BRENDAN SCANNELL

The star of Netflix’s Bonding on how his fluid fashion finds him weak for a bonnet, why ‘Straight Pride’ is a hard pass, and why every single one of us is responsible for the continuing battle towards queer liberation.

Since stepping into the world of short episodes, Netflix has found an entirely new audience of fans that have come flocking for their daily fix of the flix. Unsurprisingly popular with fans, the platform has introduced a small number of queer-focused series. Alongside smash-hit programme Special comes a second short with a queer character at its core; Bonding. It’s a show that takes a refreshingly candid approach to sexual discovery, and the challenges marginalised people face.

“It’s about two young people trying to find themselves with this interesting BDSM hook and the adult nature and comedy of that has allowed it to connect to a much older audience as well,” explains Brendan who plays Pete in Bonding – alongside Zoe Levin as best friend and dominatrix, Tiff. “Pete goes on a hero journey from being very sex-negative to being very sex-positive, and I think that’s one that a lot of queer people do go through because we are inundated with such shame around our sexuality from such a young age,” he says. “I think the opening up of that and unlocking of Pete is something a lot of members of our community experience but don’t necessarily see on screen.”

And while it’s a world that Brendan laughs he hasn’t been directly involved with personally, the show pushes beyond the surface and highlights the bond between gay men and straight women – something Bonding champions with all its complexities. “In this piece is a straight girl and a gay guy and those are the most enriching relationships in my life and I know every straight girl and gay guy has one of those.”

Here we speak to Brendan about why he hasn’t become the go-to sexpert within his friendship group since the show aired, queerness in 2019, and why education is key to ensuring no LGBTQ person is left behind.

Did you expect Bonding to have quite the impact it has on Netflix?

The show was made by a French company called Blackpills. It was supposed to be, when I signed on to do it, released on their platform and so I expected nobody to ever see it, to be quite honest. I really liked the script and Rightor Doyle (executive producer) who created it and really wanted to go to New York and shoot this show that I expected nobody to ever see. Last year, it played a couple of different festivals until Netflix got wind of it, and so the last few weeks have been insane and something that I never expected.

So when was that moment you realised Bonding had really become a thing?

I found out it had been picked up in a really glamorous way... I was in the British Virgin Islands on a beach that I had swam to from a sailboat. I got that call and that was very glamorous. I guess the moment it felt real was when I woke up on the day it was released around 6am. I had a couple of comments on my Instagram that people had seen it and I was like, ‘Oh, it’s just a few people watching it, this is what I expected – how nice’. I fell back to sleep, woke up at 10am and my whole social media feed was flooded by people who had watched it in that four hour span. The reach of Netflix is insane – I’ve never worked on anything like this.

You mention the interactions online, what was the main thing fans connected with?

I think the cool thing about this show is that it unexpectedly connects with a lot of different demographics. There’s something fun and young about it. It’s about two young people trying to find themselves with this kind of interesting BDSM hook and the adult nature and comedy of that has allowed it to connect to a much older audience as well. The breadth of people who come up to me in Los Angeles and say they’ve watched it is pretty wide and diverse. A cool thing for me is that a lot of queer people are also watching it and that’s the community with the opinion I care the most about.

Have you had interactions from queer people that have longed for a show like this? A queer and sex-positive show.

I think that what a lot of people are connecting with is this character, Pete. He’s like an audience conduit into this world where he has no expereience with BDSM or sex work and kind of drifts into it. Because of that, I think a lot of audience members have the same sort of shock and delight and intense horror at some of these things he experiences. For me, I’m getting a lot of interactions with people who are excited to see a fun sex romp with a gay lead and a woman lead. The central dynamic in this piece is a straight girl and a gay guy and those are the most enriching relationships in my life and I know every straight girl and gay guy has one of those.

Do you think the show is successful in presenting a sex-positive narrative?

I think so. I think in terms of Pete’s journey, he goes on a hero journey from being very sex-negative to being very sex-positive, and I think that’s one that a lot of queer people do go through because we are inundated with such shame around our sexuality from such a young age. I think the opening up of that and unlocking of Pete is something a lot of members of our community experience but don’t necessarily see on screen.

Have you now become the go-to sexpert within your friendship group?

I would say that I’m the total opposite of that, although I am getting a lot of photos sent to me of people’s feet.

Some people from the sex work community have said that Bonding doesn’t accurately represent what they experience day-to-day.

Yeah I think that’s kind of important to remember, and I think we experience that with our own representation within the queer community where a movie will come out people don’t have a positive reaction to it as it’s not their exact experience. I think that community of sex workers are extremely criminalised and margnialised and so if this show in some way raises some issues that they can either discuss, or the show does something incorrectly, that they can correct, I think that is all a good thing and welcomed.

