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.
STAR GAYSIAN: JOEL KIM BOOSTER
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. 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. (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.
‘FIRE ISLAND’: MEET THE POWER TR BEHD THE SUMMER’S SWEETT, FUNNIT GAY ROM-COM
”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.
“It beme sudnly not only a gay movie, but an Asian gay movie, ” Booster said as we fished our drks and set out for another bar. Booster was crtfallen when he didn’t land the key role of Michelle Yeoh’s gay child “Everythg Everywhere All at Once, ” which ultimately went to the actrs Stephanie Hsu: “I went for and there was jt me and a ln girls, and I was like, ‘What is gog on? “I thk people are really naïve about how awful gay men n be sometim, ” he said, nursg a beer.