LOT MORE HOPE KNOWG THAT I WASN’T ALONE,” TOTAH SAID. “I REALLY HOPE THAT THIS SHOW, CHAMPNS, GIV THAT TO PEOPLE.”THE MT-SEE MOMENTS OM INSI THE 2018 OSRS1 / 11CHEVRONCHEVRONBY KEV WTER/GETTY IMAG.JENNIFER LAWRENCE HOPPG OVER SEATS WHILE BALANCG HER WE.MOST POPULARRILEY KEOUGH ON GROWG UP PRLEY, LOSG LISA MARIE, AND INHERG GRACELANDBY BRT HENNEMUTHBILL MAHER BEEFS WH “PREACHY, MAN-HATG” BARBIE MOVIEBY SAVANNAH WALSHJAMIE LEE CURTIS DIGS HERSELF OUT OF COMMENTS ABOUT SAG-AFTRA STRIKEBY EVE BATEYLRA BRADLEY

"CHAMPNS" STAR JOSIE TOTAH ON BREAKG GAY STEREOTYP ON MDY KALG'S NEW SHOW

Totah, gay boy. ” When I was really young, growg up a small town Northern California, people would jt assume I was gay.

Numero reporters have asked me terviews how feels to be a young gay man.

I almost felt like I owed to everybody to be that gay boy. In some ways, I felt like I was lyg by lettg people believe I was that gay boy. Though the role is mor, ’s a stri to see a ntemporary high school table where gay boys and straight girls ngregate P.

