Cynthia Erivo has been cast as Dracula in a one-woman adaptation of Bram Stoker’s iconic vampire novel.

Set to premiere next year in London’s West End, the production comes from the Australian creatives and producers behind the Tony-nominated Broadway hit The Picture of Dorian Gray, which starred Succession’s Sarah Snook.

Erivo will play the titular Count, along with 22 supporting characters, in a production described as an “intoxicating, blood-pumping reimagining of the immortal gothic horror”.

Adapted and directed by Kip Williams, Dracula marks Erivo’s first role on stage since playing Celie in The Color Purple, for which she won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical and Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album.

“Returning to the stage feels like a homecoming, one that I’ve been craving for a long time. To do so with a story as rich, complex, and haunting as Dracula offers a beautiful opportunity to delve into character, into myth, and into the heart of what makes us human,” Erivo said in a statement.

“From the moment I was asked, I could not get the role out of my mind. Kip’s vision is thrilling, terrifying, and deeply resonant, offering a chance to sit with not only the darkness in the world, but also the light we fight to hold onto.

“It’s a rare gift for an actor to inhabit so many voices and perspectives in one piece, and I’m honoured to do it for West End audiences in this extraordinary production. The prospect of doing this show scares me and I know it will be a huge challenge. This show will ask everything of me — and I’m ready to give it.”

Photo: Universal Studios

William praised Erivo as “extraordinary” and a “singularly gifted artist”, revealing that his take on Dracula will offer “a contemporary perspective on the vampire as a monster that lurks not beyond, but within”.

In an interview with Deadline, Michael Cassel, producer and CEO of Australia’s Michael Cassel Group, confirmed that Erivo was approached for Dracula nine months ago as she was in the midst of her promotional tour for Wicked.

Erivo memorably played Elphaba in Jon M. Chu’s acclaimed blockbuster, earning an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress.

“She has really spent most of her time with Kip just talking through the inspiration and the dramaturgy of it all,” said Cassel. “For them to connect in that way has been important for them because this is a show that they go and create together.”

He confirmed that the production won’t be a “blueprint” of the Sydney version, which played at the Roslyn Packer Theatre in 2024 and starred Australian actress Zehra Newman as the ancient blood-sucker.

“I think what’s so exciting, I think for her, and for us, while we know what the story is, they get to go and create this role in the rehearsal room in London together,” continued Cassel, “and that was very appealing to Cynthia to put her own interpretation on the role and explore that with Kip.”

With Erivo playing 23 characters, including Dracula, Jonathan Harker, Mina Murray, Lucy Westenra and Van Helsing, Cassel “couldn’t be happier with Cynthia leading the charge”.

Dracula is set to haunt London’s Noël Coward Theatre for a strictly limited 16-week engagement from 4 February to 31 May 2026.

News of Erivo’s casting follows the recent announcement that she will take on the role of Jesus Christ in Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s Jesus Christ Superstar.

The production will run at the Hollywood Bowl from 1 to 3 August, under the direction and choreography of Tony Award winner Sergio Trujillo. Fellow Tony recipient Stephen Oremus will serve as musical director and conductor.

From his arrival in Jerusalem to his crucifixion, the iconic rock opera chronicles the final days of Jesus’s life, with a particular focus on Judas Iscariot’s crisis of faith and growing disillusionment with Jesus’ influence.

Adding to her packed schedule, Erivo is also set to reprise her role as Elphaba in Wicked: For Good, which hits cinemas on 21 November 2025.

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Anna Camp, Pitch Perfect and You icon, has confirmed that she’s dating a woman!

In a video posted by TikTok star Mr.Big.USA, who approaches people out in the wild to ask them a variety of questions, Camp and a woman named Jade Whipkey reflected on their worst-ever dates.

Camp revealed that she once waited 45 minutes for her date, who then found it extremely necessary to share that he found her “prettier in a movie than I was in person”. Meanwhile, Whipkey hilariously reminisced on a date who constantly referred to her as “f**ker”.

The conversation prompted Mr.Big.USA to ask the duo what they expect from a man on a first date. Camp responded with a laugh: “I don’t expect anything, not anymore, because I’m dating a woman, and it’s great.”

