Nonbinary actor Theo Germaine stars as Jordan, a central character in the groundbreaking LGBTQ+ slasher horror film They/Them. The film has been described as a “queer empowerment” story from the legendary John Logan (Skyfall, The Aviator) and yet Germaine tells PRIDE that being nonbinary and playing a nonbinary character has still presented an uphill battle for the actor.
In the film, Jordan is sent to a camp to undergo conversion therapy with a group of LGBTQ+ characters such as Toby (Austin Crute), Alexandra (Quei Tann), Gabriel (Darwen Del Fabro), Veronica (Monique Kim), Kim (Anna Lore), and Stu (Cooper Koch).
Coming from all different sorts of backgrounds, sexual orientations, and gender identities, this group of queer characters faces numerous challenges while living in this conversion camp depicted in They/Them.
During an exclusive interview with PRIDE, Germaine opened up about their hopes for They/Them and for nonbinary representation through the film, explaining:
“I want people to take nonbinary people more seriously. There’s obviously been a little bit of press around the film already, and I’ve already been harassed by people online about my pronouns. And I’m like, ‘F*ck that.’ I want people to see that I’m human, and that people who are like, ‘I don’t use he or she pronouns, I use something else.’ I really want us to be taken seriously.”
You can watch Germaine’s full interview with PRIDE below alongside actor Austin Crute and producer Scott Turner Schofield.
Germaine also talked about the challenges of being cast in the lead role of They/Them and the glory of finally playing a character who identifies as nonbinary without leaning into a male-presenting identity. They recalled:
“I was really excited to play a character whose gender identity is more aligned with mine. My background is that I’ve played characters who are more ‘masc’ than I identify as in real life, and so that felt like I was able to break out of that idea that a lot of people I know kind of have of me.”
Overall, this experience seems to have been transformative for Germaine as they grow in their acting career. They said, “I felt very empowered by getting to play this character, and I really felt like I got to bring a lot of myself to it.”
There's no doubt Germaine’s character in They/Them is empowering and inspirational to a lot of queer kids who watch the film.
They/Them premiered Friday, August 5 on Peacock.
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