the time is NOW to be who you are for (your pride) film stardom
an investigation into a throwaway claim made by my dear and judicious friend austin
Drew Starkey is in Venice right now. Drew Starkey, the damn bully from Netflix’s Outer Banks, whose character in that show was kind of in love with his sister1 , is at the Venice Film Festival, picking up speed as the film it boy of the month on my corner of Twitter. Previous entrants have been boys like Harris Dickinson, Dominic Sessa etc. You know the like. Anyway! Drew is there for the premiere of the new Luca Guadagnino/ Jonathan Anderson/ Loewe (one and the same at this point) project Queer, which he stars in alongside Daniel Craig. While convening in the DMs over this moment in culture, Austin said:
I immediately responded with an online like and a vigorous nod irl, as I do to most things Austin says because he is often just well, right. But is this true? Like actually? An investigation is in order.
In order to test this theory, I searched for evidence…. which is to say I made a notes app list off the top of my head. Here we go-
Jake Gyllenhaal, Brokeback Mountain (2005)2
Beautiful, tender film. Extremely tragic watching. Earned Jakey G. a BAFTA win. Did starring in it make him more famous? Ummm yes probably? He certainly got to do more movies after it, although besides his cameo in John Mulaney and the Sack Lunch Bunch, I’m not sure he’s ever done something as good since3.
Nick Robinson, Love Simon (2018)
Only the people who watched both this film and all 3 seasons of its Hulu Original spinoff Love, Victor are really allowed to speak on this one. I remember mildly liking the movie, very sweet for what it was. Original author of the book, Becky Albertalli rules. Did the film make him more famous? Probably not. I think he starred in Love, Simon because he was the exact level of popular needed, and he has probably remained that way since then. Absolutely normal guy, hope he’s having a good day!
Harris Dickinson, Beach Rats + Josh O’Connor, God’s Own Country (2017)
Both excellent films, seen by perhaps a handful of people worldwide. Did they make these actors more famous? Absolutely not. These are the kind of movies that twitter girls say “I was there since his indie era” when the actor is an actual it boy years later after starring in something else. It’s me, I’m Twitter girls. Great actors, pretty boys, sumptuous films, yet not what did it (ultimate stardom) for either of them, at least not directly.
Timothée Chalamet, Call Me By Your Name (2017)
The film that launched a thousand peaches. What a picture. Important entry in the boy running around Italy canon. There is so much I love in the culture that can be contributed to this one film- Club Chalamet, Hunter Harris writing about Club Chalamet , and that time Club Chalamet said that Timmy should take his girlfriend Kylie Jenner to Olive Garden. Thank you Luca Guadagnino, Sufjan Stevens, and everyone else involved for Call Me By Your Name! Did it make Timothée Chalamet more famous? Undoubtedly. Earned him an Oscar nom, put him on the map, he will flop his floppy brown hair floppishly on the big screen for years to come thanks to it.
Nicholas Galitzine, Red, White & Royal Blue (2023)
There is something I admire about Nicholas Galitzine and his stubborn desire to work. I look at his filmography and I recognize a man who will simply do whatever. And these are roles I know for a fact he fought for! Against hundreds of other cute boys who also wanted to play a broody violinist in a teen dance movie, or the prince in Camila Cabello’s Cinderella, or a marine who marries Sofia Carson for health insurance/ money/ conservative values in Purple Hearts. I can’t discern what he actually wants to do with his career. Is this a man who is about to make an RPatt like turn post-Twilight? It looked like he had fun in the Idea of You and Bottoms, both masterpieces to me. Did RW&RB make him more famous? Well… unclear. Maybe not directly, but the steady rate he’s working (especially with MOTHERS Anne Hathaway and Julianne Moore) means he has not! flopped! yet!
There is a Moonlight shaped gap in my analysis
I wrestled with putting Ashton Sanders in this because by all accounts he put forward a STAR TURN in Moonlight, one of my favourite films of all time that famously went on to win Best Picture. Did the role make him more famous? I’m not sure… he definitely continued working BUT not to the same kind of fanfare that eg. Timmy’s projects garner. While this is largely a very jokey piece, Ashton Sanders reveals some glaring problematic patterns in the industry. do better for Black people Hollywood!!!!!!!!!!!
Conclusions- Austin was right, in a sense
Obviously not all gay-for-pay opportunities are created equal. There’s a difference between the YA coming of age gay movies, which kind of takes an actor nowhere except more of the same, and the indie exploration of sexuality stuff that mops up all the awards and leads to later acclaim. But even some indie projects take you further than others. Clearly you need to specifically star in a Luca Guadagnino gay film to actually ‘make it big’. Good news for Drew Starkey! And belatedly Josh O’Connor.4
Miscellaneous
*Actors I was surprised aren’t actually on here because they simply seem like the type to be- Jacob Elordi, Callum Turner, Charles Melton
*Actors I was on the bubble of putting on here but I felt didn’t really count- Jacob Elordi5, Barry Keoghan6
*Honourable Mention- Andrew Garfield in Angels in America. Although this certainly not the project that made him famous, it did win him a Tony which I’m sure made him very happy.
*Mark Wahlberg turning down Brokeback Mountain- lol. lmao even.
I actually don’t know, I never watched past season one
didn’t include heath ledger for obvious reasons (RIP), but also because he was probably already the most famous person in the world after 10 Things I Hate About You
Zodiac and Ambulance both rule but they’re obviously very different movies from what we’re talking about here
was Challengers gay?
was he gay in Euphoria?
was Saltburn gay?
can u explain the luca guadagnino-loewe cinematic universe
I’m drinking the Drew Starkey kool-aid idgaf