Whipkey agreed, “Nothing! I’d rather [Camp] not, like, be on the date.”

@mr.big.usa What was your Worst Date? . . . #datingadvice #funnytiktok #streetinterview #datingmen #creatorsearchinsights ♬ original sound – Mr.Big.USA

Although the video was originally posted on 12 February, it only began circulating widely on social media over the past week.

Camp recently shared an Instagram Story with Whipkey, captioned “Date Night”. And, on 12 May, Whipkey posted a photo of Camp enjoying candlelit drinks, writing: “Her smile is a poem. Her eyes are roses. Her laugh is music for dancing.”

Camp is best-known for her roles as Sarah Newlin in True Blood (2009-2014), Aubrey Posen in the Pitch Perfect franchise (2012-2017) and as Reagan and Maddie Lockwood in the final season of You (2025).

Her performance in the latter Netflix series was universally acclaimed, and Camp was often praised as the season’s breakout star.

Her next two film projects are Bride Hard, an action comedy that reunites her with Pitch Perfect co-star Rebel Wilson, and the horror-slasher Scream 7, which also stars Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, Mason Gooding, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Isabel May and Joel McHale.

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GAY TIMES speaks with The Wedding Banquet director Andrew Ahn and stars Kelly Marie Tran, Bowen Yang, Lily Gladstone, Han Gi-chan and Joan Chen about the queer rom-com’s relevance in an era of rising conservatism.

WORDS BY SAM DAMSHENAS

The stars of The Wedding Banquet have reflected on the film’s significance for LGBTQIA+, Asian and Indigenous-American representation, particularly in the era of Trump 2.0.

A remake of the 1993 classic of the same name, the queer rom-com follows lesbian couple Angela (Kelly Marie Tran) and Lee (Lily Gladstone), who are trying to have a baby via IVF but can’t afford a third round of treatment. They live with their friends: Min (Han Gi-chan), the closeted heir to a multinational empire, and his commitment-averse boyfriend, Chris (Bowen Yang).

When Chris turns down Min’s marriage proposal, Min decides to arrange a green-card marriage with Angela, offering to fund Lee’s IVF in exchange. Their plan is thrown into chaos when Min’s grandmother (Oscar-winner Youn Yuh-jung) arrives from Korea to meet her future granddaughter-in-law, and insists on throwing an extravagant wedding bash.

Directed by Andrew Ahn (Fire Island), The Wedding Banquet received rave reviews for Ahn’s direction and the cast’s performances, as well its homage to the original film as the refreshing dynamic between a gay and lesbian couple.

In an interview with GAY TIMES, Ahn reveals that he wanted to “reimagine” The Wedding Banquet for modern audiences, especially given the LGBTQIA+ community’s recent strides in marriage equality and parenthood.

“I wondered, ‘Now that we can [get married], do we actually want to? Should we?’ With my boyfriend, now that we have the option, it becomes a responsibility, a choice. I think there’s a lot of millennial indecision that we have,” explains Ahn. “And with children, I had this conversation with my boyfriend early on in our dating and he said, ‘If it happens it happens.’ I was like, ‘No! That doesn’t work that way for gay people.’”

“I realised in that moment, as a gay person, we have to be extremely intentional about having children and any sort of small hesitation actually becomes a big obstacle,” he continues. “I kind of split up my relationship with my boyfriend into these two couples – Chris and Min and Angela and Lee – to tackle these two ideas of how queer families can grow.”

Gi-chan, who makes his English-language debut in The Wedding Banquet, says he was drawn to Min as a “three-dimensional, complicated character” caught between living authentically as a gay man and fulfilling the expectations of his Korean family, a tension that reflects the complex intersection of queerness and cultural tradition.

“He’s still in the closet. And when I look at Min, he has a very child-like innocence, which I was really attracted to,” he says. “I think that everyone has a little child-like moment in the corner of their hearts, but we try to hide those moments when we grow up. That was similar to me, so it was the most charming [aspect of Min that] I was trying to make natural on the screen.”

