flawlessgentlemen:
“As a black American man you’re taught that you have to be the most
imposing, the most physical, that much better than your counterparts—and
being homosexual is perceived as the inverse of that. But finding
Chiron’s character, for me, had very little to do with [his] sexuality,
because I feel like you fall in love with the mental aspect of people,
not the physical. If I’d been born loving men, I’d love them the same
way I love women. For me, it was really more about learning to hate
myself, because Chiron hates himself. I had to allow myself to feel this
disdain towards other people because I couldn’t accept myself. I really
didn’t know I wanted to be an actor until this role. [Acting] always
felt like pretending. But with this character, I felt as far removed
from myself as I could be—and I loved this person. I cried for him.”
-
Trevante Rhodes about his role in Moonlight