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Love Victor’s Michael Cimino got 'homophobic' hate from his family over gay role

Cimino said that he believes that a lot of the hate being directed toward him stemmed from the hate towards the show and the LGBTQ+ community

Michael Cimino is facing some strong criticism for portraying a gay character onscreen in Hulu's 'Love Victor' despite being a straight guy in real life, from not only strangers but members of his own family, which he did not expect. 

“I got some homophobic comments — I kind of expected that to happen. I didn’t expect it from my own family members, though", Cimino said, in an interview with UK's LGBTQ+ magazine Attitude. "Some of them reached out, saying, 'You used to be so cool; now you’re so gay.' I chalk it up to ignorance. People have that programming and they often don’t have to evolve and try to push past that."

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'There's nothing wrong with being gay'

Cimino said that he believes that a lot of the hate being directed toward him stemmed from the hate towards the show and the LGBTQ+ community. "There's nothing wrong with being gay," he explained. "That ignorance is often something that’s been passed on from generations prior. I always approach that [by saying], 'These are normal people that are struggling and they shouldn’t have to struggle.'" However, through his work on the show, which just dropped its second season on Hulu, Cimino believes that he has changed some previously narrow-minded perspectives. "I have changed opinions," Cimino revealed. "I had some friends who are religious and they’ve changed their perspective on things."

He has also received a fair bit of pushback from Hollywood, which often paints itself as progressive, Cimino said. "I’ve been advised that you shouldn’t play gay roles, especially [for] your first big role. 'Everyone will think you’re gay' or 'You won’t be able to book anything,' 'You’ll never be able to build a fan base,'" he said. "I’m not a traditional 'masculine' man, so that would be people trying to force me into something I’m not. Here I am playing a gay role that might not be considered masculine in an outdated idea of what masculinity is."

'I’ve had death threats'

Many members of the LGBTQ+ community have also admonished him because according to them, straight actors should not take on gay roles. "I’ve definitely had some criticism from the LGBT community for being in the role… I’ve had death threats, which is horrible," Cimino said. "But the show is important to me. The messages of hate— I came into it knowing that would happen, regardless of how good I was. But there are some straight actors who play gay characters, who are all about supporting LGBT rights while they’re promoting their project, but once they’re done, a year later, it’s kind of forgotten."

Nevertheless, Cimino maintains that it was an honor to portray the character of Victor. "It’s an honor to play Victor, and a big responsibility. I went in with the pure intent to represent that correctly. I held myself to a really high standard to make sure everyone going through this story felt represented by the show," he said. 

A number of Cimino's fans have stood up for the actor on social media. One of them wrote, "‘michael cimino is straight, he cant act as a gay character’ first of all he can bc he is, and second of all the way he portrayed victor touched me in so many ways, my feelings look a lot like victor feelings, and the way he acted made me feel more comfortable about me." Another said, "If the teens are going to bully michael cimino they gotta keep the same energy for harry styles lil gay cop movie." A third quipped, "i’m gonna need white gays and non-latines to shut up about michael cimino being straight but playing a gay character or else i’m gonna pull my hair out."