For Yang, he was interested in exploring why Chris is “paralysed by what’s possible”, how he’s sabotaging a happy future with Min because he’s still “dejected” by what’s no longer possible in other areas of his life. “I’ve been saying that this is about a gay couple and a lesbian couple, and there’s a lot of overlap in that Venn diagram,” the Las Culturistas star continues. “But, marriage and parenthood aren’t necessarily living in that overlap. So, what makes this movie very interesting and compelling is that these are two couples that have to grapple with two things they are not normally faced with understanding or really moving through in normal circumstances.”

The inclusion of both queer men and women as lead characters in The Wedding Banquet is one of many reasons the film is groundbreaking. While authentic queer narratives have become more visible in recent years, from All of Us Strangers and Fellow Travelers to Love Lies Bleeding and Bottoms, it’s still rare to see queer characters of different genders sharing the spotlight equally. Ahn quips that “gay men are so annoying sometimes” – a sentiment Yang immediately agrees with – before adding that there’s much to learn from other members of the LGBTQIA+ community, particularly when it comes to “showing solidarity and the organic friendships that can happen.”

Unlike his experience on Fire Island, which featured a predominantly male cast to reflect the setting, Ahn envisioned The Wedding Banquet as more representative of his own “friend group”. “That’s something I really valued in the experience of making this film,” he says. “And honestly, getting to work with Kelly Marie Tran and Lily Gladstone? What a cast. I was very happy to show this mixed queer family.”

Tran, best known for her role as Rose Tico in the Star Wars sequel trilogy, emphasises the importance of visibility for viewers with little exposure to East Asian, Indigenous-American or queer communities. “These are also human beings who are full of hopes and dreams, who want to be loved and accepted,” she says. In light of the current political climate, where LGBTQIA+ rights are under threat and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives are being rolled back, Tran underscores that “legislation doesn’t change until the culture does.” With that in mind, she adds, “Hopefully we get to change culture, change legislation, and make change. That is the dream.”

In light of content honouring Navajo Code Talkers being removed from various U.S. government websites, Gladstone emphasises just how timely a film like The Wedding Banquet is amid what she describes as a “slow rise in fascism”: “We’re rhyming with a very significant part of history again. I feel like, because our characters come from strong, identifiable cultural backgrounds that shape their queerness, it shaped how our characters interact with each other and is making a statement about the great DEI experiment of our time: America.”

Gladstone shares that the script for The Wedding Banquet didn’t explicitly identify Lee as Indigenous, but she approaches every role through the lens of her own identity. To illustrate, she cites a quote from Danny DeVito: “No matter what character I play, they’re all going to be short!” Gladstone, who memorably became the first Indigenous-American to win a Golden Globe for Best Actress and to be nominated for the Best Actress Oscar, for her role as an Osage woman in Killers of the Flower Moon (2023), saw The Wedding Banquet as an opportunity to continue honouring her heritage. She named her character after Princess Angeline, the daughter of Chief Seattle, leader of the Duwamish and Suquamish peoples.

Building on that, Gladstone made a conscious choice to root Lee’s motivations and relationships in a deeply Indigenous worldview, one that pushes back against colonial ideas of land, family, and identity. “I had to decide why, in this day and age, it’s important for Lee to have a child of her own. It’s set up that we found a Taiwanese sperm, so the child would look, at least, like its mom, and it’s clearly Lee’s own egg. So, why would that be important to her?” For Gladstone, the idea of “keeping Duwamish land in Duwamish hands” became central to Lee’s story, especially considering that the Duwamish people, the original inhabitants of Seattle, are still not federally recognised and have repeatedly had their attempts at recognition blocked. Making Lee a Duwamish woman allowed both the character and the film to explore themes of land sovereignty and generational continuity.

Decolonising the concept of family was equally important. Gladstone notes that “it’s been only fairly recently in our history where the idea of the nuclear family has been introduced through colonisation,” along with homophobia, transphobia, and genderphobia. “There’s always traditionally been a space for multiple genders, multiple sexualities. The two have been delineated by our language and cultural practice. A lot of what seems like ‘new knowledge now,’ you can find roots in Indigenous knowledge.” For her, it was crucial that Lee be an explicitly Indigenous character who is “decolonising all of those things by being a community leader, by housing unhoused trans and queer youth, by creating a home for queer families on her ancestral land.”

