Love, Victor stars Michael Cimino and George Sear open up on pressure to label sexuality: ‘No one should be forced to come out’-Sabrina Barr-Entertainment – Metro

Love, Victor stars Michael Cimino and George Sear have shared how they feel regarding the pressure actors can feel to disclose their sexuality, emphasising that ‘forcing someone to come out’ is ‘the biggest no-no in the LGBT community’.

This week, season 3 of their heartwarming, joyous show drops on Hulu in the US and Disney Plus in the UK, with the latest episodes following the lead character Victor (Michael) as he navigates a complex love triangle, having come out as gay to his family in the season 1 finale.

Kit Connor, who plays Nick in the widely acclaimed LGBT+ series Heartstopper, recently spoke out about why he doesn’t feel he needs to label his sexuality, after writing on Twitter in response to some fans who speculated on his sexual orientation: ‘Twitter is so funny man. apparently some people on here know my sexuality better than I do…’

While speaking to Metro.co.uk, Michael and George – who plays Victor’s boyfriend Benji on Love, Victor – were asked how they feel about that discussion.

‘I think you just hit the nail on the head there where you said, “It’s up to you, really,”’ said George, who’s 24.

Referencing Kit, who’s 18, the English actor continued: ‘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. But you know, it’s part of a big conversation.’

The pair star as Victor and Benji in the Love, Simon spin-off (Picture: Michael Desmond/Hulu)

The actors responded to remarks recently made by Heartstopper star Kit (left) (Picture: Netflix)

Michael, 22, followed on from what his co-star was saying, expressing his belief that ‘there’s a conversation to be had’, while also stressing that ‘people shouldn’t have to be forced to come out’.

‘No one should be forced to come out. It’s like the biggest no-no in the LGBT community is forcing someone to come out, or outing someone else. So 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,’ the American actor said.

‘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.’

He stated that even if people in the spotlight are sure about their sexuality, ‘it’s up to them if they want to announce it to the world’.

‘No one owes anybody anything in this industry,’ Michael said (Picture: Greg Gayne/Hulu)

‘It might just be a thing where it’s like, “Yeah, my family, my friends and the people around me know, and that’s all that matters”,’ he said.

‘It’s not like they’re hiding it, but it’s just like, “I’m an actor, that’s what I’m supposed to do. My personal life doesn’t have to be involved in this,” which is completely understandable.’

George added: ‘I think you should just, as an actor like whatever character you’re playing, you should just really be focused on honouring the character as best you can and doing the best work you can.’

Benji and Victor first form feelings for each other in season one of Love, Victor (Picture: Greg Gayne/Hulu)

During Kit’s interview on the Reign with Josh Smith podcast, the Heartstopper star addressed his tweet, saying: ‘In regards to my tweet, we’re still all so young and to start speculating about our sexualities and maybe pressuring us to come out when maybe we’re not ready.

‘I mean for me, I just feel like I’m perfectly confident and comfortable in my sexuality, but I don’t feel the need to really… I’m not too big on labels and things like that. I’m not massive about that, and I don’t feel like I need to label myself, especially not publicly.’

The actor remarked how he found it ‘funny’ that people still make ‘assumptions’ about other people’s sexualities in 2022.

By season three, the characters are embroiled in a complex love triangle with Rahim (Anthony Keyvan) (Picture: Kelsey McNeal/Hulu)

More: US TV news

‘It feels a bit strange to make assumptions about a person’s sexuality just based on hearing their voice or seeing their appearance. I feel like that’s very interesting, [a] slightly problematic assumption to make,’ he said.

In 2020, Love, Victor star Michael explained that he didn’t wish to be placed in a ‘box’ when it came to his sexuality, saying: ‘I don’t want to put myself in a box and put myself in a position where if I were to come out as bi or as gay 10 years from now, that I was defending an identity that was being true to myself.’

Love, Victor season 3 arrives on Wednesday June 15 on Disney Plus and on Hulu in the US.

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