LOVE, VICTOR
WHY SMALL-SCREEN SPIN-OFF LOVE, VICTOR IS A BIG DEAL…
Introducing the brightest new Star on Disney+.
Spinning off from 2018 groundbreaker Love, Simon, Disney+ series Love, Victor turns the spotlight to Latinx teen Victor (Michael Cimino) and his dysfunctional family, who move to Atlanta from Texas with a little help from Nick Robinson’s Simon himself. Here, stars Cimino and George Sear (who plays Victor’s love interest Benji) talk teen struggles, sexuality and singing…
Victor discovers that sexuality and gender are a spectrum…
MICHAEL CIMINO [VICTOR SALAZAR]: It’s definitely true; everyone falls somewhere on the spectrum, and it’s awesome that it’s being talked about in a mainstream show. It’s something that needs to be talked about more than it already is; hopefully, we’ll soon have more stories that highlight it. I feel that our show is very educational, and very easy to digest.
How does it feel to be playing these characters?
MC: It’s such a big honour to play an LGBTQ+ character, to represent everyone who’s going through this experience as accurately as possible on screen.
GEORGE SEAR [BENJI CAMPBELL]:
As an actor, it’s difficult to even book a job, so to play a character that connects with people, in an LGBTQ+ story in which the youth can see themselves… yes, it’s an honour.
How much do you relate to Victor?
MC: I’ve shared a lot of similar experiences to those he goes through, being the glue of his family. The character is a representation of a lot more things than going through the discovery of sexuality. He’s going through a process of self-discovery; every human being has gone through this, in one way or another, and that’s the overarching theme of the story. This makes him very relatable. Nobody really knows who they are, and they always try to work towards figuring it out.
GS: By the time you meet Benji, he’s already gone through the high-school struggle of coming out, which is obviously a big struggle. But you see more of that in Season 2, without giving anything away. There’s some underlying stuff we get into.
What was it like when Simon himself, Nick Robinson, dropped into the show?
MC: Freaking awesome. Nick is amazing, and such a kind soul. I really enjoyed working with him. I’m hoping to work with him again soon. He’s really incredible. We met at the end of production, and he kinda, like, passed the torch, so to speak, and gave me some words of encouragement that were very needed, though I didn’t know I needed them [laughs].
There’s a big scene that involves singing and dancing to Carly Rae Jepsen’s ‘Call Me Maybe’...
GS: [Laughs] I didn’t actually sing that. But we do get together and jam sometimes; I was just at Michael’s studio, a few days ago.
Congrats on getting a second season – any tidbits on what to expect?
MC: You will hear George’s actual singing voice in Season 2. It’s phenomenal, and it will really knock your socks off.
GS: There is a song [laughs]…
MC: I don’t know if I’m supposed to say that yet, but I’ll take the fall on that one!