'Amerin Crime' actor Connor Jsup out as gay

Contents:

• QUEER TE CRIME STORI OF THE PAST SHOW HOW THE PRS STOKED FEAR OF GAY MEN
• AMERIN CRIME STORY: GAY SHAME AND THE REMPTN OF DAVID MADSON
• IN ‘AMERIN CRIME,’ AN HONT PORTRAYAL OF GAY TEENS CRISIS
• 'AMERIN CRIME' ACTOR CONNOR JSUP OUT: 'I’M GRATEFUL TO BE GAY'
• ‘VERSACE: AMERIN CRIME STORY’ WILL ACTUALLY BE ABOUT BEG GAY THE ’90S
• GUNNSHOTS: TOP 10 GAY CRIME FILMS
• VERSACE: WATCH JEFF TRAIL’S REAL-LIFE INTERVIEW ABOUT BEG GAY THE MILARY“HE CHOSE TO SPEAK TO BEE HE THOUGHT WAS THE RIGHT THG TO DO,” SAID 48 HOURS REPORTER RICHARD SCHLGER.BY JULIE MILLER AND JOANNA ROBSONFEBARY 14, 2018FN WTROCK AS JEFEY TRAIL AMERIN CRIME STORY: THE ASSASSATN OF GIANNI VERSACE.BY RAY MICKSHAW/FX.SAVE THIS STORYSAVESAVE THIS STORYSAVEWEDNDAY NIGHT’S EPISO OF THE ASSASSATN OF GIANNI VERSACE: AMERIN CRIME STORY FEATUR TWO VERY DIFFERENT G-OUT SCEN. IN ONE, SET 1995, GIANNI VERSACE OPENLY DISCS HIS SEXUALY WH A REPORTER OM THE ADVOTE, EVEN TRODUCG HIS LONGTIME BOYIEND, ANTON D’AMI, DURG THE TERVIEW. THIS REHG, MEANGFUL MOMENT IS TERCUT WH A SCENE DURG WHICH JEFF TRAIL—AN ENSIGN AND A GULF WAR VETERAN WHO WAS LATER MURRED BY ANDREW CUNANAN—RISKS HIS REER TO PARTICIPATE A SEGMENT FOR CBS NEWSMAGAZE 48 HOURS.REPORTER RICHARD SCHLGER, WHO TERVIEWED THE REAL TRAIL 1993, LATER RELLED THAT THE U.S. NAVAL AMY GRADUATE “CHOSE TO SPEAK TO BEE HE THOUGHT WAS THE RIGHT THG TO DO.”THE SEGMENT CID WH “DON’T ASK, DON’T TELL” AND A CHANGE THE POLICY ON GAY PEOPLE SERVG THE ARY.“HE DID THE TERVIEW SILHOUETTE BUT HE WAS STILL TAKG A TREMENDO RISK WH HIS REER,” SAID SCHLGER. “HE HAD ABSOLUTELY NOTHG TO GA BY DOG THE TERVIEW. YET HE TOOK THE RISK AND SPOKE OUT.”TRAIL WARNED SCHLGER, “YOU’RE GOG TO WEAKEN OUR NATNAL FENSE IF YOU REMOVE GAYS OM THE ARY. AND YOU’LL NEVER BE ABLE TO DO 100 PERCENT, ’S JT WHETHER OR NOT YOU’LL NTUE TO HUNT AND FORCE TO FEAR.”ASKED WHETHER HE FELT FORTABLE SPEAKG OM THE LERAL SHADOWS TO PROTECT HIS INTY, TRAIL SAID, “THERE IS NOTHG I WOULD LIKE MORE THAN TO BE L UP [HERE] AND TELL YOU WHO I AM AND SHOW YOU WHO I AM. BUT I AM NOT ALLOWED TO DO THAT. IT’S [ONLY] FORTABLE FOR ME BEE I KNOW I WILL BE ABLE TO NTUE TO SERVE MY UNTRY AND DO MY JOB AND DO RIGHT. THAT’S WHAT I RE ABOUT MOST.”TO PREPARE TO PLAY TRAIL ON AMERIN CRIME STORY, ACTOR FN WTROCK TOLD VANY FAIR’S STILL WATCHG PODST THAT HE WATCHED FOOTAGE OM THE 48 HOURS SPECIAL ON REPEAT: “THAT WAS MY BIBLE. I WOULD WATCH THAT AND LISTEN TO THAT EVERY DAY.”WTROCK SAID THAT WHEN HE FIRST READ THE SCRIPTS FOR THE SERI THE SUMMER OF 2017, HE THOUGHT THAT “DON’T ASK, DON’T TELL” WAS SUCH A “DATED” NCEPT.“I DON’T KNOW IF PEOPLE ARE GOG TO BE ABLE TO RELATE TO THAT,” WTROCK REMEMBERED THKG. “THEN A WEEK LATER THERE WAS THE TRANSGENR ARY TMP BAN . . . SUDNLY I THOUGHT, OH WOW. HOW MANY STEPS WE TAKE FORWARD AND HOW MANY WE TAKE BACK. SO SUDNLY I WAS EXAMG THE WHOLE STORY THAT WAY. HOW RELEVANT IS THIS STILL? SADLY, SO MUCH OF IS STILL RELEVANT.”WTROCK, WHO IS NOT GAY HIMSELF, SAID THAT HE PREPARED FOR THE ROLE BY SPEAKG TO GAY MEN WHO WERE “ THEIR FORTI OR FIFTI AND LIVED THROUGH THIS PERD WHEN THEY WEREN’T [OUT].” ULTIMATELY THOUGH, WTROCK WAS STCK BY HOW MUCH HE HAD MON WH TRAIL: “BIS MY SEXUALY, I ULD BE JEFF TRAIL. THERE’S VERY LTLE, I FOUND, THAT SEPARAT THAT WAY.”TO FD OUT MORE ABOUT THE TE STORY OF VERSACE, CUNANAN, TRAIL, AND MORE, YOU N LISTEN TO THE FULL TERVIEW WH WTROCK—AS WELL AS PAST GUTS MREEN ORTH, RICKY MART, MAX GREENFIELD, JUDH LIGHT, CODY FERN, AND WRER TOM ROB SMH—BY SUBSCRIBG TO STILL WATCHG: VERSACE ON APPLE PODSTS OR YOUR PODST APP OF CHOICE. NEW EPISOS OF THE PODST AIR EVERY WEDNDAY NIGHT.MOST POPULARVANY FAIR’S “IT’S RAG TEENS” COVER AT 20: WHERE ARE THEY NOW?BY SAVANNAH WALSHRED, WHE & ROYAL BLUE MAY BE “THE MOST EXPENSIVE B OF FAN FICTN EVER”BY SAVANNAH WALSHTHE CAST OF OPPENHEIMER AND THE REAL PEOPLE THEY PLAYBY HILLARY BISMEGHAN MARKLE’S ROYAL ENGAGEMENT STYLE1 / 19CHEVRONCHEVRONBY SAMIR HSE/WIREIMAGE.LONDON, APRIL 25JACKET AND DRS BY EIA WICKSTEAD, HAT BY PHILIP TREACY, BAG BY JIMMY CHOO.JULIE MILLER
• RICKY MART ON PLAYG HIS FIRST GAY CHARACTER THE ASSASSATN OF GIANNI VERSACE
• AMERIN CRIME’S JOEY POLLARI ON THE ROLE OF A (YOUNG) LIFETIMETALKG WH ONE OF AMERIN CRIME’S BREAKOUT DISTURBED GAY TEENS.BY RICHARD LAWSONFEBARY 18, 2016PHOTO BY BRANDON B. JONSAVE THIS STORYSAVESAVE THIS STORYSAVE“I WAS TOLD THAT OTHER ACTORS HAD TURNED DOWN,” JOEY POLLARI SAYS OF HIS TRICKY, POTENTIALLY NTROVERSIAL ROLE ON THE SEND SEASON OF AMERIN CRIME, ABC’S DARK, SIGHTFUL ENSEMBLE PIECE ABOUT THE RIPPLE EFFECTS OF A SEXUAL ASSLT AT A PRIVATE SCHOOL. “I DON’T UNRSTAND WHY.” BEFORE BEG ST ON AMERIN CRIME, POLLARI, 21, WAS PERHAPS BT KNOWN FOR HIS STARRG ROLE AS AN AWKWARD, HORNY, RED-BLOOD HETEROSEXUAL TEEN ON THE SHORT-LIVED AMERIN ADAPTATN OF THE RNCHY, LADDISH BRISH EDY THE INBETWEENERS. HE’S GOT AN ENTIRELY DIFFERENT KD OF JOB NOW, PLAYG ERIC, A GAY JOCK, CLOSETED AT THE BEGNG OF THE SEASON, WHOSE ANGER AND AGGRSN IS TURNED BOTH WARD AND OUTWARD, HARMG HIMSELF AND THOSE AROUND HIM—WOMEN, OTHER GAY KIDS, ETC. HE’S A STEREOTYPIL BTISH HIGH-SCHOOL ATHLETE, BUT ONE LAN WH SOME EP, RELATABLE ANGUISH, ILLTRATED REFULLY BY THE SHOW’S WRERS.SO, WHY WOULD ANY ACTOR PASS UP AN OPPORTUNY TO PLAY SUCH PLEXY? “I DON’T UNRSTAND WHY PEOPLE WERE NNG AWAY OM ,” POLLARI TOLD ME OVER THE PHONE LAST WEEK. “I WAS EXCED TO LVE TO [].” (DID HIS HANDLERS—AGENTS AND MANAGERS AND PUBLICISTS AND THE LIKE—EVER RAISE ANY OBJECTNS? “NO, NEVER.”) HE AND THE OTHER YOUNG ACTORS WHO FORM THE CENTER OF THIS SEASON (LIKE AMERIN HORROR STORY, AMERIN CRIME—NOT TO BE NFED WH AMERIN CRIME STORY, WHICH FOLLOWS A SIAR MOL—IS AN ANTHOLOGY SERI THAT CHANG SEASON TO SEASON) HAVE BEEN ON A MANDG PRS REGIMEN SCE THE PREMIERE. IT'S BEEN PECIALLY BY FOR POLLARI AND CONNOR JSUP, WHO PLAYS THE (ALSO GAY) VICTIM OF THE CG SEXUAL ASSLT, A BLURRY CRIME THAT SPIRALS OUT TO AFFECT FELLOW STUNTS, AS WELL AS FACULTY AND PARENTS.THEY’VE BEEN KEPT SO BY DOG TERVIEWS, I SPECT, BEE ’S RARE TO SEE A SERI, LET ALONE ONE ON WORK TELEVISN, THAT EXPLOR TEENAGE SEXUAL INTY—CISGENR MALE HOMOSEXUALY, TO BE SPECIFIC— SUCH ANK, NUANCED, NTEMPORARY TERMS. (THE SHOW ALSO GRAPPL WH RACE AND CLASS ISSU FT, SURPRISG WAYS.) NATURALLY, JOURNALISTS, GAY OR OTHERWISE, ARE