The actor, best known for ‘Fire Island’ and ‘You,’ on the pop culture that influenced his coming-out journey.
James Scully is one of the nonmigratory heartthrob inFire Island , the Joel Kim Booster - script movie about a grouping of gay champion searching for love , sex , and/or all - night ragers during a slip to New York ’s storied queer mecca . The comedy ( now streaming on Hulu ) put a contemporary spin onPride and Prejudice , which makes Scully the Charles Bingley to Bowen Yang ’s " terminally alone " Jane Bennett . It ’s a charming nice - guy twist that differ wildly from his more out - there carrying into action inYouand the Paramount web’sHeathersreboot .
The 30 - year - old actor came of age in San Antonio and set out his kickoff off - Broadway before transitioning to the screenland . ( He will soon seem inJulio Torres ' directorial debut , which also stars Tilda Swinton , Isabella Rossellini , and Greta Lee . ) " When I was growing up , there was n’t a band of explicitly curious stuff , so I do feel like I was just grabbing trivial breadcrumb from movies and shows when I could , " Scully says , mirroring the experience that most queer millennials and Gen X’ers had before cinema likeFire Islandexisted in the mainstream .
Scully talked to Thrillist about the moving picture , shows , and minor ’s book that helped to spark his gay wakening .
Design by Maitane Romagosa for Thrillist
When a Stranger Calls
Before I started watching genuine narrative about queer characters , I loved an empowered distaff tale . In Texas , what I was getting at schoolhouse was , " You talk like a girl , you act like a girl , you look like a girl . " So when I watch moving-picture show , I especially loved aWhen a Stranger Callsmoment — any of those horror movie where it was one woman face off against an opponent . I was like , " Women are badass ; why would I be rag by being compared to them ? "
This was n’t a queer waking up for me , but somebody who definitely did qualify me as a person was Lisbeth Salander inThe daughter with the Dragon Tattoo . I was like , " I want to be like that . She ’s got a unspoilt groove going on . " Both [ movie variation ] are estimable , but the Noomi Rapace interlingual rendition , she was just not aim any poop from any of the other people in that moving picture . And I was just like , " Hell yeah . "
TheSense and Sensibilityscore
My parents are , God bless their hearts , pretentious . We were not doing Top 40 in my theater produce up . I neglect a muckle of the iconic papa music of all of the ' 90s and the early 2000s . It was a lot of take heed to the soundtrack ofSense and Sensibility[composed by Patrick Doyle ] , staring out the window and feel my ambiently gay , pastoral mood setting in . Or just sitting in my mummy ’s minivan , staring out the windowpane , sham I was in the back of a carriage being taken to meet a man that I might have to marry whether I wanted to or not . And a mass of listening to Judy Garland . Even though I was an 8 - year - old boy at the fourth dimension , yes , my heart has also been shatter by the military personnel who got away , even though I would not realise the significance of those lyrics until much later in my life story . A lot of torch song , a lot of profess that I understood what brokenhearted love ballads meant .
Brad Pitt inTroy
The feature of speech filmTroy , starring Brad Pitt , was a pretty big habitue . That was decidedly a present moment where I was like , " Yep . I am draw in to beautiful men , for indisputable . No more uncertainty about that . " I guess you could argue that the abundance of mostly naked , live men in that film score it a little queer . How am I supposed to not be gay when this movie live ? What is my reaction to this scene with his au naturel arse supposed to be besides " I want to catch some Z’s with Brad Pitt " ?
Cats
When I first get under one’s skin a hold of the Broadway cast recording ofCats , that was decidedly a turn point for me . In retrospect , I think I knew , " Wow , this is really gay and I screw it . I ’m so Mr. Mistoffelees . " I would like to be this fancy dancing cat that everybody receive excited about who start out his own telephone number where he just spins around in a circle .
I first saw it at my eminent schoolhouse . The youthful humankind who play Rum Tum Tugger , Zachary Wilhelm , he ’s from Texas , too . We still chat sometimes . I was like , " Uh - oh . Do I think this cat is aphrodisiacal ? What ’s proceed on ? " That was definitely a mo for me . After experiencing it visually , I snuff it home and obsessively listened to the soundtrack . TheMacavity number , where all of the gentlewoman computerized tomography are blab together and dancing , I was like , " That ’s my track . " That ’s who I want to be — a belting Broadway chorus line girl — so badly when I was grow up . It did n’t pan out that way , but I ’ve made heartsease with it . I ’m closer than I retrieve I would be , that ’s for indisputable .
That one gay plot onRescue Me
Do you remember that showRescue Mewith Kevin Bacon , where he plays a fireman ? There ’s a game line with Michael Lombardi — god , he was so hot . He has a awkward , sweet gay Latinian language in the centre of a time of year . He ’s readingThe Tao of Poohand learning about himself , then just starts nonchalantly hooking up with one of his admirer . At the prison term , I was like , " What ? " Because it was so unexpected in this show that was packed scene - to - scene with the machismo of the fire station and was all of these big , strong , straight , masculine personality pass away head - to - head . Then out of nowhere there was this dulcet , very real gay love story pass off . It was comic because it was a show that we were watching together as a family unit — not long time - appropriate at all — and in those scenes , a tense silence would fall over the way because I did n’t want to respond in a way that would give me away . I think my parent were also side - eyeing me from across the support room .
Frog and Toad
My mother is an English prof , and her mother was a librarian , so they were definitely like , " You need to be reading all of the prison term . You should always have a Good Book that you ’re read . " Do you knowFrog and Toad ? There ’s a lot of looking back and being like , " Oh , in retrospect , many of the characters that we loved as tyke are fairly queer - put on , " just because so much children ’s entertainment is meant to be camp and over - the - top . Like , Ms. Frizzle [ fromThe Magic School Bus ] ? Come on . I ’m like , " Well , we ’ve never met a Mr. Frizzle . "
Carol Kane in ‘When a Stranger Calls’|Columbia Pictures
Brad Pitt in ‘Troy’|Warner Bros.
Michael Lombardi in ‘Rescue Me’|FX
