Keiynan Lonsdale - Twentieth Century Fox special screening and performance of LOVE, SIMON, Los Angeles, CA, USA - 13 March 2018 - Photo Credit: Eric Charbonneau
Keiynan Lonsdale - Twentieth Century Fox special screening and performance of LOVE, SIMON, Los Angeles, CA, USA - 13 March 2018 - Photo Credit: Eric Charbonneau
3 min read

The Australian actor, dancer and singer/songwriter Keiynan Lonsdale has backed up his pivotal role in the gay coming out movie Love, Simon by launching a brand new single and lyric video title Kiss The Boy.

Some writers are already suggesting that Kiss The Boy is a queer anthem, inspired in part by Lonsdale’s role in Love, Simon.

Lonsdale played one of Simon’s online love interests in the movie and he has told Billboard that when he saw the teaser for Love, Simon he got the idea for creating Kiss The Boy.

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“The teaser for Love, Simon had dropped on YouTube and then for some reason, I don’t know why, the song ‘Kiss the Girl’ from The Little Mermaid popped up on my feed,” Lonsdale explained to Billboard.

“I was like, ‘Oh, that’s so funny. I wonder if I can do a cover of that song, but change it to about a boy?’ It didn’t work, but I was thinking about the Love, Simon trailer and I was really happy. Eventually, I got the hook, ‘If you wanna kiss the boy/ Then you better kiss the boy right now.'”

Lonsdale’s single Kiss The Boy is backed up by a super clever lyric video which he created with the help of his many fans across the world.

Lonsdale called out on his Instagram for his fans to send is short videos of themselves kissing each other, as long as they supported & believed in equal love for our LGBTQ community.

The result is a great mash-up of love across the board that fits perfectly with the new single.

Lonsdale is turning into a major Australian find in Hollywood, particularly for Love, Simon Director Greg Berlanti who not only cast Lonsdale as a major character in Love, Simon but also has cast Lonsdale in CW’s The Flash (As Wally West/Kid Flash) and also Legends of Tomorrow (Kid Flash).

He is now finding his feet with his music and Kiss The Boy is the first single from the upcoming album for Keiynan Lonsdale which will include many songs he has written and performed years ago.

“I’m still listening to them now and I still love them, then that’s a really good sign.”

He added, to Billboard, that the album will also have more songs that represent queer love: “At first, I was like, ‘I don’t wanna force this kind of thing.’ But that’s my reality.”

The 26-year-old openly gay performer, previously appeared in Australia’s Dance Academy TV Series, was not out to the cast mates of Love, Simon until the final wrap party, it was soon after that, he announced he was gay publicly.

Speaking with ET he reflected on the process of coming out to his castmates and also to the world.

“I wasn’t actually out to my cast the whole of filming until the wrap party,” Lonsdale explained to ET.

“Like I’d been out to friends and out to the casts of Flash and everything, I just always had this thing that when I met new people I suddenly went back into the closet, it always felt like such a big deal to have to reveal this thing.

“I realise I didn’t say it on the first day that I met them, and then I’d made such good friends with them I felt like I was just lying to them and I was so disappointed in myself.

“And then one of my friends was like, don’t be disappointed just recognise hey isn’t it interesting you’re filming this movie about a gay love story, where everyone is supportive, the director is gay, he has his family with him, it is a loving environment and you’re still not comfortable, what is it that you have to figure out.

“I told the cast on wrap night, it was awesome, chilled, no big deal, and then I just started to reflect which I’d obviously done for a while, it was a final push, maybe that I was the only one in control of how I saw myself.

“As much as I had been thinking about it(Coming out publicly) for so long, I didn’t know I was going to write a post and put it online, so I actually wrote it in five minutes at like 2 am and then it was like I was a robot that I didn’t actually do it, and it was out there and I was like I guess that’s done, cool.”

 

Last Updated on Mar 30, 2018


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