GET PUMPED! The Gay Kristen Stewart Bodybuilder Film Trailer Is Here
The first full trailer for Love Lies Bleeding has dropped, and oh my god it looks GOOD. For those who haven’t been obsessively following the news of this upcoming film, Stewart stars as Lou, an employee at a local gym in small town Nevada and the daughter of a Crime Man™ (Ed Harris). She’s also the love interest of queer bodybuilder Jackie, played by fellow queer actor Katy M. O’Brian.
Love Lies Bleeding was co-written by Weronika Tofilska and Rose Glass, who also directed. The trailer shows Jackie and Lou falling for each other and then falling down a spiral of violence, guns, drugs, and crime, with Lou eventually vowing to take down her own father. Daddy issues have entered the chat!
It’s a perfect romantic thriller trailer, teasing Lou and Jackie as not just lovers but co-conspirators in a dangerous game against Lou’s father. The tagline — revenge gets ripped — is in and of itself so thrilling!
I’m love lies SCREAMING!
Not to be obvious, but the trailer really is the definition of Be Gay, Do Crimes. In addition to various nefarious shots of guns, cash, and bodies rolled up in carpets, we also see lots of flashes of sex scenes between Jackie and Lou, and they look VERY HOT! Here, I have taken some important screenshots for you:
I’m also a big fan of the official poster, which correctly is a beautiful tribute to KATY M. O’BRIAN’S ARMS.
The trailer pulses with blood, bodies, and heat, and it ends on a twisty, unsettling image. But my favorite part might be the very quiet and understated moment when Stewart as Lou simply replies “yep” when her father asks if she’s threatening him. Pansexual actor Jena Malone is also in the cast, but I couldn’t find her in the trailer…despite watching several times. I can’t find a character description either, but I’m going to put my guess of an ex-girlfriend of Lou’s out into the world.
The film is set to make its global premiere at Sundance and will premiere sometime in the spring of 2024.
Reneé Rapp and Megan Thee Stallion’s “Not My Fault” Is Giving Gay Regina George
I hadn’t considered how gay the iconic Mean Girls line “it’s not my fault you’re like in love with me” was until it rolled off of Reneé Rapp’s lips.
To be fair, the deciding factor maaaaaaybe wasn’t just the voice over in the opening seconds into her newest single with Megan thee Stallion — “Not My Fault” of the upcoming Mean Girls Musical soundtrack — though it certainly didn’t hurt!
Instead, it maybe came from the matching “it’s not my fault you’re like in love with me” captions that both Meg and Reneé left on their Instagrams this week to hype the song’s highly anticipated release. But still, points were made!!
The newly revamped Mean Girls hits theaters on January 12th, just a little shy of the 20 year anniversary of the original. It’s based on the original film’s Broadway musical adaptation. All of which is to say, there simply could not be a better Regina George than Reneé Rapp.
Besides being recorded by two hot bisexual stars, “Not My Fault” also has some winks for what’s apparently a long-standing theory — though unbeknownst to me before this week — which is that Regina George is a lesbian??
In the second verse Rapp hits us with:
“Get her number, get her name
Get a good thing while you can
Kiss a blonde (Kiss a blonde), kiss a friend (Okay)
Can a gay girl get an, “Amen?”
Amen. For her part, Meg follows up with “I been told y’all, I’m the black Regina George.”
Rapp (who, by the way, also played the best villain to ever stomp through hallways in pink during the show’s Broadway run) amped up this queer reading Regina last week when she captioned her Instagram with a real direct “regina george was a lesbian”… so yeah, not a lot of room for misinterpretation there!
Now, do I think Reneé Rapp was just making a little tee-hee gay joke with her fans? Yes, yes I do. But it also means that the queer actor playing Regina understands her to be gay, and I can’t wait to see how that interpretation ultimately plays into her performance.
According to a deep dive by Diva Magazine, it appears the “Regina George is a lesbian” train first took off in 2021, by @lizzie.mchigher on TikTok, who in particular has a lot of very interesting things to say about Regina’s relationship with Mean Girl’s noted lesbian outcast Janis Ian and Regina’s own internalized homophobia. Later, in 2022, a fan held up a sign that said “Regina Is a Lesbian” during one of Reneé Rapp’s concerts and she responded, “She is! It’s so true, and I heard that from God. He told me.”
@lizzie.mchigher
It’s still a few weeks before the new Mean Girls release, where we can see Regina’s positively affirmed lesbian era for ourselves. Until then, here’s “Not My Fault.” When we started the pink revolution for Barbie over the summer, I didn’t realize that deep into winter we’d still be here. But fuck it! Pink forever.
Let it catch on like Fetch never could.
Let’s All Enjoy This One Millisecond of Tessa Thompson in “The Marvels” New Trailer
In a final push to get people to secure their tickets for the Captain Marvel sequel, simply titled The Marvels, which comes out this weekend, Marvel Studios pulled out the big guns. And by “the big guns” I mean the canons that are on each of Tessa Thompson’s arms. Because Valkyrie, the love of my nerdy geeky ass life, is back in The Marvels final trailer. And she is gazing upon Carol Danvers’ face with the warmth of a thousand suns.
This is not Valkyrie in The Marvels trailer. I just wanted to make sure you got the joke about her arms. Have you seen them? My god.
It’s a nice confirmation of a long-standing rumor that Valkyrie would be making a guest appearance in the film for years now (some eagle eyed fans caught a glimpse of Tessa Thompson’s headshot in the background of a Captain Marvel behind the scenes all the way back in 2021).
Of course, fans have long wanted Valkyrie and Captain Marvel to be the cosmic superhero power couple of the MCU. Valkyrie’s been gay coded since she was first introduced making a strap-on joke about a laser gun. Carol’s first feature-length debut was so gay that Autostraddle dedicated an entire post just to ranking her outfits by lesbianism. Captains of the Carol/Valkyrie ship include none other than Brie Larson and Tessa Thompson themselves, who used the entirety of their 2019 press run leading into The Avengers: Endgame to spread the good word of fandom’s unrelentless gay agenda. Plus, there were some heavily unsubstantiated rumors in 2020 that a girlfriend for Carol might be on the horizon.
Alas, I have to be real with you. Valkyrie is only in The Marvels trailer for a millisecond (two milliseconds, if you include the voice over before we see her face). Now, is that enough to stir back up the Marvel fan within me and force her to finally get life together and buy a ticket? Of course it is. Am I probably being queer baited by the House of Mouse once again? You know it. But I only have one precious silly life, and if I want to spend two hours of that life looking upon Tessa Thompson being hot in a three-piece suit and Brie Larson as a lesbian superhero (I said what I said) breaking spaceships apart with her bare hands, then it is my god given right to do so and you cannot stop me.
If you’re coming to The Marvel for the plot — and I mean the actual plot, not the thing gays do when we say “I’m here for the plot” and the plot is Tessa Thompson’s face — here’s what you need to know: Since the end of Avengers: Endgame Carol Danvers has been off-world fighting baddies, meanwhile her step-daughter niece Monica Rambeau grew up to be a superhero in her own right (now played by Teyonah Parris as an adult). She has a lot of hurt feelings about Carol, which we assume are about Carol abandoning her as a child, but that’s not confirmed yet. The two of them will also be meeting Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani, superhero name Ms. Marvel) who is a Muslim teen nerd from New Jersey and a Carol Danvers’ superfan. The three heroes will be joining forces to battle Dar-Ben (Zawe Ashton) who is mad at Carol for… reasons we don’t know yet. But things will go bang bang clang boom I am sure, and I believe wholeheartedly that it will be great.
