Exclusive: Fire Island star James Scully says all-queer cast was “invaluable” to film’s success
Casting queer actors in queer roles in Fire Island added “so much” authenticity to the film, according to James Scully. Directed by Andrew Ahn and written by Joel Kim Booster, the rom-com centres around two best friends (Booster and Bowen Yang) as they embark on a weeklong vacation to the titular gay hotspot, “with the help of cheap rosé and their cadre of eclectic friends”.
Scully stars as a “friendly” paediatrician called Charlie, who he describes as a stark contrast from his breakout role as Forty Quinn, an “angry, uneven drug addict”, on the second season of Netflix’s thriller series You.
In an interview with GAY TIMES, the actor says he was keen to star in the film because it was an “opportunity” for him to be as “loud and proud about being gay” as he is on social media. “I was like, ‘This is an opportunity to get on camera and do that,'” he admits. “Then it will also hopefully give me a platform and an opportunity to have conversations where I double down on that perspective.” Premiering 3 June in the UK on Disney Plus, Fire Island has received widespread critical acclaim for Booster’s script, the cast’s performances and its glorification of LGBTQ+ culture.
For Scully, the film – which is void of straight characters and narratives – proved that the entertainment industry is no longer obligated to present queer culture “in a way that is palatable to straight audiences”. “Just being like, ‘No this is what queer culture looks like.