EAGER TO TALK ABOUT THAT, AND POLLARI ACKNOWLEDG THAT THE SEASON HAS HAD SOME WATERSHED MOMENTS THAT VE. “[IN ONE SCENE,] ERIC SAYS, ‘I’M GAY BUT I’M NOT A FAGGOT,’ WHICH WAS THE FIRST TIME THAT THAT WORD WAS SAID ON ABC. I WAS TOLD MOMENTS BEFORE SHOOTG. THAT BAFFL ME, NSIRG ALL THE OTHER WORDS THAT ARE ALLOWED, AND SOME THAT AREN’T ALLOWED.” BUT HE SE HIS CHARACTER’S ARC AS BEG ABOUT MORE THAN JT A NFLICTED GAY TEEN. “FROM MOMENT ONE, SEEMED LIKE WAS ABOUT SOMETHG SO MUCH BIGGER THAN HIS SEXUALY. IT WAS ABOUT SHAME, AND MALE AGGRSN, AND THAT NVERSATN WH SPORTS. I ULDN’T WA TO BE PART OF THAT TAPTRY.”POLLARI’S BEEN AN ACTOR FOR A LONG TIME, WAS A THEATER KID GROWG UP, SO I WAS CUR WHAT, IF ANY, EXPERIENCE HE’D HAD WH THE SHOW’S WORLD OF HIGH SCHOOL ALPHA MALE POSTURG. “I [WAS] HIGH SCHOOL, I WASN’T ALWAYS AWAY SHOOTG. SO, THE SUAL NATURE OF HETERONORMATIVE ATTUS THAT DIMISH WOMEN, ARE HOMOPHOBIC—THAT TO ME IS SOMETHG THAT I’VE EXPERIENCED FIRSTHAND.” AFTER ASKG HIM IF HE WAS AN ATHLETE SCHOOL OR IF HE WAS TOO BY BEG A THEATER KID, I FELT THE NEED TO QUALIFY THAT, OF URSE, HE ULD HAVE BEEN BOTH. POLLARI LGHED AND REPLIED, “I APPRECIATE THAT.” (FOR THE RERD, THOUGH? “I HAD TO LEARN BASKETBALL FOR THE SHOW.”)THROUGHOUT OUR NVERSATN, POLLARI WAS SMART, GENIAL, ENGAGED—NOTHG LIKE OBSTATE, TORTURED ERIC. WHICH IS A TTAMENT TO HIS SKILLS AS AN ACTOR, THOUGH POLLARI SAYS HE IMMEDIATELY FOUND A NNECTN WH HIS CHARACTER THAT ALMOST MA PLAYG HIM EASY. “THAT DYNAMIC OF TRYG TO BE A MAN, I THK EVERY [GUY] FEELS THAT. GROWG UP AND DOG THEATER AND ACTG WAS NOT SEEN AS THE MOST MASCULE THG. THAT STGGLE TO BE SEEN AS A MAN, AS AN EQUAL, IS UNIVERSAL.”THE SEASON HAS PROGRSED TO SOME PRETTY DARK PLAC (THE FEBARY 17 EPISO TOOK A SHOCKG, HIO TURN VOLVG JSUP’S CHARACTER AND ANOTHER BOY), PROBABLY GETTG FURTHER AND FURTHER OM POLLARI’S OWN EXPERIENC. BUT HE WAS PREPARED FOR THAT. “[WHEN I WAS ST], JOHN RIDLEY, OUR CREATOR, SAID, ‘THIS IS GOG TO BE VERY DIFFICULT FOR YOU, YOUNG MAN.’” POLLARI DIDN’T KNOW WHERE HIS CHARACTER WAS HEAD, EXACTLY, BUT HE AT LEAST KNEW WAS NOWHERE GOOD. “WHICH WAS AN ODD FORT,” POLLARI SAID WH A CHUCKLE. (ARE 21-YEAR-OLDS OLD ENOUGH TO CHUCKLE, ACTUALLY?)AFTER ALL THAT GRIMNS, MIGHT BE NICE TO PURSUE SOMETHG LIGHTER NEXT. POLLARI KEPT MENTNG HIS THEATER ROOTS, SO I WONRED IF HE’D LIKE TO GO BACK TO THAT. HE SAID ONE DREAM ROLE IS TOM THE GLASS MENAGERIE. BUT THAT’S STILL PRETTY HEAVY. MAYBE A MIL STEAD? “NO, I STARTED MIL THEATER, BUT HAVE MOVED AWAY OM THAT. I STILL LOVE , BUT I’D LOVE TO GET BACK TO DRAMA. OR EVEN EDY. AFTER AMERIN CRIME, I’M THKG I NEED TO DO A SLAPSTICK EDY.”I TOLD HIM THAT WOULD AT LEAST BE NICE TO SEE HIM SE SOMETHG. HE LET OUT ANOTHER LGH AND SAID, “THEY’VE BEEN SENDG OUT PICTUR FOR THIS. IT’S GOT ME SG, ’S LIKE ON-SET PHOTOS OF ME SG. AND I HAVE TO WARN PEOPLE, ‘ACTUALLY, THIS EPISO YOU WILL NOT SEE ERIC SG. FALSE LEAD. RED HERRG.’”MOST POPULARWH MATRO, LEONARD BERNSTE’S LEGACY AND LOV FALLY H THE BIG SCREENBY REBEC FORD25 PERFECT TV EPISOS FROM THE LAST 25 YEARSBY HILLARY BISTHE BOOK OF CLARENCE IS A BOMBASTIC JOURNEY BACK TO THE BIBLIL ERABY REBEC FORDRICHARD LAWSON