The Marvels has seen some brutal pre-release ticket sales slumps, in large part because of the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike. The strike means that no stars of the film could promo it (though director Nia DaCosta has been on a quite press run, she’s the youngest director and the first Black woman to helm a Marvel release. I love her work!). Studios should give actors a fair deal that includes common sense understandings of the impact AI will have on creative industries and actors’ likeness. Without the work of actors, projects like The Marvels wouldn’t exist. Just had to get that off my chest! Back to Valkyrie and Carol Danvers, I wish them a lifetime of gay happiness — whether that be in fan fiction or maybe one day on the big screen.
The Trailer for Chrishell Stause’s Lifetime Lesbian Pregnancy Thriller Is Here and Thrilling
“You’re Not Supposed to Be Here” Chrishell Stause Movie Trailer:
The hotly anticipated new Lifetime movie “You’re Not Supposed to Be Here,” a pregnancy thriller centered on a lesbian couple has dropped its first trailer. Queer Selling Sunset star Chrishell Stause and queer actor/model Diora Baird play the lesbian couple in question. Queer actor Heather Matarazzo also appears in the trailer, attempting to chase duo out of a pharmacy while warning them that they’re “not supposed to be here.”
What is “You’re Not Supposed to Be Here” About?
The film, which you can be confident Kayla will be covering for Autostraddle, follows pregnant lesbian couple Zoe (Chrishell Stause) and Kennedy (Diora Baird), who are struggling with work-life balance and thus accept Kennedy’s boss’ invitation to go on a little babymoon getaway in the woods.
But when they arrive in the remote mountain town where the lovely cabin is located, the locals seem… hostile. Zoe thinks it’s likely the unwanted attention is a result of them being a gay couple but Kennedy manages to convince Zoe that she’s just going bananas from pregnancy hormones. The two let their guard down and that is when THE NIGHTMARE BEGINS. They are unprepared for what’s in store and for the fact that the townspeople “want something they have.”
I am guessing the townspeople either want a $7.9 million dollar Hollywood Hills four-bedroom, six-bedroom estate or they want Zoe and Kennedy’s perfect little baby.
When is “You’re Not Supposed To Be Here” Coming Out?
You can mark your calendars for Saturday, November 4 at 8p/7c, when we will all be gathering around our televisions to pay tribute to lesbian babymooners on Lifetime. You should also probably mark your calender for November 5th because that’s the day it’s actually going to be streaming and I am the only person in the world who still has cable.
Chrishell Stause Will Star As Gay Mommi-To-Be in Lifetime Thriller
Selling Sunset‘s Chrishell Stause — who came out in spring 2022 when announcing she was dating nonbinary musician G Flip — will soon play gay in a Lifetime original movie, according to The Wrap. Set to air on November 4, You’re Not Suppose To Be Here is a cabin in the woods-style thriller about a lesbian couple, played by Stause and Diora Baird.
Baird will play Kennedy, and Stause will play her pregnant partner Zoe. Kennedy’s boss gifts the couple a cabin getaway in a remote mountain town for the two to have a babymoon, but things go sideways of course. Zoe assumes the unwelcoming townspeople are homophobic, but it’s possible something even more sinister is happening here. Kennedy blames Zoe’s paranoia on her pregnancy hormones, which seems rude! According to the official description: “Just as the two let their guards down, their nightmare begins. They realize they are completely unprepared for what is in store, and that the townspeople want something the two have.”
If I had to guess based on Lifetime tropes and patterns, I’d bet that “something” is the unborn baby. Queer actress Heather Matarazzo — of Stacey Merkin fame — also stars in the movie, so it’s a gay party!
Listen, coming out isn’t a competition buuuuut Chrishell might be winning coming out? She met G Flip at a Halloween party (gay), and a year after their relationship was made public during a Selling Sunset reunion episode, they got married in Las Vegas. G Flip intermittently appeared in the latest season of Selling Sunset, and Chrishell has starred in their music videos. Starring in a lesbian Lifetime movie seems like the natural next step.
Obviously, I WILL be watching the movie and likely writing about it for this very website. “Lesbian pregnancy thriller” is so extremely my cup of tea that I feel like Lifetime might be making this specifically for me? Can’t wait!
Watch an Exclusive Clip From Kinky Trans Horse Movie, “Piaffe”
When I think about church, I think about movie theatres and queer clubs. Cinema is holy for my mind, dancing is holy for my body. When films have scenes in queer clubs, it’s a meeting of these two special places. It’s an opportunity to see my one favorite place expressed by the other. From early Almodóvar films to But I’m a Cheerleader to BPM, the gay bar has been a location for some of queer cinema’s most memorable moments. It’s a place for connection and adventure, escape and discovery. Today, a new film joins this canon with multiple queer club scenes unlike any we’ve seen before.
Ann Oren’s completely original debut feature Piaffe is a unique take on gender and queer siblinghood. This kinky movie about a woman named Eva (Simone Bucio) who sort of starts to turn into a horse is essential viewing for anyone who loves trans storytelling, experimental cinema, and, well, horses. Its queer club scenes mark the pivotal moments in Eva’s development. And since they were filmed at Berlin’s famous KitKatClub, a super queer and sex-positive kink space, they shimmer with authenticity.
One of these scenes drifts into a dream space where Eva and her trans sibling, Zara (Simon(e) Jaikiriuma Paetau), engage in a dance — literal and emotional. Zara is inviting Eva into their queer space, inviting her to embrace an expansion of body, sexuality, and self. The film is unique in form and unique in the relationship it centers. We’re used to seeing siblings in conflict over queerness but here they’re in conversation — over their shared identities and their developing personhoods. This clip is just a taste of the strange, wondrous, and moving world of Piaffe.
Piaffe is now playing in New York before expanding to more cities in the coming weeks.
Drag Queens, Lesbian Conductors, and Elliot Page: 5 Queer Films Playing at TIFF 2023
Feature image photo by Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagi
With the SAG and WGA strikes still in full swing, the fall festivals are adjusting to the possibility that the films will be there but the stars will not. It’s disappointing for these artists to not be able to celebrate and promote their work, it’s unfair that corporate greed is diminishing the release of projects that have likely been in development for years. And yet their absence will act as a reminder that Hollywood creatives are tasked far beyond what they do on set. They deserve their fair share of the profits — after all they’re doing most of the work.
The lack of red carpets for Hollywood films will shift the focus at a festival like TIFF. Less glitz and glam means more attention on the films themselves, and more attention on smaller films and films made outside of North America.
Last year, I saw 40 features at TIFF and I am so excited to be back this year to watch the big releases and the hidden gems. The initial lineup was released today and it looks to be another strong year with a mix of celebrated titles from previous festivals and new premieres.
I’m sure there will be more surprises, but here are five queer films I’m looking forward to at this year’s festival!
NOTE: The ethical issues in Hollywood are unfortunately not as simple as studios vs. artists. It is very disappointing that TIFF has decided to show Alexander Payne’s new film The Holdovers, despite Rose McGowan’s accusations against Payne of statuatory rape. Payne denies the allegations.
