If you've been dying to see more of Love, Simon star and total heartthrob Keiynan Lonsdale on your screens, you're in luck! The queer, 29-year-old, multi-hyphenate entertainer (he acts, sings, AND dances) is set to star in the television series adaptation of the beloved dance movie franchise Step Up! (You know, the film that helped launched Channing Tatum's career?!?)
According to a report from Deadline, Keiynan was just added to an already stacked cast of series regulars that includes "Dip It Low" singer Christina Milian and singer-songwriter Ne-Yo. Inspired by the 2006 dance classic Step Up, the series is being produced by Lionsgate Television for Starz (after shifting from YouTube).
Deadline also reports that Keiynan is going to be playing an openly queer character named Tal, so this new Step Up series is going to be LGBTQ+ inclusive, and we love to see it!
"Once an outcast from Ohio, taken from his mother and dropped in the tough streets of Atlanta," his description reads. "Tal faced persecution for his eccentricities, his sexuality, and his refusal to submit to the expectations of others. Dancing his way into High Water, literally, beaten and bloodied, Tal became the pride of Sage Odom’s elite dance crew. Now, the lead dancer for Sage’s massive tour, Tal must continue to be the most crucial piece in a support system that carries his friends, his family, and a billion-dollar tour. He is lean, graceful, and courageous, just like his nickname: the greyhound."
But this isn't the first time Keiynan has shown off his dancing chops on screen! In 2020, he co-starred in Netflix's feel-good, high school dance flick Work It, where he played a scene-stealing, over-the-top, queer dance captain named Juilliard who gave the rest of the cast a run for their money and threw all sorts of shade while doing so.
"I've been a dancer my whole life, so I felt like I understood the dance world a lot. I could draw from a lot that for inspiration, and you know, there's always so much drama that happens in the world in general, but especially in the dance world, so I got to go from that," Keiynan told PRIDE in August 2020 about how he prepared for the role, and how much he loved getting to play a gay dance captain who is the HBIC of the school. "I love the idea of playing a villain, and you know, we all got a little bit of that in us. So I could draw from that."
The series may not have even started airing Keiynan's episodes yet, but just for the simple fact that he's involved, we can already tell we're going to stan!
