Haaz Sleiman

As Rafiq, the titular character of “The Son” in the first season’s final episode of “Little America,” Haaz Sleiman delivered a journey of heartbreak and hope in the tight half-hour story. When the audience meets him, he is living with his family in Syria, but is quickly forced out of his home after his father learns he is gay. He then finds solace in a new friend and in applying for asylum in the United States. The role was close to Sleiman’s heart as a gay man who grew up in Lebanon, and he will continue to represent the LGBTQIA+ community with his next big role in Marvel’s “Eternals.”

SLEIMAN: I could relate a lot to his journey. I’ve never been physically violated or abused like he was, but I went through that mental, emotional abuse and isolated childhood. And I actually escaped Lebanon, not because I was escaping persecution, but because I thought I couldn’t survive living there. It was a very emotional shoot, and I didn’t even realize how emotional it would be until we started rehearsing. My dad passed away in June before I had to go to Montreal and film. That, in a way, ignited a fire in me. Two months prior to him dying, my dad actually was telling me over the phone that he accepts me for who I am and he’d stand with me [and] he’d fight for me against any family member — which is something I never dreamed of. My father was very machismo and it was a very patriarchal society. I had a very bad relationship with my dad for so many decades, but then having him tell me that and then him passing away, it made me want to dedicate the episode to him. When you lose a parent for the first time, you don’t know how you’re going to feel, and as maybe bad as this is going to sound, it was really perfect for the journey of Rafiq. That sense of loss and confusion, it set me up in the right away for the show. I sat down with the director on the first day. I said, “Well listen, I’m a very sensitive person, which is good for me as an actor. However, I don’t know how that’s going to translate on set.” And sometimes we’d be filming and I would start crying and not be able to stop myself, and Stephen [Dunn, writer-director] would say, “We should pull that back a bit.” And I would be like, “Sure, of course.” But it was challenging to find the way not to let my father’s death get in the way but be useful for the journey. I feel like my dad’s death reopened an old wound, and having that old wound reopened helped me tap into the moments where Rafiq’s father burned his arm on the stovetop, for example. I had never had that happen to me, but it’s my job as an actor to find how to play it. I feel like as artists we all have a responsibility to spread light, truth and power, and to inspire. That is my focus and that is why I am an artist. Believe it or not, people say, “actors lie,” but the funny thing is, if you’re going to be a really excellent actor, your job is to show the truth and not to lie.