Lucas Hedges, the star of the upcoming
“ex-gay” drama Boy Erased, says he was drawn to the role
because it challenges gender norms.
Based on Garrard Conley's 2016 book Boy
Erased: A Memoir of Identity, Faith and Family, Boy
Erased stars Hedges as Jared, a college student who is sent to an
“ex-gay” camp after he is outed to his conservative parents,
played in the film by Nicole Kidman and Russell Crow. The film opens
on November 2.
(Related: Garrard
Conley: You don't have to be in conversion therapy to be in
conversion therapy.)
Speaking with GQ, Hedges said he
wanted to do the film because it's “about challenging the world
around us and challenging the boundaries they put on us.”
“Whether that's something as small as
putting nail polish on your fingernails or the bigger freedom to
express yourself sexually. It was a movie that taught me a lot about
conviction and standing up for myself,” he
added.
(Related: Boy
Erased's
Lucas Hedges says he's “not totally straight.”)