QUEER TE CRIME STORI OF THE PAST SHOW HOW THE PRS STOKED FEAR OF GAY MEN

Acrdg to Polch, a cultural historian and profsor of global liberal studi at New York Universy, the victim blamg evint acunts of Ivar’s murr was typil of the way the prs vered crim agast gay or prumed-gay men between World War I and the Stonewall uprisg 1969. In the early and mid-20th century, gay and bisexual men were pecially vulnerable to vlence. But crim agast gay men were rarely reported as such the prs.

What he found was a trove of what he lls queer te crime stori — some ont-page news at the time, some buried and long fotten — that chart a history of vlence agast gay men and of society’s attus toward that vlence. Crime stori, he told me, n reveal “a set of cultural anxieti and uncertati” — and the stori he read for Incent Advanc reveal Amerin society’s evolvg but ever-prent anxieti about gay men and their liv the s before Stonewall. ” We see their echo, he says, the murrs of trans women of lor, often unrreported by the mastream prs, and “the ntued e of gay nversn therapy, which replays post–World War II arguments that homosexualy is a ndn that n be (and should be) cured.

Are we lookg at targeted crim agast gay men, or are we lookg at somethg else? It’s clear, I thk, that gay men were targets bee [perpetrators] knew they uld be robbed or asslted wh ltle nsequenc.

AMERIN CRIME STORY: GAY SHAME AND THE REMPTN OF DAVID MADSON

Mostly bee homosexualy was crimalized. It’s unclear whether they were themselv kd of nformg to standards of the time and had some homosexual hookups ocsnally, or whether they were bisexual, or some kd of fluid sexualy.

But what do show, I thk, is how crimalizg homosexual acts, you don’t jt target men who are livg their liv as gay men, but you affect a whole range of sexual practic. When you talk about gay men beg vulnerable, is that bee many would be aaid of gog to the police after a robbery or asslt bee they themselv would be crimalized?

At that time, sodomy laws crimalized homosexual behavr, so you uldn’t really fd any reurse the jtice system. It’s clear he was livg his life as a gay man.

IN ‘AMERIN CRIME,’ AN HONT PORTRAYAL OF GAY TEENS CRISIS

Once they were arrted and they went to urt, the victim’s fay didn’t want to go to trial bee they were fearful of the publicy that would e wh , makg known their son’s homosexualy. In the 1950s, and the postwar, Cold War perd, you have the fluenc of [sexologist Aled] Ksey, and other newer theori of homosexualy that saw more as an visible threat. You see the ias of homosexuals and munism: “You never know who might be a homosexual.

