Kiss and tell:
Darius Williams talks about his ground-breaking role as Home And Away’s first gay teen. Kerry Harvey reports.
Darius Williams breaks new ground as Summer Bay’s first gay teen.
When Australians voted overwhelmingly in favour of same-sex marriage in November last year, Home And Away’s Darius Williams clearly recalls where he was when results were announced.
The 19-year-old actor watched the coverage of the controversial referendum between filming takes for his scenes as Ty Anderson, the long-running soap’s first gay teen.
“I have a distinct memory of the crew and some of the cast watching the ‘Yes’ vote come in, which was a huge, huge moment, not only for the cast and the writing of the character but also for Australia as a nation,” he says.
“I’d say that was easily one of the most memorable moments of being on the show – being able to play a character that would have been
affected by such a massive decision. I’m very, very privileged.”
Williams’ experience playing a troubled teen coming out to his friends and community drew a very different response to the soap’s last attempt at an LGBT storyline.
In 2009, a lesbian love affair between Summer Bay policewoman Charlie Buckton (Esther Anderson) and Joey Collins (Kate Bell) caused a public outcry from conservative groups and very few of the romantic scenes filmed between the pair made it to screen.
Nine years later, when a misguided Ty – who at the time seemed headed for romance with Raffy (Olivia Deeble) – kissed his best mate Ryder (Lukas Radovich),
“I felt it was more of a privilege being accepted to play a character who was so vulnerable and going through all these experiences that a lot of people are going through nowadays.” – Darius Williams
no one, including the two young actors, was at all concerned.
“It was definitely not a shock for either of us when we turned up on set and had to do it,” Williams says.
“It was something that was in constant conversation between the writers and the directors and also Lukas and I.
“(The feedback) has been so overwhelmingly positive. I really don’t have words for it actually.
“Everyone I’ve spoken to about it, and everyone who has been kind enough to reach out to me about the storyline, has been absolutely beautiful and more than generous in how they view this storyline, the character and the people around him.
“It’s been insane, for lack of a better word. Everyone’s been really fantastic about it so, hopefully, there are some more avenues for other characters like him.”
In fact, Williams says the same-sex kiss was nowhere near the hardest part of what was his first professional acting job.
He was still at school when he was cast to play Ty, who arrives in Summer Bay to be fostered by John (Shane Withington) and Marilyn (Emily Chambers) after the death of the grandparents who raised him.
“I got the job midway through my HSC (Higher School Certificate) exams and the hardest aspect was not being able to tell people about it,” he says, of the secrecy surrounding the storyline.
“All I really wanted was to tell my really close friends about it but I just had to weave a few extremely elaborate lies in order to cover my tracks. Now that it’s out, everyone who is really close to me has been extremely supportive.”
The young actor is not gay himself, something which made him doubly determined to portray Ty’s struggles as realistically as possible.
“That was all the more reason why I wanted to be able to actually honour the character,” he says, adding that he spoke to a lot of people about their own experiences of coming out.
“It was really my job to knuckle down and learn what that experience would be like so I wasn’t phoning it in.
“It was definitely something I really wanted to do justice, for the people who are actually going through it.”
Williams had no reservations about taking on what many people would consider a controversial role at such a young age.
“If anything, I felt it was more of a privilege being accepted to play a character who was so vulnerable and going through all these experiences that a lot of people are going through nowadays,” he says.
“Hopefully, people will watch his story and learn and grow with him as well as with the people who are surrounding him in the show.”