The Paramount+ movie lets the pop star revisit the uncertainty of adolescence in his first lead role.
Troye Sivan , a worldly concern - famous pop star whose songwriting conduct an worked up clarity beyond his years , develop up through his euphony . Now , at 26 , his first leading film function takes him to a position he imagine he ’d never see again : his spring chicken .
“ I ’m so happy I ’m not a adolescent anymore , ” Sivan confesses . It ’s a surprising matter to hear from someone who broke through with the individual “ Youth ” and , as lately as his 2020 EPIn A ambition , was singe wistfully about those days of “ slumber and spending nights lay waste to time . ” Sivan have a go at it he can be hangdog of front back with rose - tinge crank , but now he reflects on the causticness and precariousness of his own adolescence , “ when you fill someone and you experience like the world is ending . ” In hindsight , teenage angst can seem silly or grandiloquent . “ I definitely do n’t miss it , ” he laughs .
Still , Sivan could n’t resist the allure of “ sentence travel ” for the new Paramount+ dramedyThree Months , a period piece that transports him to the faraway , halcyon days of 2011 . He stars as Caleb , a gay Florida teen smart out of high school day with a directionless job at a convenience computer storage and an acceptance alphabetic character to Parson ’s School Of Design in New York , which he ’s not certain he can open . Though the summertime is mean to be his last hooray of juvenile freedom — slacking around with his good admirer Dara ( Brianne Tju)—his life is suddenly put on hold : After a casual hookup , Caleb learns he ’s been exposed to HIV . The film takes its title from the distance of time one has to hold back to test for the computer virus after photograph , and it explores the foiling and fear that hamper Caleb ’s sprightliness , just when he feels like it should be getting start up .
Illustration by Grace Han for Thrillist
Having turned 16 in summertime 2011 , Sivan had little trouble wiretap into his reference ’s headspace . Many of the musicians , way flair , and viral net videos that shaped his waxy mind are relevant to Caleb , too , and revisiting the not - too - distant past felt cathartic for Sivan . The Australian star admits to being a big - clock time Tumblr lurker , give thanks the social platform for queer him to the broader LGBTQ+ populace — including some content his immature eyes were n’t mean to see , thanks to the platform’sonce slack regulation . Even a decennary ago , pansy linear perspective were often miss in the mainstream , so Sivan pronounce the internet is “ where I really construe myself for the first time and feel like I belonged in the community . ” Though Caleb reluctantly link a local poove - younker support grouping , it ’s fitting that he also turns to the internet for answers , watching YouTube clip fromThe Real World : San Franciscothat feature film Pedro Zamora , one of the first portraiture of an openly festal valet exist with AIDS in popular media . ( In a best - case example of blade synergy , Three Months — produce by the Paramount - owned MTV Entertainment Studios — actually shows clips from MTV ’s seminal reality show ) .
But Sivan ’s connection to Caleb ply deeper than their reciprocal adoration of David Bowie or their taste for curious late - night Tumblr browsing . “ There ’s this tough , straightaway - witted shell [ on Caleb ] , which I sort of saw decent through instantly , ” he call in from first readingThree Months ’ script . Sivan felt instantly endear to Caleb — he was a “ secret truelove worth rooting for”—which he attributes to the clearness of voice and gumption of humor that first - time feature writer / conductor Jared Frieder ( Sweet / Vicious ) bring to the project . Loosely exhort by Frieder ’s own teen years , Three Monthswas initially write near a decade ago , take on a number of forms ( include a streaming series ) before MTV Studios greenlit it . From the second his debut became a realness , the film maker enjoin his lead “ was always Troye . ”
Prior to casting , the two had match socially in Los Angeles and quick stick to over pop music ( “ The first thing we ever mouth about was Little Mix , ” Sivan says with a laugh ) . They frequently ran in the same circles . “ As a nice , jocund Jewish boy like myself , he felt like the ideal person to take on the persona of Caleb , ” Frieder joke . It helps that Sivan has sustained a sure boyishness that provide him to fall away seamlessly back into adolescence on - sieve , while other actors his historic period might clamber to conceal their five - o’clock shadows . “ I drop a line the character as the kid I bid I could have been in high schooltime , ” Frieder says . “ Whereas Estha , the passion pastime [ played byBlinded by the Light ’s Viveik Kalra ] , is the kid that Iwasin high school — and Troye really is that kid I wish I could have been . ” So he sent Sivan the script , and the star was on board from their first meeting , opening the door to a collaboration Frieder flush was “ very organic and sort of magic . ”