'AMERIN CRIME' ACTOR CONNOR JSUP OUT: 'I’M GRATEFUL TO BE GAY'

For me, lookg at te crime stori the prs, I me at thkg, “What n the stori help unrstand about homosexualy, queer sexualy, this perd? Speakg wh Vany Fair’s podst Still Watchg: Versace, Fern adms that this episo, and Amerin Crime Story as a whole, do reprent a ba and swch, one signed to get dienc to re about Cunanan’s ls famo victims—and, more broadly, the plight of gay men the 90s.

But for Smh and Fern, Madson’s drivg ncern his fal days was clear: ternalized gay ’s te that Amerin Crime Story had to do a lot more theorizg than ual this episo; wh both Cunanan and Madson ad, there is no way to know exactly what happened on their journey. The storyle volv gay teens, rape, homophobia, and stutnal nial, and the two actors brg the kd of emotnal honty and thenticy to their rol that tly elevat drama.

‘VERSACE: AMERIN CRIME STORY’ WILL ACTUALLY BE ABOUT BEG GAY THE ’90S

Raped, shamed, abandoned by iends, beaten by basketball players, prematurely phed to beg openly gay, angry wh his mother for reportg the rape the first place, he fally explos. Meanwhile, Pollari has been siarly powerful as Eric, another gay teen whose life has been undone after the events at the party.

Eric’s anger and his ternalized homophobia make him ls obvly sympathetic than Taylor.

GUNNSHOTS: TOP 10 GAY CRIME FILMS

But then we see him surround by homophobic people, cludg fay members and basketball team iends, and we see how they nsistently affirm his self-loathg. He’s not a typil TV teen, Central Castg’s homophobe.

A fashn signer g out as gay to The Advote was a huge al 1995.