Close to You (dir. Dominic Savage)
Other than the latest season of The Umbrella Academy, this film is the first on-screen appearance of Elliot Page since he transitioned. While the cis director and tropey premise of “trans person returns to hometown” has me lightly skeptical, Page’s presence alone is more than enough to keep me excited.
Days of Happiness (dir. Chloé Robichaud)
TÀR 2? If the Cate Blanchett hit had you yearning for more lesbian conductor movies, Chloé Robichaud is back with her own spin on what I hope becomes a subgenre. One of my biggest issues with the earlier film was its total lack of lesbian gaze, so all jokes aside I am really excited to get a lesbian conductor film from an actual lesbian filmmaker!
Rustin (dir. George C. Wolfe)
Biopics have been some of TIFF’s most reliable awards exports over the years, even if their quality has been less consistent. I’m excited for this biopic of gay civil rights leader Bayard Rustin for two reasons: star Colman Domingo and director George C. Wolfe. Whether working with good writing (Zola) or bad writing (Euphoria) Domingo has shown himself to be one of the very best actors around and George C. Wolfe is a literal legend.
Solo (dir. Sophie Dupuis)
It wouldn’t be TIFF without some Canadian gems and one Canadian film I’m most looking forward to is this tale of a drag queen, his new romance, and his estranged mother. I would always rather an actual drag queen play one on-screen, but star Théodore Pellerin has more than proven himself in his young career so I’m keeping an open mind.
Unicorns (dir. Sally El Hosaini, James Krishna Floyd)
Co-directed by Sally El Hosaini who made last year’s festival’s opening night film, The Swimmers, this film is about a queer South Asian nightclub performer who meets a mechanic. It’s unclear if the title implies there will be straight couples looking for a third but based on the brief plot description, it’s looking like no.
Bonus:
Fingernails (dir. Christos Nikou)
Okay so I don’t actually know if this movie that stars Jessie Buckley, Riz Ahmed, Jeremy Allen White, and Annie Murphy is queer. But I do know the premise is a woman works at an institute that determines whether couples are compatible. Will some of those couples be gay? Maybe! Is the title referring to a lesbian couple where one person was brainwashed by The L Word and the other wants to keep her long nails? Maybe!! (Probably not.)
As of now we only have minimal plot descriptions, so I’m hoping more of these initial films will turn out to be queer. And I’m still crossing my fingers the next round of announcements includes highly anticipated queer titles like I Saw the TV Glow and Drive-Away Dolls. I’ll be back to Toronto in September reporting on all these films and more!
Here’s What LGBTQ+ Actors Are Saying About the Strike
feature image photo by by John Lamparski/Contributor via Getty Images
Happy Hot Strike Summer! As you probably already know, the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) has joined the Writers Guild of America (WGA) in a strike against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), both unions fighting for fairer practices when it comes to pay, protections against AI, and benefit plans. I like to imagine them joining together like Power Rangers forming Zords at the end of the episode. Vulture‘s (cheekily on-brand) primer on the combined strikes is helpful if you’re looking for a super basic rundown!
Lots of actors have been speaking out about their own experiences in the industry, including in a big New Yorker story about how Orange Is the New Black is a striking and early example of just how fucked the streaming economy is in its undervaluation of writers and actors. The wildly popular show reached a huge audience, and yet their wages did not reflect this, many of the actors keeping their day jobs even multiple seasons into the hit show.
The conversations happening with this strike about the brokenness of streaming are inseparable from the ongoing “cancel your gays” conversation. The practice of streaming giants removing less-popular series from their platforms to avoid paying residuals especially hurts LGBTQ+ and actors of color, as it’s queer shows and shows with predominantly POC casts that are often on that notorious chopping block. Latine writers and actors are disproportionately underpaid in Hollywood, and it’s easy to see how there’s even more at stake for marginalized groups in this industry, including queer and trans folks.
Below, I’ve rounded up some quotes and social media posts from LGBTQ+ actors speaking out about their experiences and hopes for the future during this strike. I’ll periodically add to it as more voices join the conversation, so consider this an ongoing project just like the strikes are an ongoing movement. Let’s keep the momentum up!
“It is a clear choice when stories that can, and do, change lives are created only to vanish as if they never existed. It tells us that our voices only matter as long as those in power say they do.” – Leo Sheng
https://twitter.com/iLeoSheng/status/1679966664115523589
The L Word: Generation Q‘s Leo Sheng correctly connects the dots between the deplatforming of LGBTQ+ shows from streamers and corporate greed!!!!!
“My last residual check came in June, it was for $20.27” – Lea DeLaria
DeLaria was one of the many actors quoted in the New Yorker piece, and she also went on CNN to talk about the strange disconnect of being recognized by fans all the time while not making very much money from the show that helped propel her to that huge popularity.
“…I have never once made enough to qualify for SAG-AFTRA healthcare.” – Mara Wilson
I haven’t acted much as an adult, but I WAS on a recurring character on one of the most critically acclaimed animated shows of all time, as well playing an actual Disney villain.
But thanks to streaming, I have never once made enough to qualify for SAG-AFTRA healthcare.
— Mara Wilson (@MaraWilson) July 13, 2023
Better healthcare benefits and pension plans are some of the many things SAG-AFTRA is asking for, and this tweet from Mara Wilson underscores why!!!!!
“I know as a queer entertainer, you never know when your next gig is coming. And we live off our gigs, so it’s scary to turn down work. But if a company approaches you right now to promote new work, to act in new work, to write for new work, and you take that job, you will be considered a scab.” – Jinkx Monsoon
Jinkx Monsoon does a great job in this Instagram video of expressing empathy toward gig-working performers who may feel pressured to take on gigs as non-union members while also warning against being a scab going against the interests of striking workers.
Canadian LGBTQ+ performers like Elliot Page, Mae Martin, Emily Hampshire, and Tatiana Maslany signed onto a letter asking fellow British Columbia actors to vote down a deal with the AMPTP so as not to be used as bargaining chips and to support the efforts of SAG-AFTRA.
“I’ve been a proud SAG member since 1995. I love my job. Hoping for a FAIR meeting of the minds.” – Niecy Nash
Niecy Nash has also been an active supporter of the writers strike leading up to this moment.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CuxZLDfO9JM/
Yellowjackets and Scream star Jasmin Savoy Brown has deleted all the photos from her Instagram grid and is instead posting in solidarity with the actors and writers unions every day. It’s a small but very visible way to center the strike.
https://twitter.com/BisHilarious/status/1679629186569474048
Aaaaaand this one simply just made me laugh, but you should follow Abbott Elementary‘s Brittani Nichols on Twitter and Instagram for lots of double strike updates.
The Screen Actors Guild Join the Writers in Strike After Contract Negotiations Fail
Hello, hi there, today the stage has been set for a historic double strike in Hollywood — the kind of which has not been seen in 63 years. The 160,000 members of The Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) will join the Writers Guild of America (WGA) in a strike against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). It’s a move that will all but force studios to go black.
Let’s talk about how we got there.
SAG-AFTRA announced overnight that its negotiating committee has voted unanimously to recommend that its 160,000 members strike after weeks of negotiations with the AMPTP (who represents Netflix, Amazon, Disney, Warner Bros Discovery, along with all other major production companies) could not come to terms before yesterday’s midnight deadline. After a formal vote this morning Pacific Time regarding the strike, it was announced at a news conference that the strike’s officially on.
This will be the first time that SAG-AFTRA members have stopped work on movie and television productions since 1980.
