Why Love, Victor star Michael Cimino ‘received death threats’ for playing a gay role – and even homophobic comments from his own family
- Cimino says he was ready for a homophobic backlash, but he ‘didn’t expect it from my own family members’, in an interview with Attitude
- Actors Richard E. Grant and Darren Criss both say they wouldn’t play an LGBT character again – but Cate Blanchett has defended her ‘right to suspend disbelief’
Michael Cimino, the straight star of Hulu’s gay-themed coming-of-age series Love, Victor, says he has been attacked by some of the LGBTQ+ community and even some of his own family members. He said the former went as far as threatening his life.
In a new interview with Attitude, Cimino – who plays the titular Victor – says: “I got some homophobic comments – I kind of expected that to happen. I didn’t expect it from my own family members, though.”
Just because someone’s sexuality is different than yours, that does not mean that they’re not part of your community
He added, “Some of them reached out, saying, ‘You used to be so cool; now you’re so gay.’ I chalk it up to ignorance. People have that programming and they often don’t have to evolve and try to push past that.”
The 21-year-old Las Vegas native is of Puerto Rican and Italian-German descent and has spoken before of the racism he faced growing up. But he told IndieWire in a 2020 interview that his community had its own issues with prejudice.
“It’s weird … [the Latinx community] is liberal when it comes to things about Latinos, but when it comes to gay rights, it’s like, eh, question mark,” Cimino said in the interview. “We need to change the narrative on that, right away. Because that’s not right. You can’t just be for some issues that concern your people but not all of them. Just because someone’s sexuality is different than yours, that does not mean that they’re not part of your community.”
In the Attitude interview, Cimino said, “There’s nothing wrong with being gay. That ignorance is often something that’s been passed on from generations prior. I always approach that [by saying], ‘These are normal people that are struggling and they shouldn’t have to struggle.’”
Cimino has said in multiple interviews that he has been warned against taking gay roles for fear of typecasting. Meanwhile, the young actor has also faced fierce blowback for taking a role that an out gay actor might have played.
