'This Is Me.' Out Actor Jordan Doww on Queer Thriller 'Ganymede'

EDGE: Can you tell us about it?

Jordan Doww: They haven't announced it yet. It's a Christmas film. I got to play with a lot of improv, which was just a dream come true. The cast is iconic. It's a Christmas family comedy. It's chaotic.

EDGE: So, you're an out actor playing a gay part. What are your thoughts on the subject of gay playing gay vs. best actor for the role?

Jordan Doww: It's a tricky subject, isn't it? I hope we don't get canceled for it. (laughs) Truly, it's scary to talk about anything these days because I want to remain sensitive and also have my own opinion.

EDGE: It has become very difficult. You're right.

Jordan Doww: I, myself, am sensitive to this topic, too, because I agree on both ends. I agree that actors are actors, and we should be able to morph into any role, right? That is my opinion, and I think that's how it should be. However, there was a time when queer actors weren't getting any roles. And I think it's important and necessary for out queer actors to be filling that space. I think it is important for, not only a more real and authentic portrayal, but it's just important for our community to have role models in the LGBTQ space who are playing these roles. So, I'm divided. I think actors should play every kind of role. I can play a straight role. And I have. I've also seen brilliant performances by straight actors playing queer roles. But what the trickiness comes down to is, as long as there's equal opportunity and you're auditioning both to play these parts.

EDGE: Having recently spoken to another out actor, we discussed how one used to look up actors in queer films and be so disappointed to find they were straight. Now, that's at least shifting a bit.

Jordan Doww: I'll say this, too. Having been a creator in the LGBTQ space, acting was always my number one. The YouTube stuff kind of took off on its own and did what it had to do. But I've always wanted to be in movies. I almost feel that now it's rather my duty, as a creator and now as an actor, to be sharing LGBTQ stories in queer cinema... so, if I can help share those stories by bringing whatever I have to those stories, I am certainly going to do it.

EDGE: You've been out since you were 19. Tell us about the decision to come out when you did, and how you feel it's affected your career.

Jordan Doww: That's a loaded question. I'll tell you right now, I think it was a little early for me. I think, back then, I was so excited and so starstruck and so naive. And I'm not trying to say any of this to derail anybody or make anyone feel any other type of way about this, but it was really fast for me. I just left Michigan at the age of 19. I started working at Disneyland as a photographer. And I launched my YouTube career shortly after that. I was on YouTube before then, but it wasn't long after that that I got a team and had people working for me and got my coming out video made and fully produced. And after it posts, I'm on all these talk shows. It was a lot. And I struggled a little bit. And you are the first person to hear that.

...I loved the project, and I loved the message. And I certainly have loved being out. But it just was a little fast for me and the attention I got. I mean, I didn't know anything other than what I knew I was. I didn't know anything about the community. And here I was getting asked to speak. I went through a lot of my own internal kind of shutdown. I have not told that to anybody. However, it's also done a world of wonders. It's allowed me to explore parts of myself without a care. Once I got through that chapter of the fear of what people thought, and the quickness of it, it almost jump-tracked my healing process.

But I wouldn't have it any other way, because now I feel this responsibility to be a role model for queer youth and show them an easier and safer way to do it. It's just so cool to me to see queer youth today owning who they are so young and so early. And I think especially with this film, we touch on internalized homophobia, and I think a lot of Millennials and Boomers and even maybe some Gen Z, we struggle with that because we [spent] so much of our youth closeted.

EDGE: "Ganymede" has such a strong cast. Can you speak about working with the ensemble which includes the amazing Robin Lively.

Jordan Doww: Icon! So, before we shot anything, me and the filmmakers – me, Sam, Colby and Pablo – all got dinner, and we sat down in a circle, held hands, and said, "What's our intention?" A week later, before we got to the family stuff, we invited Joe and Robin to do the same thing. And they were so sweet off the bat. I felt like I was getting to work with royalty, but that's my favorite thing about this work. I was so starstruck, but they're normal people who just want to collaborate with you and tell a great story. And once I felt that safety with them, it was like, okay, let's get to work and let's dive into this relationship. I'm working with icons, but I felt so close to them, and so loved. Robin's an icon, Joe's an icon, David's an icon, Pablo and Sophia are icons, Marissa... everyone in this film is just incredible. It was, truly, the best experience I've had thus far.

"Ganymede" is streaming on Cable and Digital VOD August 6, 2024, including Apple TV, Fandango at Home, and Prime Video.

This interview has been edited for content, clarity and length.