Everybody’s Talking About Jamie star Max Harwood has opened up about using his voice to help the trans community.
Sitting down with The Guardian, the 24-year-old actor discussed the importance of solidarity within the LGBTQ+ community.
“Just because I’m there… it’s important to recognise that other people aren’t so i need to use my voice to help those people. I’m specifically talking about trans people,” he explained.
“Over this past year there has just been some awful transphobia circling the internet and in real life.
“So I think it’s important as a community that we step up and forward for other people in our community, even if we feel like things have become easier for ourselves. We rise horizontally, and we only rise when we rise together.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Harwood opened up about Everybody’s Talking About Jamie and his similarities with the character Jamie New.
“I was definitely the kid at school always climbing out the window. I was a big dreamer, and a very creative person,” he revealed.
“I’m also from a smaller, more working-class town in Basingstoke. And while I never wanted to be a drag queen, me wanting to be an actor is probably the parallel to wanting to be a drag queen.”
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In terms of the film’s impact and what he’s taken away from his role, the young talent said: “I’ve learned how diverse our community is within the LGBTQIA+ bracket.
“This is just one story out of hundreds of stories that are very different, and there is still so much work to be done.”
Based on the critically-acclaimed stage musical of the same name, Everybody’s Talking About Jamie follows the titular character and his dreams of pursuing a career as a drag queen.
According to an official synopsis from Prime Video, Jamie’s “best friend Pritti and his loving mum shower him with endless support, while local drag legend Miss Loco Chanelle mentors him toward his debut stage performance.”
However, Jamie must also contend with his unsupportive father, an uninspired careers advisor and some high school bullies who “attempt to rain on his sensational parade”.
Harwood is joined by Sarah Lancashire as Jamie’s mother Margaret New, Lauren Patel as Pritti Pasha, Shobna Gulati as Ray, Ralph Ineson as Jamie’s father Wayne New, Adeel Akhtar as Iman Masood and Samuel Bottomley as Dean Paxton.
Deep breath for even more star power: Sharon Horgan as Miss Hedge, Richard E. Grant as Hugo Battersby/Loco Chanelle, John McCrea as young Loco Chanelle, Charlotte Salt as Cheryl and Bianca Del Rio as Ms. Haylock.
Everybody’s Talking About Jamie is now available to stream on Amazon Prime.
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