“The studios and streamers have implemented massive unilateral changes in our industry’s business model, while at the same time insisting on keeping our contracts frozen in amber,” SAG-AFTRA’s national executive director Duncan Crabtree-Ireland said in a statement. “Their refusal to meaningfully engage with our key proposals and the fundamental disrespect shown to our members is what has brought us to this point. The studios and streamers have underestimated our members’ resolve, as they are about to fully discover.”
SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher echoed Cabtree-Ireland’s statements, adding that while the guild “negotiated in good faith,” they have not been met in return. “AMPTP’s responses to the union’s most important proposals have been insulting and disrespectful of our massive contributions to this industry.”
Taken in broad scale, the actors’ demands largely overlap with their colleagues in the Writers Guild, who have already been on strike for months. Both groups want restrictions and protections as it relates AI technology, which can simulate a performer’s likeness or writer’s style and is setting a stage for unchartered waters in the industry that could be harmful to creatives. Both groups also want a revamped payment structure and business model for their work on streaming networks, which both unions have widely described as currently unfair if not unethical.
That said, even with their overlapping concerns, a double strike with writers is still nearly unprecedented. According to research done by The Washington Post, though actors and writers have simultaneously walked off sets several times — including during the 2007 writers strike and also a six-month performers strike in 2000 (then one of the longest entertainment strikes in history) – they have only simultaneously picketed once before, in 1960. Until now.
Production on most television shows and movies have already been halted by the WGA strike that began in May, a joint walkout by the actors is expected by all industry experts to essentially completely shut down what’s left of filming.
That kind of shut down impacts thousands more workers who are not just in the unions, and as such it has not to be taken lightly. SAG-AFTRA worked with the studios for weeks to avoid a second strike, first extending their original deadline of June 30th into this month and making a last minute request from the U.S. Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service for help, who dispatched a senior mediator for the final round of talks on Wednesday.
“This is the Union’s choice, not ours,” said the AMPTP in a statement. “In doing so, it has dismissed our offer of historic pay and residual increases, substantially higher caps on pension and health contributions, audition protections, shortened series option periods, a groundbreaking AI proposal that protects actors’ digital likenesses, and more…. Rather than continuing to negotiate, SAG-AFTRA has put us on a course that will deepen the financial hardship for thousands who depend on the industry for their livelihoods.”
Though in reading that statement, it is worth noting — as the Writes Guild has many times — that the demands put forth by these unions represent a fraction of a percentage of studios’ annual revenue. IndieWire looked at the writers’ demands specifically and found that “as a percentage of total revenue, that added cost is a fraction of a percent. In Netflix’s case, it’s .214 percent (2022 revenue: $31.6 billion) and at Disney it’s .091 percent (2022 revenue: $82.7 billion).”
Conversely, just this week a studio executive told Deadline that as it related to the writers strike, “The endgame is to allow things to drag on until union members start losing their apartments and losing their houses.” A different insider in the same article called this breathtaking approach “a cruel but necessary evil.” (A spokesperson the AMPTP told Deadline, “these anonymous people are not speaking on behalf of the AMPTP or member companies.”)
To give a concrete example of the stakes here — the Screen Actors Guild, in part, is seeking increased base compensation for performers, which has declined as streaming-first studios (such as Netflix, Amazon) have taken advantage of previous contracts to pivot away from paying out residuals to talent.
Residuals are what actors — though writers are also striking over this issue as well — are paid when you or I watch reruns of their work. Just this week, a piece in the New Yorker honoring the 10-year anniversary of Orange Is the New Black, a show largely credited for ushering Netflix into its heyday as a television studio, noted that cast members of its largely woman and queer ensemble were being paid cents (as in, less than a dollar) per episode in residuals.
Kimiko Glenn, best known to all of us as Poussey’s girlfriend Brook Soso on the series, noted on her TikTok in 2020 that per episode she was receiving pennies of income from residuals (we’re talking two cents, four cents per episode), with a grand total coming to $27.30 for her years of work. This May she reposted the video on her Instagram when the writers went on strike — with many of her OITNB commiserating similar stories in the comments.
@itskimiko “New media” 🙄😩 #oitnb #royalties #paycheck #netflix #orangeisthenewblack #brooksoso #soso #kimikoglenn
Emma Myles, the queer actor who played Leanne on the show (you’ll remember Leanne as formerly Amish person who struggled with overcoming drug addictions), noted that the disparity comes directly from streaming, as opposed to cable or broadcast television. According to the New Yorker, “Myles still gets around six hundred dollars a year for a handful of guest spots on ‘Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,’ stretching back to 2004, but her residuals this year for ‘Orange’ [Autostraddle Note: a show for which she had a much larger role] have come to around twenty bucks.”
Streaming studios are notoriously reticent to share the numbers of exactly how many people watch their programing, but from the New Yorker’s reporting, Netflix executive Ted Sarandos once let it be known that more people watched OITNB at its peak than watched Game of Thrones. Yet, the cast and writers of that show are still not paid their due worth accordingly. And this is only one example.
I know that in covering these reports a big question that comes up for us as queer audiences who love television and film is: How can we help? As of right now, there is still no call from union leadership to engage in an active boycott from consumers — so the best way to help is to vocally show support and spread an understanding of not just that there are strikes occurring, but why. We are in this for the long haul, together, and the only way out is going to be together as well.
This post has been updated as new information is made available.
Kristen Stewart and Fiancée Dylan Meyer Are Going to Gay Third Base (Writing a Movie Together)
feature image photo by Jeff Kravitz / Contributor via Getty Images
As someone who is in a Writer4Writer lesbian relationship, I know all too well that there comes a day when you must take things to the next level with your partner…….by writing a screenplay together. Kristen Stewart and Dylan Meyer, who got engaged in fall 2021, are doing exactly that! The lovebirds are collaborating on a film project! I’ve decided this is gay third base! First base, according to Autostraddle’s Nico Hall, is obviously coming over to “watch a movie” and staying Friday through Monday morning. I am now accepting suggestions for what second base should be.
KStew casually revealed the news in a rollercoaster of a conversation with Rachel Sennott — of Bottoms and Shiva Baby — for Interview, and Variety was quick to zoom in on the juicy tidbit. Stewart reveals to Rachel early in the interview that she “split a small edible with my girlfriend” right beforehand, so it feels very right when she eventually shares that she’s working on a screenplay for a “stoner girl comedy” with Meyer. “Me and Dylan are writing a movie,” she says. “It’s a stoner girl comedy, and it’s really fucking stupid. I think you’ll like it.”
Stewart and Meyer are working with a producer who is one of their best friends for the movie, which is why she brings it up in the first place. Stewart talks to Sennott about how cool it is that Sennott is best friends with her Bottoms and Shiva Baby collaborator, the bisexual filmmaker Emma Seligman.
The two also chat extensively about Bottoms, which apparently Stewart didn’t get a chance to see ahead of time because she couldn’t get two different apps to work (something tells me Stewart is extremely qualified to write a “stoner girls comedy” from the cadence and tenor of this interview alone). Sennott describes the upcoming queerleader film thusly:
“Because it’s basically about these two girls, me and my friend Ayo [Edebiri], and a rumor starts that we went to juvie over the summer, so we lean into it. We start this female fight club so that we can fuck the cheerleaders in the group. It’s sort of starting this fake female empowerment thing and our characters are benefiting from it, which is something that people do in real life.”
Stewart promptly responds: “Baby Tár.”