@gaytimes Lily Gladstone reflects on the importance of indigenous representation in The Wedding Banquet ❤️ #interview #indigenous #indigenoustiktok #newmovie #nativeamerican #representation #queertiktok #dannydevito ♬ Pieces (Solo Piano Version) – Danilo Stankovic

The Wedding Banquet also stars Joan Chen as May Chen, Angela’s mother who, after previously rejecting her for her sexuality, has now become an unwavering LGBTQIA+ ally (and a “mother,” if you will), leading their local PFLAG chapter (Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays). Chen previously played Hwei-Lan Gao in Saving Face (2004), one of the first-ever films to centre an LGBTQIA+ Chinese character. It has since been hailed as one of the greatest queer films of all time. Despite May’s consistent efforts to be supportive, Angela sees her activism as performative, and that tension drives a wedge between them.

Whether it’s performative or not, May is trying – and that effort to do better is something many parents of LGBTQIA+ children can learn from. “This is the only way to love your children,” Chen tells GAY TIMES. “I have other lesbian friends who were in that generation, like the Saving Face director [Alice Wu], her generation, everybody has that tragedy, especially for East Asian families, how to tell your family [that you are queer]. Where I come from, it’s still not allowed in mainstream media. You think you’re a failure if your children are not straight. It’s like, ‘No, you cannot be gay because I’m not a bad mother’. That kind of attitude.”

Chen explains that May has overcome many of the prejudices and societal expectations placed on her as an East Asian mother of a queer child, and is now doing her best to “make up for it”: “You love her, not knowing that she has, in the beginning, hurt her child so deeply, traumatised [her]. But she’s not unique, it happens in most Asian cultures. [Wu] came out to her mom and, for two years, they didn’t speak, until the mother turned around. Somehow, you know, there is no other way to love your children.”

The Wedding Banquet is out in UK cinemas now.

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Jane Schoenbrun, the director of I Saw the TV Glow, has cast Gillian Anderson and Hannah Einbinder in their highly-anticipated next film.

Titled Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma, the film is Schoenbrun’s “best attempt at the ‘sleepover classic’: an insane yet cozy midnight odyssey that beckons to unsuspecting viewers from the horror section at the local video store.”

It will be produced by Plan B Entertainment, with Mubi financing the film in North America, Latin America, the U.K., Ireland, Germany, Austria, Benelux, Turkey, India, Australia and New Zealand.

Schoenbrun continued: “I couldn’t be more excited to be heading to sleepaway camp this summer with the mad comic genius Hannah Einbinder, the legendary Gillian Anderson, and the daring folks at Mubi and Plan B, who by greenlighting this movie have summoned a plague-like flood of blood, guts, and various other fluids to rain down on us all.”

Anderson, Emmy winner, author and gay icon, is best-known for her iconic roles as Dana Scully in The X-Files (1993-2018), Stella Gibson in The Fall (2013-2016) and Dr. Jean Milburn in Sex Education (2019-2023).

HANNAH &
GILLIAN &
MUBI &
MEhttps://t.co/ShEwZIfuwR

— Jane Schoenbrun (@sapphicspielbrg) May 9, 2025

Last year, she carried on the iconic legacy of Milburn by exploring the complexities of female sexuality in her groundbreaking book Want. Anderson can next be seen alongside Jason Isaacs in the biographical drama The Salt Path, scheduled for release in the UK on 30 May.

Einbinder rose to stardom as bisexual writer Ava Daniels on the lauded Max comedy Hacks, for which she has received three nominations at the Primetime Emmy Awards and three nominations at the Golden Globes. In 2024, she released her first comedy special on Max, titled Hannah Einbinder: Everything Must Go.

Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma will be the third feature film from Schoenbrun after We’re All Going to the World’s Fair (2021) and I Saw the TV Glow (2024), both of which were released to overwhelming critical acclaim.

