The wrer and star of “Fire Island” reflects on makg the rare romantic edy that puts gay Asian Amerin men at s center.
Contents:
- ‘FIRE ISLAND’ STAR JOEL KIM BOOSTER ON BEG GAY AND ASIAN: ‘I’M PROUD OF WHO I AM’
- STAR GAYSIAN: JOEL KIM BOOSTER
- ‘FIRE ISLAND’: MEET THE POWER TR BEHD THE SUMMER’S SWEETT, FUNNIT GAY ROM-COM
‘FIRE ISLAND’ STAR JOEL KIM BOOSTER ON BEG GAY AND ASIAN: ‘I’M PROUD OF WHO I AM’
Hannah Gadsby, for example, speaks about growg up as a lbian Tasmania, where homosexualy was illegal until 1997. And Bowen Yang beme the first Asian-Amerin and third openly gay st member on "Saturday Night Live. Risg to fame followg her special "Nate, " Gadsby has phed edy to new levels by weavg together personal stori, art history lsons, and sthg monologu — routely takg hs at men and the chronicl her childhood growg up as a lbian Tasmania, where homosexualy was illegal until 1997.
Yang beme the first Che-Amerin and third openly gay st member on NBC's "Saturday Night Live" edian, who hosts a pop culture podst lled "Las Culturistas, " has proven his range on the "SNL, " masterfully portrayg characters om a Che tra reprentative ed as "Tra Daddy" to former Democratic printial ndidate Andrew Yang. Amstell, who beme known for appearanc on "Pop World" and "Never Md The Buzzcks, " stand-up edy as a nfsnal, workg through issu like his parents' divorce, eatg meat, and timacy the Brish ic speaks openly about his sexualy durg sets, Amstell said he was "terrified" of beg gay before g out durg his Netflix special "Set Free.
Cho, who grew up San Francis and had parents that owned a gay bookstore, has squashed the stereotypil tras placed on Asian-Amerin gaed populary by wrg and starrg a s lled "All Amerin Girl" and has bee a celebrated stand-up ic. Joel Kim Booster often jok about beg raised a homogeno Southern town. He often jok that he knew he was gay before he knew he was 's sce lnched a succsful stand-up reer — appearg on "The Late Late Show Wh Jam Corn, " "Late Night Wh Seth Meyers, " "CONAN, " and more.
STAR GAYSIAN: JOEL KIM BOOSTER
Booster ntued, "I'd look at myself and say, 'Why am I treated like a send-class cizen the gay muny? AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTThe wrer and star of “Fire Island” reflects on makg the rare romantic edy that puts gay Asian Amerin men at s Tyrone Delaney for The New York TimPublished June 3, 2022Updated June 6, 2022Joel Kim Booster had a thought: Why do we even need movie trailers?
This was the theory Booster advanced to me one eveng late April, jt hours after the trailer was released for “Fire Island, ” a gay romantic edy he wrote and starred .
’”A morn, same-sex gloss on “Pri and Prejudice” by Jane Aten, “Fire Island” (streamg on Hulu) stars Booster as our narrator Noah, who mak knowg observatns about the tular gay enclave and s social mor. Booster was done dodgg ter ments and replyg to his iends’ texts about the trailer, he met me at Akbar, a storied Los Angel gay bar wh amber lightg, strong cktails and kschy, bead bamboo curtas.
‘FIRE ISLAND’: MEET THE POWER TR BEHD THE SUMMER’S SWEETT, FUNNIT GAY ROM-COM
(Booster, who moved here om New York a few years ago, picked Akbar bee was one of the few gay bars town “that didn’t feel like WeHo or a Chipotle. ” They met years ago and bond over beg gay and Korean an dtry that rarely mak room for their Park/Searchlight Pictur“We were supposed to spl up and do our own thgs so that we’d take the burn off each other, ” Booster said as Ahn chuckled to his tequila soda. ”Though there have recently been more gay rom-s om big studs than ever before, that’s not exactly sayg much: They still e around as rarely as ets, and none of the other on — not “Love Simon, ” “Happit Season, ” or this year’s forthg Billy Eichner vehicle “Bros” — have a leadg st that is prised maly of Asian Amerin actors.
Even now, his nservative fay is barely aware that their son is makg gay rom-s that the entire ter is termed to weigh you’ll have to exce Booster if he n’t take on everybody else’s ncerns right now — not when he’s still got plenty of his own to grapple wh. They knew that the island had a reputatn as a haven for rich, whe gay men wh mcl, but still unnerved Booster when someone would fix him wh a hard stare that all but clared, “You don’t belong here. For the last , he has lived what he lls “a gay Asian flophoe Echo Park” — a buildg wh cheap rent, no central air, plenty of party-throwg mararie and an var opossum that took an entire month to pture.