As a reminder, Kristen Stewart is set to make her feature directorial debut with her film adaptation of The Chronology of Water, based on the memoir by bisexual author Lidia Yuknavitch. Imogen Poots has been cast as the lead. Stewart also recently directed the Boygenius short film “The Film.” I can’t wait to hear more about this stoner girl comedy she’s cooking up with her love! More zany gay comedies, please!
Queerleaders, Let’s Rally: The Full-Length “Bottoms” Trailer Is Here
As a bottom, a homosexual, a Gemini, and a certified fan of the Queerleader archetype, I had to stop everything I was doing today when the full-length Bottoms trailer dropped. Take a look for yourself:
Written and directed by Emma Seligman (Shiva Baby), Bottoms follows Josie (Ayo Edebiri) and PJ (Rachel Sennott, who co-wrote the film alongside Seligman), two unpopular queer high school students who start a fight club…disguised as a self-defense training club…under the guise of hoping to hook up with hot cheerleaders. It’s an absurd premise with an absurd trailer to match: horny, bloody, campy bodily mess. I promptly watched it five times in a row, because there’s just so much zaniness and verve packed into the two minutes.
Based on the trailer and early film fest reviews, Bottoms appears to be a send-up of and homage to teen sex comedies with a lot of bite. It’s poised to be a teen sex comedy that’s queer as fuck and narratively fresh (even if some of the jokes in the trailer replicate some of the laziest genitalia-based humor rampant in the genre, an area in which I’m hoping there could be more nuance to in the full film). Former NFL player Marshawn Lynch, American Horror Story(ies)‘ Kaia Gerber, Havana Rose Liu, and Willow‘s Ruby Cruz provide supporting performances.
While I would have liked to see more lesbian makeouts in the trailer, I am in awe of the violence in it!!!! It certainly — and literally — isn’t pulling any punches when it comes to its fight club premise, and I for once cannot wait to watch teen girls beat the hell out of each other. A sex comedy with stylized body horror? Sign me right on up!
I’ve been obsessively tracking this movie since I first heard of it, eager to add a full-length blurb for it to my ongoing timeline and cultural analysis of the Queerleader trope in film and television when it does release more widely this August. Reviews out of SXSW this year sound promising! I’m excited to see how the film pushes the boundaries of the sex teen comedy genre and of the Queerleader as a filmic trend that has piqued my interest for a long time. As a reminder, Elliot Page and Devery Jacobs are also involved in a different Queerleader movie called Backspot. We are finally living in the golden era of the Queerleader, and I cannot wait to get loud about Bottoms!!!! Queer friendship, unwell crushes, the violence of teen girls, and really good striped shirts — this trailer has so many of my favorite things.
Did Guardians of the Galaxy 3 Very Quietly Intro a Canonically Queer Character?
I’m about explain the post-credits scene for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, so immediately let’s go ahead and say SPOILER ALERT on everything past this point. Did you stop reading? I’m not playing around here. One last chance!
Great. Now for the rest of us, We’re here to talk specifically about the first post-credits scene, in which Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 provides a tiny morsel of a new canonically gay character, Phyla-Vell.
First, a brief explanation of how we got here! In the third act of Guardians of the Galaxy, you meet a group of children, all with stark white hair, who have been created and exploited by the movie’s Big Bad, the High Evolutionary. In that group there’s one young girl who in particular stands out in a few glimpses. The children are saved by Drax the Destroyer and the rest of the Guardians, and brought to the planet of Knowhere to begin their new lives.
So far, so good? In the post-credits scene we see this same girl, now suited up with the next generation team of the Guardians of the Galaxy. In this moment she’s referred to by name — “Phyla” — and we learn that among other things:
- She has the ability to conjure light energy in her fists
- She can make her eyes light up (imagine similar to Monica Rambeau, for my WandaVision/Captain Marvel fans)
- Her favorite musician is Britney Spears
Clearly, young Phyla has great taste in pop music, but what’s most important here is that while in the movie Phyla is a young girl freshly rescued, in the comics she is an adult with a girlfriend: her fellow Guardian of the Galaxy, Moondragon.
Phyla-Vell and Moondragon in Marvel / Annihilation: Prologue #1, written by Keith Giffen, art by Scott Kollins, Ariel Olivette, and June Chung, lettering by Cory Peti
Now, in the MCU, Moondragon is the daughter of Drax, who was killed offscreen even before the first Guardians movie. So while it’s unlikely that Moondragon is coming back, given the circumstances, it is nice that her father is the one who saves Phyla — if we want to be generous and look for a loose spiritual connection of sorts.
It’s disheartening that once again the MCU has chosen to introduce a canonically queer character from the comics, only to age her down so that they don’t have to deal with her sexuality directly in the film. Just last year, the studio did the same trick with America Chavez, arguably one of Marvel’s most famous lesbian superheroes, who’s in her early twenties in the comics and was played as a young teen by Xochitl Gomez in Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness. They did keep Chavez’s lesbian moms for the briefest of seconds, and they kept a pride flag on her denim jacket, but we deserve to ask ourselves… is that enough? It’s not.
Similarly, the MCU aged down both of Wanda Maximoff’s queer twins, Billy and Tommy, with their introduction in WandaVision and Multiverse of Madness, from their usual late teen selves to being young pre-teens (though it does appear that at least Billy will be older in the upcoming Agatha: Coven of Chaos, and played by Heartstopper star Joe Locke).
All of this is, of course, on top of storytelling decisions that shortchanged queer plots for both Valkyrie in the Thor movies, as well as Ayo and Aneka in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
I have seen some nerds whose opinion I trust argue that de-aging Phyla-Vell, along with Billy, Tommy, and America Chavez, is to set up a Young Avengers storyline. Though Marvel officially has not announced a Young Avengers project, there’s compelling evidence that all the pieces are in play. Still, even that scenario, it’s hard not to feel slighted that losing some of these characters’ canonic queerness would be considered an acceptable sacrifice. Phyla-Vell has been described as Marvel’s resident sword lesbian, and I wanna see it!
Now that we’re all caught up, I did want to say that overall, this was easily one of the best Marvel experiences I’ve ever had at the movies — and I’ve seen 29 out of 32 of them (I find Tony Stark too annoying to sit through standalone Iron Men, sorry to this man).
I wouldn’t describe myself as a huge Guardians fan. James Gunn — who has since left the MCU to head up the reboot of the DC Universe for Warner Bros. — put together a goodbye that was stunning both in scope and emotion. Marvel has a history of not doing right by the gays, a fact that we’ve covered many times before and will continue to do so. But if you’re an MCU nerd who’s been turned off by the uneven storytelling in Phase Four thus far, I cannot recommend this final Guardians enough.
Just do yourself a favor and consider this small morsel of gay in the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 post-credits to be a cute bonus.
“Everything Everywhere All At Once” Makes Lesbian History at the Oscars
Tonight’s Best Picture win for Everything Everywhere All At Once is the first time a movie with a queer woman main character nabbed the Academy Awards’ number one most important top primo prize. There have been implied or subtextually or possibly queer female characters in Best Picture winners of years prior: Mrs. Danvers in the 1940 winner Rebecca, Matron Mama Morten in 2002’s Chicago, Clarice Starling in the 1991 film Silence of the Lambs. But Everything Everywhere All At Once is the first winner in which a queer female character was explicitly named as such — and not just that, but her queerness is integral to the film’s plot. Stephanie Hsu’s Joy Yang is the gay daughter of lead character Evelyn Quan Wang (Michelle Yeoh) and Waymond Wang (Ke Huy Quan) in the film that also won awards for Original Screenplay, Editing and Directing.