Heavily influenced by Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the latter psychological drama was lauded for Justice Smith and Jack Haven’s lead performances, its dark aesthetic and allegorical exploration of the trans experience.

Revisit the trailer for the brilliant I Saw the TV Glow below.

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Rising J-pop group f5ve have released an infectious collaboration with Kesha to coincide with the release of their long-awaited debut album.

Titled ‘Sugar Free Venom’, the high-energy, glossy dance banger celebrates female liberation and unapologetic confidence, with the quintet urging the listener to “hit the floor” and “get independent”.

In the accompanying video, f5ve transport their fans to a dreamy pink and purple nightclub, paying homage to iconic music videos such as ‘Buttons’ by The Pussycat Dolls, ‘Check on It’ by Beyoncé and ‘Pink Champagne’ by E-girls.

Kesha was presumably unavailable for the music video, with her vocals appearing only via a television screen, though she makes a hilarious cameo through archival footage of her singing ‘Die Young’ on a Tokyo subway in 2012.

‘Sugar Free Venom’ is the fourth single from their debut album SEQUENCE 01, following ‘Magic Clock’, ‘UFO’, ‘Underground’ and ‘Lettuce’. The album is executive produced by the legendary BloodPop, with additional production from A.G. Cook, Hudson Mohawke, Count Baldor and AOBeats.

Released on May 5, SEQUENCE 01 has received glowing reviews from both critics and fans for the quintet’s genre-blending sound, fusing pop, dance, rock, and funk, while maintaining their signature J-pop identity and broad appeal.

Since the release of their debut single ‘Lettuce’, f5ve – consisting of J-pop veterans Sayaka, Kaede, Miyuu, Ruri and Rui – have accumulated a passionate following, particularly amongst LGBTQIA+ people.

In a recent interview with GAY TIMES, Miyuu said: “Every time we release, the LGBTQIA+ community acts and spreads the word. Not just about our music, but the existence of f5ve to more people. So, I think more and more people are getting to know f5ve. It’s all about you, besties.”

“I’m happy that so many people have commented, spread the word, and are constantly cheering us,” added Sayaka. “I think gay people like us because we love being ourselves.”

Ruri also said that the group would “not be here today” without their rainbow fanbase: “I can’t imagine not having their support. You are an existence that must be with us; our dreams won’t come true without you. We will always be together.”

It was recently announced that f5ve will perform at the queer festival Ladyland, taking place on 27 and 28 June in Brooklyn, NYC. They join a star-studded line-up of stars including Cardi B, FKA Twigs, Pabllo Vittar, Kevin Aviance, Cobrah and more.

Revisit f5ve’s interview with GAY TIMES here, and check out the fierce video for ‘Sugar Free Venom’ below.

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The writer of Another Simple Favor says the film’s queer storylines—including the controversial incest plot—were inspired by the original’s “big gay following.”

Major spoilers ahead for Another Simple Favor. 

Directed by Paul Feig, the sequel to 2018’s acclaimed dark comedy A Simple Favor reunites Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively as Stephanie and Emily, who find themselves caught in another web of secrets, lies, and twists—this time at an Italian wedding.

Also starring Andrew Rannells, Bashir Salahuddin, Elizabeth Perkins, Michele Morrone, Elena Sofia Ricci, Henry Golding and Allison Janney, the film has received mixed reviews from both fans and critics, with particular criticism directed at the aforementioned queer incest plot.

In Another Simple Favor, it’s revealed that Charity, the third triplet of the scheming Emily and her late sister Faith, is alive and has been raised by their con artist aunt, Linda (Janney). As if that weren’t shocking enough, it’s uncovered that Charity is a psychopath with a dangerous obsession with Emily, even going so far as to drug and sexually assault her.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, writer Jessica Sharzer revealed that the controversial storyline came to fruition because they “wanted to embrace” the original film’s “big gay following”.

“We wanted to meet those fans and not disappoint them. And so we were looking for opportunities to tell really great stories that also have a queer element to them,” she said.

“There was a wonderful podcast that was completely devoted to the first movie and it was three queer women who were doing A Simple Podcast.

