Happiest Season star Aubrey Plaza was once told that a gay rom-com would be “confusing” for audiences.
During an interview with The Independent, the actress reflected on the film industry’s ignorance towards LGBTQ+ relationships and how her experiences have left her feeling pretty appalled by it all.
Related: What is the controversy over Happiest Season’s ending – and why does it matter?
“A movie like this should have come out so long ago,” she said of 2020’s Happiest Season, which also starred Kristen Stewart and followed a young woman planning to propose to her girlfriend while at her family’s annual holiday party only to discover her partner hasn’t yet come out to her conservative parents.
“Not to toot my own horn but I was calling my agency years ago and going, ‘You know, what you should do is take a rom-com script and just… make it two women. Don’t make it about them being gay or coming out or anything, just a love story with two women.'”
Revealing the response, Plaza added: “It was ridiculous. It was, ‘Haha, arghhh, I don’t know!’ Literally someone said to me, ‘Well, imagine the poster and how confusing it would be for people.’ And I would be like, ‘Are you out of your f**King mind?’
“Can you believe? It’s wild. It is wild how completely ignorant this industry has been.”
Related: Kristen Stewart would have been “jealous” if she wasn’t in Happiest Season
The 36-year-old went on to discuss how fans ended up rooting for her character Riley to get with Kristen Stewart’s Abby.
“When Clea [DuVall, director] asked me to do the film, I remember saying to her, ‘Look, if I do this, I am going to come for Abby. I’m coming for her. The audience is gonna want me to be with her at the end, and that’s what I’m gonna want. So just as long as you know that…’ And she was kind of like, ‘Yeah yeah yeah.’
“But then I couldn’t believe the response when it was over. I was like, ‘Oh my God, it’s exactly what I said, but… crazier.'”
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