VERSACE: WATCH JEFF TRAIL’S REAL-LIFE INTERVIEW ABOUT BEG GAY THE MILARY“HE CHOSE TO SPEAK TO BEE HE THOUGHT WAS THE RIGHT THG TO DO,” SAID 48 HOURS REPORTER RICHARD SCHLGER.BY JULIE MILLER AND JOANNA ROBSONFEBARY 14, 2018FN WTROCK AS JEFEY TRAIL AMERIN CRIME STORY: THE ASSASSATN OF GIANNI VERSACE.BY RAY MICKSHAW/FX.SAVE THIS STORYSAVESAVE THIS STORYSAVEWEDNDAY NIGHT’S EPISO OF THE ASSASSATN OF GIANNI VERSACE: AMERIN CRIME STORY FEATUR TWO VERY DIFFERENT G-OUT SCEN. IN ONE, SET 1995, GIANNI VERSACE OPENLY DISCS HIS SEXUALY WH A REPORTER OM THE ADVOTE, EVEN TRODUCG HIS LONGTIME BOYIEND, ANTON D’AMI, DURG THE TERVIEW. THIS REHG, MEANGFUL MOMENT IS TERCUT WH A SCENE DURG WHICH JEFF TRAIL—AN ENSIGN AND A GULF WAR VETERAN WHO WAS LATER MURRED BY ANDREW CUNANAN—RISKS HIS REER TO PARTICIPATE A SEGMENT FOR CBS NEWSMAGAZE 48 HOURS.REPORTER RICHARD SCHLGER, WHO TERVIEWED THE REAL TRAIL 1993, LATER RELLED THAT THE U.S. NAVAL AMY GRADUATE “CHOSE TO SPEAK TO BEE HE THOUGHT WAS THE RIGHT THG TO DO.”THE SEGMENT CID WH “DON’T ASK, DON’T TELL” AND A CHANGE THE POLICY ON GAY PEOPLE SERVG THE ARY.“HE DID THE TERVIEW SILHOUETTE BUT HE WAS STILL TAKG A TREMENDO RISK WH HIS REER,” SAID SCHLGER. “HE HAD ABSOLUTELY NOTHG TO GA BY DOG THE TERVIEW. YET HE TOOK THE RISK AND SPOKE OUT.”TRAIL WARNED SCHLGER, “YOU’RE GOG TO WEAKEN OUR NATNAL FENSE IF YOU REMOVE GAYS OM THE ARY. AND YOU’LL NEVER BE ABLE TO DO 100 PERCENT, ’S JT WHETHER OR NOT YOU’LL NTUE TO HUNT AND FORCE TO FEAR.”ASKED WHETHER HE FELT FORTABLE SPEAKG OM THE LERAL SHADOWS TO PROTECT HIS INTY, TRAIL SAID, “THERE IS NOTHG I WOULD LIKE MORE THAN TO BE L UP [HERE] AND TELL YOU WHO I AM AND SHOW YOU WHO I AM. BUT I AM NOT ALLOWED TO DO THAT. IT’S [ONLY] FORTABLE FOR ME BEE I KNOW I WILL BE ABLE TO NTUE TO SERVE MY UNTRY AND DO MY JOB AND DO RIGHT. THAT’S WHAT I RE ABOUT MOST.”TO PREPARE TO PLAY TRAIL ON AMERIN CRIME STORY, ACTOR FN WTROCK TOLD VANY FAIR’S STILL WATCHG PODST THAT HE WATCHED FOOTAGE OM THE 48 HOURS SPECIAL ON REPEAT: “THAT WAS MY BIBLE. I WOULD WATCH THAT AND LISTEN TO THAT EVERY DAY.”WTROCK SAID THAT WHEN HE FIRST READ THE SCRIPTS FOR THE SERI THE SUMMER OF 2017, HE THOUGHT THAT “DON’T ASK, DON’T TELL” WAS SUCH A “DATED” NCEPT.“I DON’T KNOW IF PEOPLE ARE GOG TO BE ABLE TO RELATE TO THAT,” WTROCK REMEMBERED THKG. “THEN A WEEK LATER THERE WAS THE TRANSGENR ARY TMP BAN . . . SUDNLY I THOUGHT, OH WOW. HOW MANY STEPS WE TAKE FORWARD AND HOW MANY WE TAKE BACK. SO SUDNLY I WAS EXAMG THE WHOLE STORY THAT WAY. HOW RELEVANT IS THIS STILL? SADLY, SO MUCH OF IS STILL RELEVANT.”WTROCK, WHO IS NOT GAY HIMSELF, SAID THAT HE PREPARED FOR THE ROLE BY SPEAKG TO GAY MEN WHO WERE “ THEIR FORTI OR FIFTI AND LIVED THROUGH THIS PERD WHEN THEY WEREN’T [OUT].” ULTIMATELY THOUGH, WTROCK WAS STCK BY HOW MUCH HE HAD MON WH TRAIL: “BIS MY SEXUALY, I ULD BE JEFF TRAIL. THERE’S VERY LTLE, I FOUND, THAT SEPARAT THAT WAY.”TO FD OUT MORE ABOUT THE TE STORY OF VERSACE, CUNANAN, TRAIL, AND MORE, YOU N LISTEN TO THE FULL TERVIEW WH WTROCK—AS WELL AS PAST GUTS MREEN ORTH, RICKY MART, MAX GREENFIELD, JUDH LIGHT, CODY FERN, AND WRER TOM ROB SMH—BY SUBSCRIBG TO STILL WATCHG: VERSACE ON APPLE PODSTS OR YOUR PODST APP OF CHOICE. NEW EPISOS OF THE PODST AIR EVERY WEDNDAY NIGHT.MOST POPULARVANY FAIR’S “IT’S RAG TEENS” COVER AT 20: WHERE ARE THEY NOW?BY SAVANNAH WALSHRED, WHE & ROYAL BLUE MAY BE “THE MOST EXPENSIVE B OF FAN FICTN EVER”BY SAVANNAH WALSHTHE CAST OF OPPENHEIMER AND THE REAL PEOPLE THEY PLAYBY HILLARY BISMEGHAN MARKLE’S ROYAL ENGAGEMENT STYLE1 / 19CHEVRONCHEVRONBY SAMIR HSE/WIREIMAGE.LONDON, APRIL 25JACKET AND DRS BY EIA WICKSTEAD, HAT BY PHILIP TREACY, BAG BY JIMMY CHOO.JULIE MILLER

Two years later, that signer was Ryan Murphy's retellg of Gianni Versace's murr -- Amerin Crime Story: The Assassatn of Gianni Versace -- that 22-year-old Advote terview to life, pictgjournalist Brendan Lemon, who also also broke several other g out stori for The Advote, stg down wh the vtage terview, where Versace discsed his new book, the men his life, and how ItalianVogue is full of "ugly boys, " below: THE IMAGE MAKERKnown for his sexy signs, famo clientele (Elton, Madonna, and Stg) and his homoerotic advertisg mpaigns, Gianni Versace giv a glimpse to his private world of men. But the associatn ran eper than the man behd the mera: As Kle's men embodied a kd of male-oriented fantasy of the '80s, when the buffed male torso seemed pably homoerotic, so Versace's betiful bodi seem to reflect a which a penchant for this kd of advertisg has begun to dite somethg ls tomatilly gay.

RICKY MART ON PLAYG HIS FIRST GAY CHARACTER THE ASSASSATN OF GIANNI VERSACE

Not that Versace has ever shirked homosexualy.