US film producer Jonathan Wang (C) accepts the Oscar for Best Picture for “Everything Everywhere All at Once” onstage during the 95th Annual Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California on March 12, 2023. (Photo by Patrick T. Fallon / AFP) (Photo by PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images)
It’s the second LGBTQ+ film to win Best Picture — the first was Moonlight in 2016.
Previously, films with explicitly queer female characters have earned nominations: Vice and The Favourite (2018), Black Swan and The Kids Are All Right (2010), Milk (2008), The Hours (2002) and arguably The Color Purple (1985). Tár, which was centered on a lesbian lead character, was also nominated this year —- but Everything Everywhere All At Once is the first to win.
Michelle Yeoh became the first Asian-American actor to win Best Actress, after being only the second-ever nominated (although Merle Oberon, the first nominated for an Academy Award, in 1935, was passing as white at the time). Yeoh was also the first Malaysian person ever nominated for an Academy Award in any category and the second woman of color to win an award for Lead Actor. Furthermore, Ke Huy Quan made all of us cry when he won Best Supporting Actor.
(Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
Sarah Polley’s Women Talking, which dared to cast a trans character in a trans role, secured the W for Best Adapted Screenplay and also wore a suit, which was a really nice touch!
HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA – MARCH 12: Sarah Polley accepts the Best Adapted Screenplay award for “Women Talking” onstage during the 95th Annual Academy Awards at Dolby Theatre on March 12, 2023 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
Another notable first: Ruth E. Carter became the first Black woman to win two Oscars when she won for Costume Design for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Her prior win was for the original Black Panther film.
There were also some pretty disappointing choices made by the Academy in the year of our lord 2023: Angela Bassett was passed over for Best Actress in a Supporting Role, as was Stephanie Hsu. Also; there was a makeup team victory for those assholes who made The Whale that was upsetting on several levels!
Tessa Thompson Is Not the Only Gay Reason to See Creed III
Imagine me as a friend with baited breath, fresh out the movie theater on a run… ON A RUN… to tell you this news the minute I got out, because I could not hold it in one second more. Do not read past this point if you have not seen Creed III, but still intend to. There will be spoilers. I repeat SPOILER WARNING… Ok for the rest of us… no, seriously look away now… for the rest of us… Kehlani is in Creed III.
Is it a mere two minute cameo? Yes.
Did that stop me audibly screaming this morning in an empty theater? No, it did not.
(And yes, that IS embarrassing, I do wish I had not told y’all, but it’s too late to go back now.)
For context, if you’re interested, here’s how Kehlani gets there: If you recall, Tessa Thompson’s Bianca (the love interest of Michael B. Jordan’s Adonis Creed) has been an alt R&B singer/songwriter, in the vein of Solange or SZA, since the franchise’s first movie. She has progressive hearing loss and wears a hearing aid (their daughter, Amara, was also born deaf and it was important to Michael B. Jordan that the third movie fully integrate ASL into Amara’s life). In Creed III we learn that after a few gold records to her name and also a few hearing loss incidents on stage, Bianca’s now stopped performing altogether and has since focused on producing. And as such, here enters Kehlani, singing one of Bianca’s songs at an industry release party.
TECHNICALLY, this is not Kehlani performing in Creed III, but I trust our imaginations (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
While the performance itself is pretty small (we’re not getting any L Word multi-episode arcs of Ivy sleeping with Shane in a parked car on Halloween night), Kehlani manages to get in at least two verses and chorus on stage — all of which have Tessa Thompson gazing upon them in that extremely intense only Tessa can way . It’s enough to make a girl blush (it was me, I was the girl).
I have no idea how Kehlani’s name came up for this Creed III cameo. It might be because of Creed producer Ryan Coogler’s longstanding pride of his Oakland roots, but I personally choose to believe that Tessa rang up the Black queer phone tree and a Kehlani apple popped out.
To be honest, for a series that’s ostensibly about cis men beating the hell out of each other and daddy issues, the Creed franchise has always felt pretty bisexual to me? It might be that everything Tessa Thompson breathes life into is bisexual, because she quite simply cannot help herself. Or possibly because Bianca is based on maybe-Sapphic SZA and noted queer icon Rihanna. It also doesn’t hurt to have Michal B. Jordan’s face (even our Managing Editor Kayla Kumari agreed to be quoted for this post, “MBJ is indeed one of the male celebrities who I’m like… as a lesbian I do understand this one man’s appeal”).
But Kehlani really seals the deal.
You should go see Creed III because as the antagonist, Jonathan Majors is electric and captivating; because — my quibbles and nitpicks aside — MBJ’s directorial debut is surprisingly confident and the fight scenes benefit from his well established geeky love of anime; and yes, because Tessa makes everything better by her sheer presence. But also, because Kehlani.
Did I mention you can hear Kehlani’s entire song from the scene on the Creed III soundtrack? Here’s a present:
The “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” Trailer Promises Whitney Houston and Robyn Crawford, Dancing Together
In the ten years since Whitney Houston’s passing, one of the sweetest journeys to witness has been the purposeful reclaiming of her legacy by Black queer people — at this point it’s hard to even remember that when she left this earth too soon, her bisexuality was still whispered about in rumors. And for me, there’s nothing more representative of that than “I Wanna Dance with Somebody.”
“I Wanna Dance with Somebody” is OUR song — the song we sing at the top of our lungs with our friends, the song that brings us back to the sticky dance floor no matter how much our feet hurt, the one that is always worth a smile. Whitney Houston wanted to dance with somebody who loves her, and even though she wasn’t able to live her truth fully in life, we have made it our business to make sure that all the somebodies we dance with are in her honor. We have never lost track of her joy, even when so much has focused on the pain and tragedy, the closet and addiction, that ate through her life.
I Wanna Dance with Somebody, the movie, is probably as complicated to approach as Whitney’s life was complicated to live, with everyone having an opinion (my feelings on the Houston family would fill another post). But I will say that there is no one I trust more to handle the nuances of a legacy Whitney Houston than Kasi Lemmons, a Black woman director whose Eve’s Bayou is still a beloved Black cult classic more than 20 years after it was released and one of the most iconic depictions of Black girls and women’s lives on film (I said what I said).
From the minute Naomi Ackie’s voice starts the I Wanna Dance with Somebody trailer, it’s hard not to be taken aback with the care she’s taken with Whitney’s cadence — and I’m immediately reminded that she was always the best part of Master of None’s lesbian season. Nafessa Williams (of Black Lightning fame, where she played the first Black lesbian superhero on television) has proven many times before that she has the tomboy swag to pull off playing Whitney Houston’s best friend and former lover, Robyn Crawford. And even though in this trailer their time together is short, it feels just right that of all things, it’s a dance.
I Wanna Dance with Somebody releases December 23rd in theaters.
Michaela Coel Joined “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” Specifically to Play a Lesbian
In her cover profile for Vogue, published today and written by Chioma Nnadi, Michaela Coel talks about her excitement for next month’s Black Panther sequel, Wakanda Forever. Specifically, Coel notes, she was drawn to her character, Aneka’s history in the comics, “That sold me on the role, the fact that my character’s queer.”
