I've been following actor Kevin McHale on social media for awhile now. Not only because of his role on Glee, but because I support his political posts, not to mention those previous thirst traps he posted. Last week, some you may have noticed one of Kevin's Tweets made the news. I took off as it was critical, and spot-on response, to the FCC chair about the fascist firing of late night host Jimmy Kimmel.
As much as supported Kevin's political Tweet, it was another of his Tweets that really caught my eye. It featured the image above of his Kevin's talented boyfriend with beauty school dropout Didi Conn. Kevin was celebrating the new movie featuring Conn and actor and musician Austin P. McKenzie. Along with the image, Kevin linked to a Variety article about the upcoming film, Actual Nobodies.
I didn't really know much about Austin until reading the description of film from writer and director Alex Wyse. I knew the performer as the hot 'blonde for now' boyfriend, who often posed nude with Kevin. Seeing his beautiful face in the image with Conn, and then reading beautiful description of the film, had me wanting to learn more. I just finished the first season of Somebody, Somewhere, and really loved the central relationship between the main characters.
We've seen shows like Will & Grace focus on the connection between a woman and a gay man, but it's still a relatively untapped topic in mainstream films and television. The relationship is often more intimate, and many times more complicated, than the relationship between two lovers. It certainly was with me and my best female friend.
'Actual Nobodies’ tells the story of two loners who find belonging in the most unexpected of places. Joyce (Conn), a whimsical woman in her seventies, rents out her spare room on a vacation rental website to Anthony (McKenzie), a young gay man recently cast out of his family home. What results is a comedic and dramatic whirlwind of two opposing souls who butt heads, yearn for connection, and ultimately overcome their own emotional hurdles to accept kindness into their own lives.'
I know I titled this piece, One to Watch, but I know many have already been watching and enjoying McKenzie and his performances on film and on stage. Many of you know McKenzie from his music, and his critically lauded role as Melchior Gabor in Deaf West Theatre's 2015 Broadway revival of Spring Awakening. Some may also remember the young actor for his turns on television, (When We Rise) and on film, co-starring alongside Russell Crow in 2020's Unhinged.
Some of my favorite shots of McKenzie are from Los Angeles based celebrity and musician photographer Rowan Daly. Daly has shot McKenzie numerous times, but I especially love their work for Daly's Fever and Form series. These are some of the tamer issues from the shoot, but I love the location, the lighting, and mood and feel Daly sets, not to mention McKenzie's erotically elegant poses.
I think McKenzie's only on-screen nudity was in the 2019 comedy short, The Time it Takes to Get There. (Caps thanks to ausCaps) I did however, also read another Tweet that makes me think we may see a little more of McKenzie in Actual Nobodies. That Tweet, from someone else that I follow, was promoting the project. They, also happen to have the job as intimacy coordinator on film.
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