Lukas Gage ‘felt for’ Kit Connor when people ‘demanded receipts’ over Heartstopper role – as they were ‘coming for’ him at same time

Actor Lukas Gage has spoken out about experiencing backlash from viewers who thought he was a straight actor taking a gay role after his breakout performance in The White Lotus in 2021.

In an exclusive interview in the new issue of Attitude in which Gage appears on the cover, he explained that after his starmaking performance as hotel worker Dillon (who famously has his ass eaten by Murray Bartlett‘s character Armond) he came under fire from viewers who assumed he was straight.

“When I did [come out], my friends and family knew I wanted to keep [it] sacred for myself. I felt like I didn’t need to prove anything to anyone,” he told us. “But I was also dealing with people coming for me, being like, ‘Why is he stealing a gay role? He’s just a straight guy, how dare he, blah blah blah.'”

On where he personally stands on the topic of straight actors in gay roles, Gage was torn saying: “It’s two-fold. I’m in the camp where there’s of course certain scenarios. It’s an injustice to not cast with diversity and inclusion, to tell the most authentic story. In other less specific cases, it’s important to remember it is acting, and we should be free to play as many different kinds of roles as possible.”

“But it’s tricky, because there has to be grace and generosity. I don’t like it when people do a witch hunt for people for doing it. Trying to take them down.”

Gage also revealed that he connected with Heartstopper actor Kit Connor when he was receiving similar scrutiny after the Netflix show premiered. The attention eventually mounted to the point that Connor felt forced to come out as bisexual.

“Feeling bullied into coming out at 18 years old? That area where public and private intersect is so confusing to me” – Lukas Gage

“There’s a grey area with sexuality,” Gage opined. “Nuances. To be demanding receipts… I remember, it was the same time people were coming for me, they were coming for Kit. Feeling bullied into coming out at 18 years old? That area where public and private intersect is so confusing to me.

“I want to have visibility, to be a role model. I want little kids to see me and think, ‘He’s doing it — I could do it too.’ But it’s also the thing Tina Fey said, ‘Authenticity is expensive.’Things that are private and sacred to you are valuable. You don’t want it all out there.”

“I haven’t [met Kit] in person, just online. I’d love to. One day,” said the actor, who will next appear in horror thriller Companion early next year. “And then, the adverse reaction to it all… I felt for him. With my experience in that situation, I felt like I reached a point where it just became like… It was a big fuck you to everybody. I was like, ‘All right. I’m going to be completely out there. Be in-your-face annoying about it.'”

You can read Gage’s full interview exclusively in the new issue of Attitude, available to purchase here.