In last night’s episode of HBO‘s Looking, Russell Tovey is back at the center of the show’s story line. I won’t spoil it in case you aren’t current. He is an out, gay actor who stars in series about out gay men and now he’s come under fire for remarks he made in an interview in The Guardian:
“I’d been in a pub in Romford, getting the train to my to meet my parents in Brentwood. I was wearing a cardigan. At that time you never wore a cardigan in Romford.”
On the train, two men sat opposite and asked him the time. Then they showed him their knife.
“One said to the other, ‘Are you going to cut him or am I?’”
Tovey was slashed above the ear before it was over….
“Pouring blood everywhere… I didn’t know where it was coming from, I thought they’d cut my throat… If they’d asked for my wallet or phone I would have understood it. But it wasn’t anything to do with that. They just wanted to fucking hurt me. And trying to get your head around that, later… For years afterwards I was left with an insecurity. I’d see groups of lads, even in a pub, and I’d feel intimidated. It’s a weird thing but if you talk to other people who’ve been through it, you give off a vibe. The pack can sense you’re weak. It made me so frustrated. And going down the gym, discovering the gym three years ago, and really going for it – I feel a lot more in charge. I needed to exorcise that feeling of being a little scared, skinny rat.”
Talking about his schooling and father’s influence, he makes the remarks that so many have taken offense at…
“I was so envious of everyone who went to Sylvia Young Theatre School. I wanted to go but my dad flat-out refused. He thought I’d become some tapdancing freak without qualifications. And he was right in a way. I’m glad I didn’t go. That might have changed… I feel like I could have been really effeminate, if I hadn’t gone to the school I went to. Where I felt like I had to toughen up. If I’d have been able to relax, prance around, sing in the street, I might be a different person now. I thank my dad for that, for not allowing me to go down that path. Because it’s probably given me the unique quality that people think I have.
I get told, a lot, that I’m kind of carving my own path. That there are not many actors who are out and are able to play straight, and gay, and everyone’s OK with it.”
I get it. In context, he’s thinks he’s a more versatile actor because of his schooling. Everyone is allowed their own opinion. Don’t forget the class system in England is still prevalent. But taking his mother to Folsom Street Fair, gives a bit of a different impression:
“She loved it. Imagine my mum, with her motherly handbag, looking down at these guys with piercings through their dicks. Taking photos. Facebook actually removed three of the pictures from her page.”
At the end of her visit they took a walk together along the Golden Gate Bridge, where they were approached by a young man on a bike. Who said said, ‘Because of you, and Looking, I know who I am.” She asked the boy if his family knew yet, and the boy said no. “So my mum gave him a cuddle and a kiss.”
Not totally un-evolved, if you ask me. But feel free to judge him if you like… Sean has the best response on Twitter, I think…
(via The Guardian)
UPDATE: According to Gay Star News, after the backlash, Tovey is apologizing…
“I surrender. You got me. I’m sat baffled and saddened that a mis-fired inarticulate quote of mine has branded me worst gay ever. If you feel I have personally let you down, I’m sorry, that was never my intention. I’m proud to be who I am and proud for others We’re in this together, I want you to know whatever you think I meant, I didn’t.”‘
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