That community of sex workers are extremely criminalised and margnialised

and so if this show in some way raises issues that they can either discuss, or the

show does something incorrectly that they can correct, I think that is all a good

thing and welcomed.

And it’s creating a conversation that has been overlooked in mainstream media for too long.

We made the show, seven episodes, 12-16 minutes for a reason. That’s because it was made for no money. So were we to do another one and there to be an actual budget for a television show, you’d have more time and funds to delve into that. I think the show itself is exploring one personal experience of writer Rightor Doyle.

Has a second season been discussed?

Yeah I think that we’re not done! We shot in all these sex dungeons in Chelsea, New York, and there’s a lot of different rooms we didn’t use so...

Your clothing choices are fierce. How does clothing allow you to express your identity?

For me, fashion is about being playful, telling the story of who I am today, and most of all having fun. I tend to follow my gut, and I’m not super conscious of what it means identity-wise for me to wear a prom dress on a red carpet or to a party. It’s more that I might try on a prom dress with my stylist Aubrey Binzer and my body goes, ‘Oh, yeah. I have to do this. It’s Prom time’. What I’m trying to express with my style is that I have taste (I hope), and that I’m not taking myself too seriously. Even in a bonnet. Or especially in a bonnet. Love a bonnet moment.

When auditioning, have you ever had to tone down your queerness in order to secure a role or job?

I’ve auditioned for straight roles before and that’s something that is interesting to me. I’m interested in playing a lot of different types of parts. I’ve never had that said to me expressly. I also think we’re living in a time where more often I’m hearing stories of queer people going into auditions for roles that are not explicity written as queer and the writers or directors casting them and changing it to fit them and fit whatever makes them special. That’s something that’s exciting to me right now. I also think it’s always best to bring your full self to a part than to try and be something you’re not.

Do you think it’s harder to break through into the mainstream world or achieve success using your sexuality in your material?

I don’t really think about that, and if I did I would have trouble getting up and going to auditions everyday. Personally, I try to bring as much of myself to every role, and if I’m right for it, I’m right for it. Some of that ethos is tied into me being a comedian, where I’m constantly talking about my life. You can find out a lot about me from a quick Google or YouTube search, which is sort of terrifying and why I can’t smoke weed (it makes me want to move to the woods and be a hermit). That said, being myself has lead to my biest roles, which I guess I would describe as ‘mainstream’. For other actors, it’s different, and I understand when queer actors do not want to talk about their identities or sexuality. Even as ‘public figures’, everyone has a right to privacy, and everyone is just trying to have a career in this silly industry.

How do you ensure your sexuality doesn’t define you as an actor and you’re only ever cast in gay roles?

I’m not sure, talk to me in five years! Right now, I’m just trying to be the best actor I can, and hope that opportunities come my way. I’ve been really fortunate, and I don’t think it’s a coincidence that my two biest roles were given to me by gay men: Rightor Doyle (Bonding) and Jason Micallef (Heathers). In the meantime, I try to create opportunities for myself through writing, standup, working behind the scenes. I think in some ways a lack of opportunities, though frustrating, can force you to be more resourceful, to expand your talents, which in turn makes you a more dynamic artist. Ideally, one day I’ll be able offer roles/jobs to other queer people.

A group of activists from Boston have applied for a permit to hold the city’s first ‘Straight Pride’ parade at the end of August. How toxic do you believe this idea is for our community?

I mean, sometimes all you can do is laugh. I’m excited to see all the floats full of ill-fitting jeans and signs with bad penmanship...

The murder rates of trans women continue to rise in the USA. How do we ensure our entire community raises their voice to ensure nobody is left behind?

I’ll start by prefacing that I am an actor, and that I am by no means an expert in how the queer community should tackle it’s most pressing issues. I would say that we need to let trans people lead, ask them the best way to help, and then support and advocate with them/for them/beside them with the full force of the queer community’s muscle. This includes repealing backwards legislation regarding public spaces, military service, and prison sentencing; expanding education and resources into schools; and maybe most importantly: paying and hiring trans people for jobs. This is a population that faces intense workplace descrimination and therefore has fewer financial resources to protect themselves. So: hire people, pay people. Also, the queer community cannot do this alone. We need straight people to be alongside us and take up the human rights responsibility that they have in this fight. Call your straight friends, tell them this issue is important and that blood is on their hands if they stay on the sidelines.

And finally, what’s your message for any young LGBTQ person struggling with their own sexuality or gender identity?

Stay safe and protect yourself. Give people you trust the chance to love you for who you are. Don’t be afraid. Watch a John Waters movie... and wear sunscreen everyday.