“They were a big reason why we ended up doing a sequel at all because they interviewed the key cast, Paul and me, and it just revived all of our interest in the project and gave Paul the idea to do a sequel.”

Sharzer, who co-wrote Another Simple Favor with Laeta Kalogridis and whose previous credits include The L Word and American Horror Story, continued: “So the queer element of the franchise is baked in as far as we’re concerned to the storytelling and the relationship between Anna and Blake in the movie we see as a love story.

“It may not be a romantic story, but we see it as primarily a love story between two women. It may be twisted, but it is a love story.”

The queer incest storyline in Another Simple Favor follows a similarly controversial plot in the third season of The White Lotus, involving Patrick Schwarzenegger and Sam Nivola as brothers Saxon and Lochlan Ratliff.

While both storylines have been met with humour online, the growing inclusion of queer incest in Hollywood has drawn criticism for potentially conflating queerness with incest, a harmful association that can distort public perception—particularly among viewers unfamiliar with the LGBTQIA+ experience.

When asked how Lively reacted to the incest storyline, Sharzer shared: “I was on strike during a lot of these developments and these conversations, and so I wasn’t part of all of them, but I think Blake really was behind this decision.

“I don’t think it was handed to her without her participation. My sense is that she really embraced it and wanted to do it.”

Another Simple Favor is now streaming on Prime Video.

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In what feels like a fever dream of casting, Manu Ríos and Kit Connor are set to star opposite each other in an upcoming zombie flick!

According to Deadline, the respective Elité and Heartstopper icons will lead the horror film Rapture, joined by On Swift Horses star Will Poulter. It will mark a reunion for Connor and Poulter, who recently appeared together in A24’s Warfare (2025).

Set in Medieval England in 1348, the film “alights on Lansley Abbey, a remote stone monastery in Yorkshire, which houses ten monks bound by a life of strict routine and devotion”.

Deadline’s synopsis continues: Their fragile peace is disrupted by the arrival of a messenger – a man with haunting news from the outside world who rapidly shows symptoms of a mystery illness. A virulent plague is spreading through the land: marked initially by a hemorrhagic fever, it turns its victims into “revenants” — restless, undead beings.

“As the contagion closes in, Lansley Abbey becomes a battleground: desperate outsiders beg for refuge while the infected threaten to overrun its walls. The monks are torn apart by a moral rift — between those who believe they must care for the sick and those who want to protect the centuries of knowledge safe-guarded by the monastery.

“As death is fully unleashed, so too is the brothers’ capacity for extraordinary acts of altruism and ruthless betrayal, forcing them to confront the ultimate question: what does it mean to be human?”

Set to begin filming in Hungary later this year, Rapture marks the feature debut of acclaimed playwright and director Jordan Tannahill. The film is being produced by Elevation Pictures (Infinity Pool), 2AM (Past Lives), and Brookstreet Pictures (The Brutalist), with Eli Arenson (Lamb) on board as director of photography.

In a statement, Gabrielle Stewart, CEO HanWay Films, said: “We have all been blown away by the vision Jordan has for Rapture.

“It is rare to have such an atmospheric and terrifying zombie horror film that inhabits such an authentic historical world, with complex characters grappling with the biggest moral dilemmas. It is no wonder he has already attracted such great casting in Will, Kit and Manu with more to come, backed by top tier producers.”

Ríos is best known for his portrayal of Patrick Blanco in Netflix’s beloved Spanish teen series Elité (2021–2022), and has since appeared in La edad de la ira (2022), Strange Way of Life (2023), Muted (2023) and Respira (2024).

Connor rose to superstardom as Nick Nelson in Heartstopper, earning the inaugural Children’s and Family Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Performance. Over the past year, he has garnered acclaim for his role in the Broadway production of Romeo & Juliet (2024) and the war drama Warfare.

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Following months of anticipation, the first images have been released for Paul Mescal and Josh O’Connor’s highly-anticipated gay drama The History of Sound.

