From ‘AV nerd’ to starring on Netflix
Vancouver actor Doheny has top billing in new coming-of-age teen film Alex Strangelove
High school is hard — pass it on.
Now imagine being a senior set to have sex with your girlfriend for the first time and then out of the blue a cute guy catches your eye and suddenly your life isn’t about sex it’s about your sexuality?
Welcome to the stressful world of Alex Truelove (Daniel Doheny) the character at the centre of the new teen film Alex Strangelove that is currently streaming on Netflix.
Long gone are the halcyon days of the simple popularity contest and peer pressure experimentation.
Today’s teens are facing many bold and heavy realities. Sexuality is certainly at the forefront of today’s modern teen topics. The closet is getting less and less crowded as more and more kids stand up and share their own gender and identification stories.
But new found societal freedoms, or at least the perceptions of freedom, do not make the navigation of the teen years any easier. As Alex’s best friend Dell (Daniel Zolghadri) points out Alex’s road to identifying as a gay male seems downright nostalgic and maybe even quaint in the face of today’s sexual realities.
“It’s a confusing time man,” says Dell, while the two discuss the sexual stresses of high school. “Everywhere you look someone is omnisexual or polyamorous or gender queer and transitioning into God knows what.”
Bringing the sweet, confused and sometimes just wrong Alex to life is Vancouver actor Doheny. A 2008 Lord Byng Secondary graduate, Doheny said his memories of hallways and homerooms helped him prepare for this role. In doing so he said he found even more empathy for his character’s stressful road to understanding his own sexuality.
“I had enough on my plate in high school just trying to figure out how to date the people I wanted to date and not being able to. It’s such a mess. It’s a muddy, confusing, emotional time,” said Doheny about navigating those years as a straight kid. “I wanted to have sex as much as possible but I couldn’t get anybody to doitwithme.
“I tried to tap into the emotional vulnerability and confusion I felt,” added Doheny.
A coming of age and coming out story, this Craig Johnson written and directed film also loudly champions the need for supportive friends when wading through the alligator-infested waters of high school. For Alex that is (for the most part) his girlfriend Claire (Madeline Weinstein) and the straight talking Dell.
Doheny said his high school experience was also made a lot better by having a similar set of pals.
“I had a good experience because I met a really core group of friends who I am still best friends with and we made movies. We were the AV nerds at school,” said Doheny. “We made movies every Friday. When everyone was going to parties and stuff we just signed out the camera from the film department and just made movies every Friday.”
The “AV nerds,” kept to themselves and kept away from excessive partying.
“I didn’t start experimenting with drugs until after high school. Again I was a bit of a nerd. Parties were intimidating enough without the thought of having to do some sort of crazy drugs,” said Doheny.
While he waited to experiment with drugs, Doheny had no such hesitation when it came to seeing movies that were not meant for kids.
“When I was that age (1214) I know I was kind of sussing out which Blockbuster employee would let me rent American Pie or Road Trip or an R-rated movie,” said Doheny. “You don’t have to worry about that anymore. You can just watch it on Netflix.”
After his trip back in time to life as a teenager, Doheny said he looked at it again and thought about Alex and the emotional tension that is bearing down on him.
“I would (say to) Alex, just stop overthinking things and just kind of follow your instincts and follow what feels right,” said Doheny. “It doesn’t matter. Follow your heart.”
Doheny has been following his heart and focusing on acting since he was a teen. Last year he co-starred with the great Judy Greer in Public Schooled and his next film is the soon to stream The Package — another original movie from Netflix. But before the film work came the stage work. Fresh out of the Studio 58 theatre program he joined Bard on the Beach in 2013. The highlight of his summer season was playing six; count ‘em six roles in Twelfth Night.
“That was huge for me,” said Doheny about his entry into Shakespeare’s world. “Sure I have to do this film and TV stuff now but I still want to go back as soon as possible.
“I don’t think there is any better place to work in the world than Bard on the Beach. You’re speaking the greatest words ever written and you’re outside in basically paradise,” added Doheny, who has worked for the Arts Club as well. “You look behind you in Vanier Park and at the mountains and the ocean and the sun is setting. It is like a Lord of the Rings elf paradise. It is ridiculous. It’s like summer camp. Everybody gets along and everybody is together everyday. It’s fantastic.”
So, kind of the opposite of high school.