AMERIN CRIME’S JOEY POLLARI ON THE ROLE OF A (YOUNG) LIFETIMETALKG WH ONE OF AMERIN CRIME’S BREAKOUT DISTURBED GAY TEENS.BY RICHARD LAWSONFEBARY 18, 2016PHOTO BY BRANDON B. JONSAVE THIS STORYSAVESAVE THIS STORYSAVE“I WAS TOLD THAT OTHER ACTORS HAD TURNED DOWN,” JOEY POLLARI SAYS OF HIS TRICKY, POTENTIALLY NTROVERSIAL ROLE ON THE SEND SEASON OF AMERIN CRIME, ABC’S DARK, SIGHTFUL ENSEMBLE PIECE ABOUT THE RIPPLE EFFECTS OF A SEXUAL ASSLT AT A PRIVATE SCHOOL. “I DON’T UNRSTAND WHY.” BEFORE BEG ST ON AMERIN CRIME, POLLARI, 21, WAS PERHAPS BT KNOWN FOR HIS STARRG ROLE AS AN AWKWARD, HORNY, RED-BLOOD HETEROSEXUAL TEEN ON THE SHORT-LIVED AMERIN ADAPTATN OF THE RNCHY, LADDISH BRISH EDY THE INBETWEENERS. HE’S GOT AN ENTIRELY DIFFERENT KD OF JOB NOW, PLAYG ERIC, A GAY JOCK, CLOSETED AT THE BEGNG OF THE SEASON, WHOSE ANGER AND AGGRSN IS TURNED BOTH WARD AND OUTWARD, HARMG HIMSELF AND THOSE AROUND HIM—WOMEN, OTHER GAY KIDS, ETC. HE’S A STEREOTYPIL BTISH HIGH-SCHOOL ATHLETE, BUT ONE LAN WH SOME EP, RELATABLE ANGUISH, ILLTRATED REFULLY BY THE SHOW’S WRERS.SO, WHY WOULD ANY ACTOR PASS UP AN OPPORTUNY TO PLAY SUCH PLEXY? “I DON’T UNRSTAND WHY PEOPLE WERE NNG AWAY OM ,” POLLARI TOLD ME OVER THE PHONE LAST WEEK. “I WAS EXCED TO LVE TO [].” (DID HIS HANDLERS—AGENTS AND MANAGERS AND PUBLICISTS AND THE LIKE—EVER RAISE ANY OBJECTNS? “NO, NEVER.”) HE AND THE OTHER YOUNG ACTORS WHO FORM THE CENTER OF THIS SEASON (LIKE AMERIN HORROR STORY, AMERIN CRIME—NOT TO BE NFED WH AMERIN CRIME STORY, WHICH FOLLOWS A SIAR MOL—IS AN ANTHOLOGY SERI THAT CHANG SEASON TO SEASON) HAVE BEEN ON A MANDG PRS REGIMEN SCE THE PREMIERE. IT'S BEEN PECIALLY BY FOR POLLARI AND CONNOR JSUP, WHO PLAYS THE (ALSO GAY) VICTIM OF THE CG SEXUAL ASSLT, A BLURRY CRIME THAT SPIRALS OUT TO AFFECT FELLOW STUNTS, AS WELL AS FACULTY AND PARENTS.THEY’VE BEEN KEPT SO BY DOG TERVIEWS, I SPECT, BEE ’S RARE TO SEE A SERI, LET ALONE ONE ON WORK TELEVISN, THAT EXPLOR TEENAGE SEXUAL INTY—CISGENR MALE HOMOSEXUALY, TO BE SPECIFIC— SUCH ANK, NUANCED, NTEMPORARY TERMS. (THE SHOW ALSO GRAPPL WH RACE AND CLASS ISSU FT, SURPRISG WAYS.) NATURALLY, JOURNALISTS, GAY OR OTHERWISE, ARE EAGER TO TALK ABOUT THAT, AND POLLARI ACKNOWLEDG THAT THE SEASON HAS HAD SOME WATERSHED MOMENTS THAT VE. “[IN ONE SCENE,] ERIC SAYS, ‘I’M GAY BUT I’M NOT A FAGGOT,’ WHICH WAS THE FIRST TIME THAT THAT WORD WAS SAID ON ABC. I WAS TOLD MOMENTS BEFORE SHOOTG. THAT BAFFL ME, NSIRG ALL THE OTHER WORDS THAT ARE ALLOWED, AND SOME THAT AREN’T ALLOWED.” BUT HE SE HIS CHARACTER’S ARC AS BEG ABOUT MORE THAN JT A NFLICTED GAY TEEN. “FROM MOMENT ONE, SEEMED LIKE WAS ABOUT SOMETHG SO MUCH BIGGER THAN HIS SEXUALY. IT WAS ABOUT SHAME, AND MALE AGGRSN, AND THAT NVERSATN WH SPORTS. I ULDN’T WA TO BE PART OF THAT TAPTRY.”POLLARI’S BEEN AN ACTOR FOR A LONG TIME, WAS A THEATER KID GROWG UP, SO I WAS CUR WHAT, IF ANY, EXPERIENCE