CHAMPNS STAR J.J. TOTAH IS READY TO CONQUER THE WORLD—OR AT LEAST TVTHE 16-YEAR-OLD POWERHOE LIVERS A PERFECTLY IMPISH PERFORMANCE NBC’S NEW S CHAMPNS—A SHOW WHICH HE PLAYS AN OPENLY GAY TEEN WHO’S “ALWAYS DOG THE MOST.”BY LRA BRADLEYMARCH 8, 2018BY PL DRKWATER/NBC.SAVE THIS STORYSAVESAVE THIS STORYSAVE“YEAH, I WAS VELOPG A SHOW WH NBC FOR A LTLE WHILE,” J.J. TOTAH TELLS ME SUALLY AS WE CHAT ABOUT HOW HE LAND THE ROLE OF MICHAEL, THE IMMACULATELY IFFED IMP AT THE CENTER OF NBC’S NEW S CHAMPNS, MDY KALG’S FOLLOW-UP TO THE MDY PROJECT. WHEN TOTAH’S PROPOSED SERI—A EDY BASED ON HIS RELATNSHIP WH HIS REAL-LIFE NT, ON WHICH HE WOULD HAVE SERVED AS A PRODUCER—H A AD END, HE WAS STEAD OFFERED AN DN FOR CHAMPNS. AFTER THE DN ME THE CHEMISTRY READ WH HIS FUTURE -STAR ANRS HOLM, AND SOON ENOUGH, THE PART WAS HIS. ALL OF THIS WOULD BE A PERFECTLY ORDARY ACTOR ANECDOTE, WERE NOT FOR THE FACT THAT TOTAH IS ONLY 16 YEARS OLD.SPEND SOME TIME TALKG TO TOTAH, THOUGH, AND HIS IMPRSIVE TRAJECTORY MAK MORE SENSE. HE’S REMARKABLY ARTICULATE AND SELF-POSSSED, EVEN FOR A MEMBER OF A GENERATN KNOWN TO CULTIVATE PERSONAL BRANDS PRACTILLY OM BIRTH. AND EVEN AT THIS YOUNG AGE, TOTAH’S BREAKOUT HAS BEEN GTATG FOR A WHILE. HE HAD A SMALL ROLE SPIR-MAN HOMEG, AND ALSO PLAYED MYRON MKOVZ, THE YOUNGT MEMBER OF GLEE’S FICTNAL MIC GROUP NEW DIRECTNS. IN CHAMPNS, HE PLAYS MICHAEL, A GAY, INDIAN TEENAGER WH A SGLE MOTHER (MDY KALG) AND A EP, ABIDG LOVE FOR SWEATER VTS. HIS ONE AND ONLY DREAM IS TO GET THE HELL OUT OF CLEVELAND AND MAKE TO A PERFORMG-ARTS SCHOOL NEW YORK. THROUGH A SERI OF ONLY--A-S EVENTS, HE WDS UP LIVG WH HIS BLOGIL FATHER—A MAN HE’S NEVER MET, WHO OWNS THE GYM OM WHICH THE SHOW RIV S TLE. AS MICHAEL, TOTAH IS SIMULTANEOLY SASSY AND AGILE; FOR EVERY SHARP-TONGUED ONE-LER, VIEWERS GET A WHIFF OF SECURY. THAT MASK OF BRAVADO, TOTAH SAYS, IS SOMETHG HE AND HIS CHARACTER HAVE MON.“I THK WE’RE BOTH A LTLE OVERNFINT TO HI OUR SECURI AND OUR NERVONS, BUT SO DIFFERENT THE SENSE THAT MICHAEL IS VERY, VERY OVER THE TOP,” TOTAH SAID. “HE’S ALWAYS DOG THE MOST. AND I JT N’T TRY THAT HARD. LIKE, I LOVE A GOOD PAIR OF SWEATPANTS AND A SWEATSHIRT ON MY DAY-TO-DAY. I HAVE TO BE FORCED TO PUT ON LIKE, A JEAN OR A SLACK BEE I’M SO LAZY.” AND WHILE HE HAS ECLECTIC TV TAST—HE LIK HAWAII FIVE-0, BLACK MIRROR, AND NBC’S NEW SERI GOOD GIRLS—HE’S NEVER SEEN AN EPISO OF REAL HOEWIV. “MICHAEL,” HE SAID, “WOULD BE VERY MAD.”WHEN TOTAH FIRST PAGED THROUGH CHAMPNS SCRIPTS AFTER GETTG THE PART, HE WAS STCK BY HOW SGULAR HIS CHARACTER IS. MICHAEL IS OF A PIECE WH THE OTHER YOUNG, GAY, THEATER-OBSSED TYP WHO HAVE APPEARED ON TELEVISN SCE THE MID-GHTS—UGLY BETTY’S JT SUAREZ, GLEE’S KURT HUMMEL—BUT HE ALSO HAS UNEXPECTED DIMENSNS. AND CHAMPNS ON THE WHOLE IS MORE SUBVERSIVE THAN AN APPARENT RIFF ON TWO AND A HALF MEN MIGHT AT FIRST SEEM: MICHAEL’S FATHER, VCE (MDY PROJECT ALUM ANRS HOLM), IS A LADI MAN AND A BACHELOR, BUT HE’S ALSO A NEAT EAK WHO SISTS ON EATG DNER WH HIS FAY AT THE TABLE. MICHAEL, THOUGH PERFECTLY IFFED, IS ALSO A TOTAL SLOB. EVEN HIS AGE IS SOMETHG OF A NOVELTY; BARRG GLEE, ’S STILL PRETTY RARE TO SEE QUEER TEENAGERS ON TV WHO ALREADY HAVE A STRONG SENSE OF WHO THEY ARE AND HOW THEY INTIFY. AS TOTAH SAYS, “NOT EVERYBODY OUT WHEN THEY’RE THEIR TWENTI, YOU KNOW? LIKE, WE LOVE WILL AND GRACE, BUT NOT EVERYONE’S SEAN HAY. . . . WE LOVE HIM, THOUGH.”TOTAH IS AN OUTSPOKEN ADVOTE FOR L.G.B.T.Q. PRI. HE WROTE AN SAY FOR POPSUGAR LAST YEAR, WHICH HE RELLED HIS EXPERIENC BEG BULLIED AS A YOUNG CHILD AND URG QUEER YOUTH TO EMBRACE WHO THEY ARE—EVEN WHEN ’S DIFFICULT. BUT WHAT MA HIM CI TO START WORKG SO YOUNG? IN PART, WAS A TOUCH OF JEALOY. HIS SISTER WAS VERY TO THEATER AS A KID, HE SAID, AND WHEN SHE DID A BROADWAY PRODUCTN OF WHISTLE DOWN THE WD, HE WAS BOTH ENV AND TRIGUED. WHEN SHE GOT TO U.C.L.A., HE AND THE FAY ME WH HER FOR ORIENTATN. HE TOOK AN ACTG CLASS, “AND REALLY STARTED OM THERE. AND THEN, YOU KNOW, EVERYTHG TOOK OFF.”WH CHAMPNS, TOTAH HOP TO OFFER OTHER KIDS A FEELG OF SOLIDARY; THE ACTOR EMPHASIZED THE IMPORTANCE OF REPRENTATN, NOTG HOW HE DIDN’T A HAVE A LOT OF ROLE MOLS WHO REMBLED HIM ON TV WHEN HE WAS YOUNGER. (WELL, EVEN YOUNGER THAN HE IS NOW.) “IF I WERE TO HAVE SEEN MORE PEOPLE THAT LOOKED LIKE ME—BEE I’M PALTIAN AND LEBANE—AND TALKED LIKE ME AND ACTED LIKE ME, I PROBABLY WOULD HAVE HAD A LOT MORE HOPE KNOWG THAT I WASN’T ALONE,” TOTAH SAID. “I REALLY HOPE THAT THIS SHOW, CHAMPNS, GIV THAT TO PEOPLE.”THE MT-SEE MOMENTS OM INSI THE 2018 OSRS1 / 11CHEVRONCHEVRONBY KEV WTER/GETTY IMAG.JENNIFER LAWRENCE HOPPG OVER SEATS WHILE BALANCG HER WE.MOST POPULARRILEY KEOUGH ON GROWG UP PRLEY, LOSG LISA MARIE, AND INHERG GRACELANDBY BRT HENNEMUTHBILL MAHER BEEFS WH “PREACHY, MAN-HATG” BARBIE MOVIEBY SAVANNAH WALSHJAMIE LEE CURTIS DIGS HERSELF OUT OF COMMENTS ABOUT SAG-AFTRA STRIKEBY EVE BATEYLRA BRADLEY

The 15-year-old, who had a memorable breakout Chris Kelly’s “Other People” and will star as an out gay teen on Mdy Kalg’s upg pilot “Champns, ” also enjoyed brgg LGBT reprentatn to the genre. Played by Totah, Michael lov the theater and is openly and proudly gay. “We al wh Michael beg gay wh the 30 sends of the pilot, and there’s no issue wh , ” Totah told NBC News durg a phone terview.

The fact that Mdy Kalg and Charlie Grandy created this show that has a kid that who is gay and also Indian, so a double whammy, at the foreont of a show is super super ol and super excg, bee all those kids who are gay or Indian get to be regnized and reprented.

Especially bee a lot of characters that are gay or flamboyant are gut star rol and you get to see a part of that character. She plays Michael (wrten as a gay, cisgenr, male), who to New York to pursue his dream and go to a performg arts school.