Troye Sivan and Viveik Kalra in ‘Three Months’|Paramount
Though Sivan has been acting just as long as he ’s been scorch — eagle - eyed superhero buffs may remember hisfilm debutas a young Logan inX - Men Origins : Wolverine — up until now he ’s been best known for his tricky pop hits , like the sly gay metaphor “ Bloom . ” But Frieder was positive that Sivan had the chutzpah to be his leading man : “ He ’s a little mensh with a warmheartedness of gold . And he carry the moving picture on his back — he ’s in every scene ! ” Indeed , Three Monthsputs Sivan through a roller coaster of teenager emotion , and he prove more than capable , even diametrical Oscar - winning talent like Ellen Burstyn and Louis Gossett Jr. , who play Caleb ’s loving grandma and her gallant . It ’s an affecting , authentic turning for the multi - hyphenate , who has already lined up his next purpose inThe Idol , an HBO rage series from The Weeknd andEuphoriacreator Sam Levinson . It ’s also worth note that Sivan wrote twooriginal songsforThree Months , guarantee his musical pursuits do n’t take a backseat .
For now , Sivan numerate himself prosperous thatThree Monthsexists at all . Back in March 2020 , he and Frieder — along with the repose of the dramatis personae ( also featuring Judy Greer , Javier Muñoz , and Amy Landecker ) and bunch — gathered in Atlanta to set out filming , and , well , you do n’t really have to guess what happened next . Halting product was “ dizzying and annihilating , ” Sivan says . They expend months waiting out COVID until they could assess the logistics to safely return to band , which only reiterated to Sivan how seriously he wanted to make the flick . During that time , he went home to Melbourne , where he was golden to have a dependable place to sequester with family , and surprise - releasedIn A Dreamearly as a way to regain some control over a life that was unexpectedly put on hold . Otherwise , all he could do was waitress .
“ When we first started making this movie , all this talk of examination and waiting for termination , antibodies and antigen psychometric test , and all these things — it feel quite niche , ” Sivan says . “ And , suddenly , it was all anyone was talk about around the world . And that feeling of expect — you know , whether it ’s for a COVID solvent , or whether it ’s to be rent out of your house , or whether it ’s for your HIV results , or whatever — expect for life story , I guess … That is something that I consider we all experienced in a really , really big manner . ”
Troye Sivan performs in Sydney, Australia, in 2019|Don Arnold/WireImage
In the two years between the start ofThree Month ’s output and its February 23 premiere date , its story may have take on an unforeseen relevance to the wide-cut population , but , for Sivan and Frieder , its message was and always will be for LGBTQ youth . “ This is a film with a protagonist that I did n’t see growing up in a [ adolescent ] moving-picture show , ” says the writer / director . “ And it ’s one that I desperately require and want as a gay teen dealing with the ignominy of coming out and being queer . And I go for this can be that for queer teen now , to make them feel a little bit less alone . ”
Sivan concur , recalling that much of the HIV treatment when he was younger “ were these really , really grim , harrowing chronicle . [ Those are ] so important to secernate and notice — that ’s such a huge part of our history . ” But , likeThree Monthsdepicts , “ the reality of the situation today is that , with entree to health care , HIV - positive people can live joyous , happy , longsighted lives . ” As Caleb learns to not lease his own fears hold him back from bosom the love in his life , the picture reveals itself to be a uncommon queer narration that ’s neither overtly saccharine nor distressingly bleak — it just feels real , live - in . It ’s a make out - of - age motion picture that ’s refreshfully heart-to-heart about the reality of our uncertain creation yet still optimistic about the future . While Sivan might not want to race back to his teen years anytime presently , Three Monthsreminds him that there ’s no sense in speed through life either .
“ The movie kind of feel like a pop song to me , ” says Sivan , who knows a affair or two about papa song . “ It ’s approachable , it ’s nimble , it ’s catchy , and , at the core of it — when pop music is done right — it still has meat , and it still tells a story . And , so , the thought that this pic could reach a band of immature people — to educate and think about them , and give them some hope — thatis the end . ”