HE’D HAD WH THE SHOW’S WORLD OF HIGH SCHOOL ALPHA MALE POSTURG. “I [WAS] HIGH SCHOOL, I WASN’T ALWAYS AWAY SHOOTG. SO, THE SUAL NATURE OF HETERONORMATIVE ATTUS THAT DIMISH WOMEN, ARE HOMOPHOBIC—THAT TO ME IS SOMETHG THAT I’VE EXPERIENCED FIRSTHAND.” AFTER ASKG HIM IF HE WAS AN ATHLETE SCHOOL OR IF HE WAS TOO BY BEG A THEATER KID, I FELT THE NEED TO QUALIFY THAT, OF URSE, HE ULD HAVE BEEN BOTH. POLLARI LGHED AND REPLIED, “I APPRECIATE THAT.” (FOR THE RERD, THOUGH? “I HAD TO LEARN BASKETBALL FOR THE SHOW.”)THROUGHOUT OUR NVERSATN, POLLARI WAS SMART, GENIAL, ENGAGED—NOTHG LIKE OBSTATE, TORTURED ERIC. WHICH IS A TTAMENT TO HIS SKILLS AS AN ACTOR, THOUGH POLLARI SAYS HE IMMEDIATELY FOUND A NNECTN WH HIS CHARACTER THAT ALMOST MA PLAYG HIM EASY. “THAT DYNAMIC OF TRYG TO BE A MAN, I THK EVERY [GUY] FEELS THAT. GROWG UP AND DOG THEATER AND ACTG WAS NOT SEEN AS THE MOST MASCULE THG. THAT STGGLE TO BE SEEN AS A MAN, AS AN EQUAL, IS UNIVERSAL.”THE SEASON HAS PROGRSED TO SOME PRETTY DARK PLAC (THE FEBARY 17 EPISO TOOK A SHOCKG, HIO TURN VOLVG JSUP’S CHARACTER AND ANOTHER BOY), PROBABLY GETTG FURTHER AND FURTHER OM POLLARI’S OWN EXPERIENC. BUT HE WAS PREPARED FOR THAT. “[WHEN I WAS ST], JOHN RIDLEY, OUR CREATOR, SAID, ‘THIS IS GOG TO BE VERY DIFFICULT FOR YOU, YOUNG MAN.’” POLLARI DIDN’T KNOW WHERE HIS CHARACTER WAS HEAD, EXACTLY, BUT HE AT LEAST KNEW WAS NOWHERE GOOD. “WHICH WAS AN ODD FORT,” POLLARI SAID WH A CHUCKLE. (ARE 21-YEAR-OLDS OLD ENOUGH TO CHUCKLE, ACTUALLY?)AFTER ALL THAT GRIMNS, MIGHT BE NICE TO PURSUE SOMETHG LIGHTER NEXT. POLLARI KEPT MENTNG HIS THEATER ROOTS, SO I WONRED IF HE’D LIKE TO GO BACK TO THAT. HE SAID ONE DREAM ROLE IS TOM THE GLASS MENAGERIE. BUT THAT’S STILL PRETTY HEAVY. MAYBE A MIL STEAD? “NO, I STARTED MIL THEATER, BUT HAVE MOVED AWAY OM THAT. I STILL LOVE , BUT I’D LOVE TO GET BACK TO DRAMA. OR EVEN EDY. AFTER AMERIN CRIME, I’M THKG I NEED TO DO A SLAPSTICK EDY.”I TOLD HIM THAT WOULD AT LEAST BE NICE TO SEE HIM SE SOMETHG. HE LET OUT ANOTHER LGH AND SAID, “THEY’VE BEEN SENDG OUT PICTUR FOR THIS. IT’S GOT ME SG, ’S LIKE ON-SET PHOTOS OF ME SG. AND I HAVE TO WARN PEOPLE, ‘ACTUALLY, THIS EPISO YOU WILL NOT SEE ERIC SG. FALSE LEAD. RED HERRG.’”MOST POPULARWH MATRO, LEONARD BERNSTE’S LEGACY AND LOV FALLY H THE BIG SCREENBY REBEC FORD25 PERFECT TV EPISOS FROM THE LAST 25 YEARSBY HILLARY BISTHE BOOK OF CLARENCE IS A BOMBASTIC JOURNEY BACK TO THE BIBLIL ERABY REBEC FORDRICHARD LAWSON

Richard Mart, curator of the Costume Instue at the Metropolan Mm of Art New York Cy, says that "there is no qutn that Versace's own out gay inty has been a part of this work. One hyperbolic visor to var Versace hoeholds swore to me that Versace and d'Ami tend the children and that only Donatella -- whose love of nightlife d'Ami to dub her, affectnately, "the queen of the gays" -- liked life the limo.