Aaron Altaras hopes his new film ‘Mario’ will encourage footballers to come out
The German actors recalls his favourite line from the film and how he shocked real footballers
By Steve Brown
Aaron Altaras hopes his new film Mario will encourage footballers to come out.
Currently there is not one out player in any major league football teams as many fear the reaction their teammates and fans will have against them and often they wait until they have retired from the sport.
In his new film, the German star plays Leo – a confident, Grindr-using new addition to the football team who falls for shy country boy Mario – and when their secret gets out, they have to deal with the attitudes of their club and teammates.
In an exclusive interview in Attitude’s July issue, Altaras hopes the new Swiss film will have a positive reaction and allow footballers to come out.
Altaras says: “That’s my romantic vision. We’ve been in contact with a few clubs, and I hope this film can be shown at stadiums.
“Obviously, the film is going to reach an art-house audience, but it should reach football fans, too.
“We still have this idea of the macho, alpha cis male as a sportsman – which is fucking bullshit!
“Change has to come from the clubs because I think the majority of fans are willing to accept gay men in football, as long as they are good players.”
Although the film tackles homophobia in the sport, Altaras recalls saying the best line in the movie – “I suck dick, it’s contagious” – in front of real footballers, many of whom where shocked.
“It’s my favourite line as well,” he adds. “We shot that scene with a lot of real footballers, and in the background you can see all their faces like, ‘What the fuck?’
“But they came to me afterwards and said they thought it was really cool. I think the line is powerful because it’s so vulnerable.
“It’s like, ‘I don’t give a fuck. I suck dick and you guys have no clue’.”
Mario is set for release on July 13. Watch the trailer for Mario below:
Read the full interview with Altaras in the July issue of Attitude. Buy now and take advantage of our best-ever subscription offers: 3 issues for £3 in print, 13 issues for £19.99 to download to any device.