In the comics, and in particular I’m talking about Ta-Nehisi Coates’ famed run of Black Panther from 2016-2018 and Roxane Gay’s spin-off Word of Wakanda (which is how I learned how to read comics in the first place), Aneka — who will be played by Coel in the film — is a captain and combat instructor for the Dora Milaje, the women warriors who are the royal family’s security and protectors of Wakanda. Aneka falls in love with Ayo, played by Florence Kasumba in various MCU properties, and together they leave the Dora Mliaje to lead a separate group, the Midnight Angels. The Midnight Angels create what’s essentially women’s commune on the outer planes of Wakanda and use their skills to help train other Wakandan women in self-defense to protect themselves. Imagine if feminist land dykes were Afrofuturist and you’ll start to get the picture. It’s great.
Speaking of Aneka’s queerness and drive to protect other women, Coel says “I like that, I want to show that to Ghana.” She continues, speaking about the current anti-gay law being brought forth in Ghanaian parliament, poised to be some of the most strict and dangerous in the continent. If passed, the proposed law would make identifying as gay (or a gay ally) a second-degree felony punishable by up to five years in prison. “People say, ‘Oh, it’s fine, it’s just politics.’ But I don’t think it is just politics when it affects how people get to their daily lives… That’s why it felt important for me to step in and [play the role of Aneka] because I know that just by my being Ghanaian, Ghanians will come.”
After rumors that a brief queer flirtation between head of the Dora Milaje, Okoye (Danai Gurira) and Ayo was cut from the 2018 Black Panther film, on top of a litany of similarly “cut for time” or “extraneous to the story” queer scenes or characterizations that have been removed from a variety of MCU films, most often on the backs of queer women of color, it’s hard to hold my breath for a queer Aneka in World of Wakanda — I’m just a Black queer nerd who really can’t afford another superhero-sized heartbreak. But there’s a specific tone of how Coel speaks about Aneka that makes me think this time it might be different. Coel’s not talking about Aneka’s identity, she’s talking about Aneka’s politics, the entire whole of who she is.
For so many of us, queerness is not about who we lay with at night — it’s about who we are when we wake up in the morning.
The reason I fell in love with the World of Wakanda comics was not just because of its queer love story, but that two Black women loved each other so much, saw beauty and power in the reflections of themselves across their lover’s face, that they wanted to care and love for other Black women. Queer Black women, being written by a queer Black woman, in all of our majesty. The knowledge that our royalty, our richness, our magic was in each other all along. It’s queerness as a root praxis, not a swooping kiss when the credits roll.
It’s hard to imagine bringing in Aneka to Wakanda Forever if her queerness is not going to be written into the script, because it’s her defining characteristic. It’s also not worth ignoring the obvious, Kevin Feige and the powers that be at Marvel studios have disappointed too many times before. That said, there are other glimmers of hope. In July’s Wakanda Forever trailer, Aneka can be seen in her Midnight Angels uniform. In the newest film posters released this week, Okoye is also wearing the Midnight Angels’ signature blue. The Midnight Angels are born out of a Black queer love story. To straight wash them would not only be cruel, it would dismantle the fabric of their very existence.
Coel seemingly knows as much, directly linking her portrayal of Aneka in what’s certain to be the highest grossing Black film, potentially ever in history if it can topple its predecessor, to the lived realities of queer people in her family’s home in Ghana, who are fighting for to survive. And in the pages of Vogue, no less.
When we talk about “queer representation” — especially in blockbuster movies, such as, I don’t know, the ones about superhero lineage Kings and Queens who wear indestructible suits made from vibranium — it’s easy to get caught up in the statistics. According to GLAAD, for example, out of the the 44 films from major studios in 2020, only 10 contained LGBTQ characters. Out of all studio releases in 2020, there were just 20 LGBTQ characters, a decrease from the year before’s 50. But focusing on the numbers also allows for studios to escape with doing bare minimum, mere boxes to check off. A character can mention “I have a dead ex-girlfriend who you’ve never seen” and now that counts. A kiss that can be missed in a blink of an eye, now that counts. It’s tricky to talk about in concrete terms, but “representation” can be a glass sealed box. What feels like freedom can just as easily stifle.
Because really, it’s never been about the numbers, it’s about telling our stories in the fullness of who we are.
Watch An Exclusive Clip From Queer French Rom-Com, “Anaïs In Love”
Beach sex is controversial. Look, I get it. Hooking up surrounded by sand is like fucking in a pile of glitter. But staunch anti-beach sex folks seem to forget that sex isn’t necessarily always about being comfortable. I’m not saying pull out the strap and do a whole thing—though I would be impressed—but you should at least do a little making out. Beaches are sexy!! Embrace the sexy!!
Anyway, Anaïs in Love, a great new queer movie comes out today and it has one of the steamiest beach scenes ever. Sand becomes foreplay—not just something to get stuck in crevices. It’s the culmination of a long flirtation and it’s a dramatic setting worthy of our characters. We’re thrilled to show you this exclusive clip from the film of some of that beach sexiness! Trust me, this is just a salty taste.
And, hey, even if you’re not a beach sex person maaaaybe you’re a fall in love with the wife of the man you’re having an affair with person, because, uhhh, that’s the context for what you’re about to watch. The good news about on-screen gay-os and on-screen beach sex is you get to live vicariously without all the hassle. So no matter where you land on these debates, check out this movie, also—My review is out now!
*We’re giving away a few of these posters to a few readers! Comment below “I want one!!” and we will choose winners!!
Editors Note: All posters have been claimed! — Shelli Nicole, Culture Editor
*Enter by 5:00 PM PST Friday April 29, 2022. U.S Residents Only.
Critics Have Now Seen Uzo Aduba’s “Lightyear” Lesbian Astronaut Kiss With Their Own Eyes
For years Disney has been trying to play both sides of the gay rep game, releasing rainbow Pride pins in the shape of Donald Duck while refusing to allow any substantial LGBTQ+ content in any of their films across any of their properties: regular old Disney, Pixar, Marvel, etc. They’ve cut already filmed queer storylines from Black Panther, hidden behind the showrunners like The Owl House‘s Dana Terrace who’ve been relentless in their fight to keep their animated TV characters queer, teased audiences with throwaway dialogue about characters’ queer sexuality, and relied on actors and directors to say things like “Oh I played that character bisexually!” after yet another movie has been released with no gay content. But refusing to take a stand against Florida’s Don’t Say Gay Bill, while also continuing to donate big money to Republican politicians, was the final straw for most fans and employees, and Disney has been backpedaling and free-falling ever since.
So far there has been one good thing to come out of this mess: Pixar previously cut a scene from the Toy Story prequel, Lightyear, in which a lesbian astronaut named Hawthorne, played by Uzo Aduba, kisses her wife. And now it’s not only back in the movie, according to the film’s director, but also Pixar screened the first half-hour of Lightyear for critics yesterday at CinemaCon and they have confirmed with their own eyeballs that it is a real thing and Disney’s not pulling another stunt.
From The Hollywood Reporter: The movie opens with Buzz — in his iconic spacesuit — along with his best friend and the commander of the mission, Alicia Hawthorne, played by Uzo Aduba, leading the investigation of a distant planet with a sign of life. But the mission goes wrong and they are stranded. With an escape plan in the works, Buzz launches in a Space Shuttle-like craft and inadvertently time travels — multiple times — seeing Alicia engaged then starting a family with another woman on their mission.
