Boy Erased's Lucas Hedges Opens Up About His Sexuality

Lucas Hedges, star of the film Boy Erased, is opening up about his sexuality.

“I owe it to this part to speak as honestly as possible,” the 21-year-old actor told Vulture about his role in the film and his own sexuality. “In the early stages of my life, some of the people I was most infatuated with were my closest male friends. That was the case through high school, and I think I was always aware that while for the most part I was attracted to women, I existed on a spectrum.”

“I felt ashamed that I wasn’t 100 percent, because it was clear that one side of sexuality presents issues, and the other doesn’t as much,” he continued. “I recognize myself as existing on that spectrum: Not totally straight, but also not gay and not necessarily bisexual.”

Lucas added, “People expect you as an actor to have a voice that’s set in some way, and that’s really not what I am. I’m very much within the conflict and confusion of my own life, still, and I definitely feel a pressure to step up in a way. I prefer to step up in my art, and I don’t entirely know how to in my life.”

If you don’t know, Boy Erased tells the story of Jared (Hedges), the son of a Baptist pastor in a small American town, who is outed to his parents (Nicole Kidman and Russell Crowe) at age 19. Jared is faced with an ultimatum: attend a conversion therapy program – or be permanently exiled and shunned by his family, friends, and faith.