Love, Victor’s Michael Cimino and George Sear criticise speculation over Kit Connor’s sexuality
The two actors discussed speculation around Kit Connor's sexuality and the pressures on actors to be open about their private lives.
Words: Emily Maskell; pictures: Dennis Leupold
Ahead of season three of Love, Victor the show’s stars, Michael Cimino and George Sear have said that “no one should be forced to come out”.
The third and final season of the Hulu/Disney+ show will see the pair’s characters, Victor and Benjie, navigate a love triangle.
They opened up about the pressures on actors to reveal their sexuality in a recent interview with Metro, which came up as they discussed speculation around the sexuality of Heartstopper’s Kit Connor.
“No one owes anybody anything in this industry”
Connor, 18, who plays Nick Nelson in the acclaimed LGBTQ+ YA Netflix series has had to fend off speculation about his identity on his own social media.
In May he wrote on Twitter: “twitter is so funny man. apparently some people on here know my sexuality better than I do…”
twitter is so funny man. apparently some people on here know my sexuality better than I do…
— Kit Connor (@kit_connor) May 2, 2022
Speaking lter on the Reign with Josh Smith podcast Connor said he is “perfectly confident and comfortable” with his sexuality after avid speculation online, adding that he feels no need to put a label on things.
Kit said he felt it was strange for people to be making “problematic” assumptions about his sexuality based on a character that he plays.
Referencing Kit, George, 24, said: “For all we know, he could still be figuring himself out. It’s totally his business, that’s totally up to him, whether to talk about that or not, and I think that’s what it comes down to, is whether people want to or not, really.”
George also shared that he believes that the job of an actor is to focus on portraying a character’s truth as best you can, insinuating that the actor’s personal life doesn’t have to be involved to be good at the job.
Michael, 22, added: “Just because someone is in the limelight, doesn’t mean that you have to force them to come out and force them to do anything.”
He emphasised that forcing someone to come out or outing someone else is “the biggest no-no in the LGBT community” and that it should be left for the individual to decide when they’re ready to come out to the world.
“No one owes anybody anything in this industry, and so if someone is still learning how to navigate their sexuality or whatever the case may be, they shouldn’t have to be like, ‘Yes! This is who I am,’ if they’re not sure about it yet,” Michael continued.
Michael, who identifies as straight (as does George) told Attitude last year he had been warned against playing gay roles.
“I’ve been advised that you shouldn’t play gay roles, especially [for] your first big role. ‘Everyone will think you’re gay’ or ‘You won’t be able to book anything,’ ‘You’ll never be able to build a fan base.’
“I’m not a traditional ‘masculine’ man, so that would be people trying to force me into something I’m not. Here I am playing a gay role that might not be considered masculine in an outdated idea of what masculinity is.”
The pair also entered the ongoing debate over who should be playing LGBTQ+ roles.
“There are some straight actors who play gay characters, who are all about supporting LGBT rights while they’re promoting their project, but once they’re done, a year later, it’s kind of forgotten,” Michael said.
“I held myself to a really high standard to make sure everyone going through this story felt represented by the show.”
The Attitude July/August issue is out now.