From Indiewire: [We] can confirm that Buzz’s commanding officer Hawthorne proposes to her same-sex partner and the couple welcomes a son together. The two characters share a kiss at their 40th anniversary party, as time doesn’t pass for Buzz Lightyear while he is away in space.
Unfortunately in all the confirmation posts I read this morning, no one had the nerve to make a Time Hump Chronicles joke, one of Uzo Aduba’s lasting televisual legacies! Fingers crossed Disney doesn’t punk out at the last minute. It already looks like they’ve straightwashed America Chavez and simply made her moms gay, which will be revealed in a 12-second scene of dialogue only. Mickey Mouse has got further to go than Fievel ever did.
Kristen Stewart Will Star in Bodybuilding Romance “Love Lies Bleeding” — Who Should Play Her Swole Love Interest?
Feature image of Cynthia Erivo via Cynthia’s Instagram / of Stephanie Beatriz by Stefanie Keenan via Getty Images for Land Rover / of Javicia Leslie via Javicia’s Instagram
Kristen Stewart is set to co-star in Love Lies Bleeding, a bodybuilding romantic thriller (!!!) from Saint Maud director Rose Glass, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Specifically KStew will play “the protective lover of a female bodybuilder” in the movie, which is being described as the production companies as “a romance fueled by ego, desire and the American dream.” Yes, we’re getting a Kristen Stewart gay bodybuilder movie…
Sounds hot!!!!!!!!! Honestly, they had me at “romantic thriller.” Hollywood needs to bring back the erotic/romantic thriller imo. And they should all, like this one, be queer.
The bodybuilder Kristen Stewart’s character will be protective of (🥺) has not been cast yet, with THR reporting: “The filmmakers are hoping to cast the lead as authentically as possible, with the search currently underway.” Hopefully by authentic casting, they mean someone who is authentically swole and authentically queer.
And so, some of the Autostraddle TV Team spent the first part of our work day brainstorming potential Bicep Bisexuals, Tough Gays, and Fit Queers who could play opposite Kristen Stewart in this bodybuilding romance.
Cynthia Erivo
(In case you missed it, Cynthia Erivo quietly came out in this interview.)
Young M.A
Photo by Joseph Okpako/Redferns via Getty Images
For the purposes of this article, we are counting Young M.A as an actor due to her contributions on one television show (Mr. Robot) and one film (The Forty-Year-Old Version).
Janelle Monáe
“Let me see you do that yoga,” you know?
Jonica T. Gibbs
I am basing this suggestion on the one scene of Jojo boxing in the movie Fresh, which was tbh a standout scene. Would love to see more.
Chef Melissa King
Right, right so she’s technically a professional chef and not an actor, but Heather pointed out she was on Sesame Street sooooooooo. Anyway, don’t ask questions, just watch the video above. 👀
Javicia Leslie
https://www.instagram.com/p/Cb-dJflj6T6/
As Carmen correctly indicated, working out with knifeplay = just lil bisexual activities.
Cameron Esposito
Wolverine remake WHEN!
Stephanie Beatriz
Photo by Stefanie Keenan/Getty Images for Land Rover
Bisexual axe-throwing!!!!!!!!!
Ruby Rose
https://www.instagram.com/p/CGiYZjiJEor/
Ashley Vox
Okay, I couldn’t make this list without including a few pro wrestlers. I am a firm believer that all pro wrestlers can also be actors.
Charlie Morgan
Charlie’s fiancé Jetta is also a pro wrestler, and that’s what I call romance, baby!
Which other strong queers do you think should be thrown into the ring of the Kristen Stewart gay bodybuilder movie?
Kristen Stewart and Ariana DeBose Are Making 2022 Oscars So Gay, Dude
When Kristen Stewart arrives on the red carpet this March to celebrate her first-ever Oscar nomination, for playing Princess Diana in Spencer, she will be the first-ever Lead Actress nominee to bring her girlfriend/fiancée as her date. (Unless she leaves Dylan Meyer at home which feels unlikely and would wound me personally.)
She’s not the first-ever gay woman nominated for Best Actress, but she is amongst a very small cohort of out queer women to earn a nod: only bisexual performers Angelina Jolie and Lady Gaga share that honor. Three other queer actors received Best Lead Actress nominations prior to coming out: Jodie Foster, who earned three nominations in the ’90s; Elliot Page, who was nominated in 2007 for Juno and has since come out as a trans man; and Cynthia Erivo, who was nominated for her role in 2019’s Harriet and came out in 2021.
Then we have the legendarily queer and highly decorated cohort of early Hollywood actors whose sexualities ranged from “open secrets” to “actual secrets” to “maybe not”: Greta Garbo, Marlene Dietrich, Katherine Hepburn, Barbara Stanwyck and Joan Crawford.
Meanwhile, 19 straight actors have been nominated for Best Lead Actress for playing queer characters.
In the Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role category, Ariana DeBose will be the tenth LGBTQ+ actress celebrated by the Academy in that category, for her role as Anita in West Side Story. Debose dated props master Jill Johnson for several years beginning in 2014, having met her while both were working on the Motown: The Musical tour in 2013, and she is openly queer.
Previous queer nominees for Best Actress in a Supporting Role include Tatum O’Neal (1973), Lily Tomlin (1975), Jodie Foster (1976), Eva La Gallienne (1980), Linda Hunt (1983), Anna Paquin (1993), Angelina Jolie (1999), Queen Latifah (2002), Tilda Swinton (2007), and Cynthia Erivo (2021). Again, Jolie is the only actor “officially” out at the time of her nomination, although Tomlin and Hunt were both already in relationships with the women they’d eventually marry. In the “unconfirmed but definitely not straight according to me personally” bucket we have Spring Dell Byington (1938) and Sandy Denis (1966), who won for Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Ariana DeBose is, then, the second Afro-Latina actress nominated for an Oscar for acting, the first queer Latina nominated for an Oscar for acting, the first queer woman of color who is out at the time of her nomination for an acting Oscar and the third queer woman of color nominated for an acting Oscar, along with Queen Latifah and Cynthia Erivo.
Kristen Stewart Photo by Taylor Hill/FilmMagic and Ariana DeBose photo by Nicky J Sims/Getty Images for Bauer Media
This is the first time two out queer women have been nominated in acting categories in the same year.
There’s a few other LGBTQ+ items to celebrate:
The year’s most-nominated film, The Power of the Dog, is gay, and Benedict Cumberbatch and Kodi Smit Mcphee are nominated for playing gay roles.
Jessica Chastain was nominated for Best Actress for The Eyes of Tammy Faye, in which she played the titular Tammy Faye, an icon in the gay community. The film gets into her early displays of allyship, including bringing an HIV-positive gay pastor onto her show.
Pedro Almodóvar’s Parallel Mothers, which Drew called “a masterpiece of Mommy issues,” earned an acting nomination for Penelope Cruz’s queer role and another for musical score.
The very queer and very fun The Mitchells vs. The Machines, centered on a queer teen, was nominated for Animated Feature Film. So was Flee, which tells the story of a gay man named Amin Nawabi, fleeing Afghanistan for Denmark as a refugee. Encanto, which stars queer actresses Stephanie Beatriz and Jessica Darrow, was also nominated for Best Animated Feature.
In conclusion, if you are curious about whether or not you have what it takes to be nominated for an Oscar for playing Princess Diana in Spencer, take our “Which Kristen Stewart Movie Are You?” Quiz.