Directed by Oliver Hermanus (Mary & George), the film is based on the Pushcart Prize-winning novel from Ben Shattuck, a collection of 12 short stories that are set across three centuries and explores generational patterns of love and loss.

The title story follows two young men in the shadows of WWI who are determined to record the lives, voices and music of their American countrymen. Lionel (Mescal) and David (O’Connor) begin to log the events, whilst falling in love in the process.

The film’s first stills, revealed by Vanity Fair, depict Mescal submerged shirtless in water, O’Connor caught mid-drag on a cigarette and the pair sharing a quiet, intimate moment as they laugh over coffee.

In an accompanying interview, Hermanus discussed casting Mescal and O’Connor, who have both risen to mega-stardom in recent years—particularly for their roles in the lauded queer films All of Us Strangers and Challengers.

“Their lives were literally changing, and it was always this groupthink situation of, Where can we find the time to force the universe to let us make this film?” said Hermanus.

“We probably wouldn’t have been able to make this film when we wanted to, in 2022, because they weren’t the Paul Mescal and Josh O’Connor that we now know today.”

Mescal noted how fortunate he felt to be part of The History of Sound, acknowledging how often beloved projects fail to materialise after years of effort: “How many times do you hear people who really try and get something made over five, 10, 15 years, and it just falls away?

“I remember feeling very lucky. Like, We have to enjoy this. Because we’ll come across other opportunities in our life where we love a script as much as this, and we just don’t get to get it made.”

The Gladiator II star went on to gush about his chemistry with O’Connor, revealing that he brought out a “childlike version” of himself, and that he hadn’t “felt that kind of degree of boyishness in myself for a long time”.

In The History of Sound, the sparse inclusion of sex scenes was a deliberate choice by Hermanus, who told Vanity Fair he didn’t want to frame them as a “transgression.” He stressed that he didn’t want to draw attention to the fact that “these two men are taking the risk of being sexual” in a pre-progressive era.

“Ben wrote it in a way where there was no hesitation, no moment of fear. For me, the sex scene is when Lionel is walking around David’s apartment the morning after [their first encounter], and he’s smelling everything and sitting everywhere,” he explained. “He’s absorbing the energy of this person.”

Mescal added: “There is a kind of real sense of companionship, and the joy and loss that comes with the presence and absence of that. It’s not just about sex and the intensity of falling in love. It’s deeper than that.”

The History of Sound will premiere at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, where it will compete for the Palme d’Or.

The historical drama also stars Chris Cooper (Little Women), Molly Price (Third Watch), Raphael Sbarge (Once Upon a Time), Hadley Robinson (Moxie), Emma Canning (Dune: Prophecy), Brianna Middleton (The Inheritance) and Gary Raymond (The Cedar Tree).

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Lorde has opened up about the creative process behind her fourth studio album, Virgin, revealing that a “reexamination of her gender expression” played a significant role in its formation.

In an interview with artist Martine Syms for Document Journal, the New Zealand singer shared that she has recently “come into my masculinity a bit more,” and that her new album is a “byproduct” of “fully coming into my body and feeling the fullness of my power.”

While discussing her guest performance with Charli XCX at Coachella, Syms observed that the duo resembled “two really strong, powerful people who are also both hot and talented and having fun, getting to be themselves in a way that probably wasn’t possible 20 years ago.”

Lorde credited ongoing progress in the music industry and popular culture, “where it feels like this room for your humanity or being yourself is a little bit more prized.”

Ahead of creating Virgin, Lorde said she “read a lot of queer writers,” and revealed that the album began to take shape after she wrote the lead single, ‘What Was That,’ which marked a “rebirth” of her artistry.

“I had come back from London to New York after this period of great turbulence in my personal life,” Lorde explained. “Becoming single, but also really facing my body stuff head-on, and starting to feel my gender broadening a little bit.

Photo: Thistle Brown

“Just being back in my house and feeling this big wave of grief. I just kept thinking, What was all of that? Whether it was my seven-year relationship or a pandemic or sacrificing my body to my career since I was 16 or 17.

“This feeling of, Oh, my God, so much has moved through me. And there’s so much mystery and pain. I just held the mic and sort of walked around the room and said it all. I didn’t write anything down, which was cool.”

