Connor Jessup talks sexuality, coming out and finding love in Attitude’s April issue

Words: Will Stroude

Connor Jessup ready to lead us out of the cold winter months in Attitude’s April Style issue as the star of Netflix’s Locke & Key talks sexuality, coming out, and how his world changed forever after falling in love.

The Canadian actor, who plays Tyler Locke in the TV adaptation Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodríguez’s hit comic book series, opens up about finding love and happiness in his most personal interview yet, which you can download instantly and order globally as part of our new April issue now.

25-year-old Connor, who recently made his relationship with 13 Reasons Why star Miles Heizer Instagram official, reveals that the pair’s relationship inspired his decision to come out publicly last summer.

“One of the sparks at the beginning of the fuse [for coming out], was that I fell in love”, Connor says.

Connor Jessup, shot by Taylor Miller exclusively for Attitude’s April Style issue, out now

“When you’re happy, you want to be happy publicly, and it made me think about the whole construction of my life in a way that I had been avoiding.”

Reflecting on last June’s coming out announcement, which coincided with Pride month in the US, Connor recalls: “It was more of a relief than I was expecting. 

“I’m an easily embarrassed person and I can’t imagine that anyone would care about my personal life.

“It seemed so presumptuous to make a post and assume that people would want to take a moment out of their time to read it.

(Photography: Taylor Miller)

“It felt almost arrogant and that held me back, but eventually I decided that it was easier to do it than to not do it.”

Connor may have landed a leading role in Locke & Key as Tyler, a teen whose family become involved with malevolent forces after discovering series of magical keys in their new home, but the actor isn’t worried that being out and proud will affect the types of roles he’s offered in the future.

“I don’t know how much it matters any more — unless maybe at the highest budget level, if it’s some super-hero movie”, he says.

Photography: Taylor Miller 

“The truth is, no one is going to cast me as Spider-Man, and I don’t think it matters much for the parts that I’m probably right for and interested in.

“I’m grateful that I am starting my career at the time that I am, but that’s a very different reality than it was even recently. I’m hyper-aware of that.”

Cybil War, shot by Markus Bidaux exclusively for Attitude’s April Style issue

Elsewhere in our jam-packed April Style issue, we meet drag queen and SAS: Who Dares Wins star Cybil War, who reveals how her relationship with her former SAS father inspired her to subject herself to the punishing rigours of Channel 4’s miltary training series.

We also meet The Stranger and Fleabag star Kadiff Kirwan, who reveals how he overcome institutional racism at drama school to carve out a career in acting as a black gay man.

Australian alt-pop group Cub Sport are also on hand to tell us about falling in love, mixing business with pleasure, and their rather trippy-sounding sex life.

Plus, gender-fluid pop star Dorian Electra reveals how they’re carving a queer niche in music as they release their aptly-named debut album, Flamboyant.

‘And Then We Danced’ director Levan Akin and star Levan ‘Gelly’ Gelbakhiani, shot by Markus Bidaux exclusively for Attitude’s April Style issue

Meanwhile, as Georgia’s first explicitly gay-themed film And Then We Danced continues to ellicit controversy at home, director Levan Akin and rising star Levan ‘Gelly’ Gelbakhiani take us right into the real-life drama behind the powerful screen drama.

And as the world braces itself for the arrival of season 12 of RuPaul’s Drag Race, former champion Sasha Velour shares some valuable life lessons from atop the drag totem pole.

That’s not all though: As Star Trek: The Next Generation‘s Jonathan del Arco prepares to reprise his fan favourite role as part-human, part-cynetic life-form Borg in Star Trek: Picard, the US actor opens up about the painful loss of his partner from an Aids-related illness, and reveals how it inspired him to take on the role in the first place.

And in our Active pages, whip-wielding burlesque performer Rudy Jeevanjee cracks down on toxic thoughts, self-destructive behaviour, and talks about learning to love yourself.

That’s alongside all your usual news, reviews, fashion, travel and opinion of course…

Attitude’s April Style issue is out now to download and to order globally. 

Buy now and take advantage of our best-ever subscription offers: save 45% on the cover price in print, 13 issues for £19.99 to download to any device.