May 30
Ryan Phillippe Recalls When He Was 'Afraid' at Age 17 to Play Gay in Groundbreaking Role
Kilian Melloy READ TIME: 2 MIN.
Ryan Phillippe looked back on how he was advised, at age 17, against taking the history-making role of the first openly gay teen on daytime television – and how he courageously did it anyway.
The actor, now 50, "admitted in a new interview with People magazine that part of him was 'afraid' to accept the role of Billy Douglas on the daytime soap opera 'One Life to Live' in the early 1990s," Variety reported.
"I was so young that there were elements of me that were afraid because it was such a different time," the "Gosford Park" actor recalled.
Moreover, Phillippe didn't get much support in making the decision, saying "that people close to him also advised him to turn down the role and discouraged him from accepting the part," the entertainment news outlet added.
"I think there were some fears associated with the point in time that we were at and it being before so many walls and ceilings have been broken in that regard," the "Cruel Intentions" actor told People.
But Phillippe chose the route of artistic bravery rather than listening to voices of fear and negativity; the "I Know What You Did Last Summer" star told People, "I know that any fears that anyone had about me doing it immediately went away once I saw the reaction that it got from the people who viewed it."
That reaction, People detailed, included "fan mail from kids saying, 'I've never seen someone represent me in any entertainment before in my life,' and from parents who said, 'Watching this show on my lunch break gave me a way to connect with my LGBTQ child.'"
"As that job progressed, I realized how important it was to some people," Phillippe told People. "And I was only 17 years old, so you don't really have a sense of that," he says. "It was such a different time, but I very much matured through having had that experience and seeing the impact that it had for others."
People noted that the father of three "appreciates the importance of connection. He's currently starring alongside his eldest son in the new drama series 'Motorheads,' now streaming on Amazon Prime."
Kilian Melloy serves as EDGE Media Network's Associate Arts Editor and Staff Contributor. His professional memberships include the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association, the Boston Online Film Critics Association, The Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association, and the Boston Theater Critics Association's Elliot Norton Awards Committee.