In an email to fans unveiling the title and cover of Virgin—which features a blue-toned X-ray of a pelvis with a visible IUD—Lorde described the album as a reflection of her femininity. Among the words she used to characterise that femininity was “masc”.

“THE COLOUR OF THE ALBUM IS CLEAR. LIKE BATHWATER, WINDOWS, ICE, SPIT. FULL TRANSPARENCY. THE LANGUAGE IS PLAIN AND UNSENTIMENTAL. THE SOUNDS ARE THE SAME WHEREVER POSSIBLE,” she wrote.

“I WAS TRYING TO SEE MYSELF, ALL THE WAY THROUGH. I WAS TRYING TO MAKE A DOCUMENT THAT REFLECTED MY FEMININITY: RAW, PRIMAL, INNOCENT, ELEGANT, OPENHEARTED, SPIRITUAL, MASC.”

 

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Due for release 27 June, Virgin marks Lorde’s first full-length album since Solar Polar (2021), which delivered singles such as the title track, ‘Stoned at the Nail Salon’, ‘Fallen Fruit’ and ‘Mood Ring’.

Virgin‘s aforementioned lead single, ‘What Was That’, was met with overwhelming praise from fans and critics and debuted at number-one in her home country. Additionally, the electropop banger became her first chart-topper on US Spotify since her 2011 debut single ‘Royals’.

You can read Lorde’s full interview with Martine Syms for Document Journal here, and watch the music video for ‘What Was That’ below.

The post Lorde says new album Virgin is inspired by her “gender broadening” appeared first on GAY TIMES.

Fresh off her well-deserved Drag Race victory, Onya Nurve is ready for a starring role.

In an interview with GAY TIMES, the season 17 champion revealed that her dream is to achieve the coveted EGOT — and to star in a film alongside acclaimed Black actors like Viola Davis, Kerry Washington, Denzel Washington, and Lupita Nyong’o.

She added: “All in one movie, all in one space, is how I see it.”

Throughout the season, Onya memorably showed off her comedic chops — from the campy chaos of Ross Matthews vs The Ducks to her Snatch Game win in front of Abbott Elementary star Quinta Brunson.

Given how much she gushed about the Emmy-winning comedy, we told her a guest appearance felt inevitable.

Excited at the prospect, Onya responded: “Oh, it’s going to happen! That’s already stamped in stone in my brain. It is. That’s not even a dream. That’s going to happen…”

And it might not be far off. Brunson clearly took notice — on the panel, she expressed interest in seeing Onya “host Saturday Night Live one day,” adding that she’s a “fan” and that she “loves her”.

Across its acclaimed four-season run (so far), Abbott Elementary has welcomed a slew of iconic guest stars — including Taraji P. Henson, Bradley Cooper, Keegan-Michael Key, Leslie Odom Jr., Ayo Edebiri, and Jalen Hurts — and even featured a crossover with It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

In other words: there’s plenty of room for Onya Nurve to sashay through the Abbott halls. (Manifest it with us now…)

Onya memorably triumphed over Jewels Sparkles in the Drag Race season 17 finale after the two powerhouses lip-synced to Lady Gaga’s iconic banger, ‘Abracadabra’.

With four maxi-challenge wins, multiple additional top placements and just one appearance in the lip-sync for your life, Onya cemented her status as one of the most formidable contestants in Drag Race herstory.

Onya also won praise from fans for her unwavering commitment to celebrating and uplifting Black culture on the runway.

As she told GAY TIMES: “There are so many entertainers in the world that look just like me and feel just like me, that they’re not good enough and have to work twice as hard as their white counterparts to get even half of what they have.

“I just want to be a reminder that, if you keep working hard and following your dreams, baby, you can also be a RuPaul’s Drag Race superstar.”

You can read our full interview with Onya Nurve here. While you’re at it, revisit her fierce lip-sync against Jewels to ‘Abracadabra’ below.

The post Drag Race winner Onya Nurve is determined to star in Abbott Elementary: “It’s going to happen!” appeared first on GAY TIMES.