Category: Top Features

JULIO TORRES STAR OF THE NEW HBO MAX SERIES FANTASMAS

Suit, Shirt, Boots, and Bag: Thom Browne (@thombrowne), Tie: Daniel Roa (@danielroaart), Tights: Calzedonia (@calzedonia), Gloves: Stylists’ own

Photographer: Yulissa Benitez Amaro @yu.lez

Fashion Stylist: Angel Emmanuel Ramirez @angelemmanuel

Makeup Artist: Cyler Daigle @cylersays

Hair Artist: Sean Bennett @uhmmwhat

Photo Assistants: Timothy Smith @tiwothy, Vinit Patel @uncl3swag

Stylist Assistant: Laura Napoliello @lauranapoliello

Interview by Marc Sifuentes

Celebrated for his distinctive storytelling and imaginative flair, Julio Torres emerges as a prominent figure in the world of comedy and filmmaking. Hailing from El Salvador, Torres has garnered widespread acclaim, earning prestigious accolades such as Emmy nominations, a Peabody Award, and a Writers Guild of America Award.

Last year, Torres made his impressive directorial debut with A24’s Problemista, captivating audiences and critics alike at the SXSW Festival. Notably, he not only directed but also wrote and starred in the film alongside luminaries such as Tilda Swinton, Isabella Rossellini, and RZA.

Now, venturing further into his creative journey, Torres presents Fantasmas, a six-episode series slated to premiere on HBO Max on June 7th. Serving as the writer, director, executive producer, and lead actor, Torres crafts a whimsical and introspective narrative revolving around the search for a lost oyster earring. Through a series of encounters and reflections, the story unfolds into mini-films, blending eerie comedy with poignant insights.

Julio shares his thoughts on embracing his evolving role as a multi-hyphenated creator, weighs in on the tough decision of voting in this year’s election, and delves into the captivating tale of a lost oyster earring—all while stepping into the role of Iris Covet Book intern for the day.

Full Look: Thom Browne

I just watched the first three episodes of Fantasmas and I love the series already.

Thank you.

Going into the show blindly, it reminded me of how we used to rent these art house movies from Blockbuster video or somewhere and maybe you have seen the trailer, or maybe you would know the movie poster, but you would rent these movies not knowing what you were going to get but you knew it would be avant-garde.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, absolutely.

And watching the series there are so many nods, I feel, to that era. It’s such a unique and unconventional concept and I don’t want to give too much away but can you tell me how did the idea for Fantasmas come about?

Well, I missed the short form writing I got to do on Saturday Night Live. And I missed feeling like I could make short stories that were these little character studies and have them be in short form. And so, you know, a sketch show was the obvious vehicle for that. At the same time I wanted to weave in and out of them and I craved for some kind of cohesion and then the idea of a through line came about. And then it was really solidified when I actually lost an earring that was the exact earring described in the show. And I was just so mad. And I thought I should just make a show about this to make this experience productive somehow.

Full Look: Thom Browne

Once you had this idea, how did you start shaping and refining it? It’s pretty consistent with your tone of comedy and writing, but how do you pitch a story of losing an earring to such a huge streaming service like HBO Max? Did they buy into the concept immediately?

They did because I think that it was more than a pitch. But I think that, if this show were distilled into one sentence in an email, then I don’t know what the likelihood would be that they would have made it.

Because by that point, they knew my previous series Los Espookys, because obviously HBO made Los Espookys and these executives had also made My Favorite Shapes, my comedy special. So, they were very interested in what this could be and I feel like they saw the potential in it. And even after they decided that they wanted to do it, the show kept morphing and changing and they were always very, very supportive of it. I feel like they got the concept due to a trust in me.

Full Look: Thom Browne

I feel like there are a lot of social commentary messages happening throughout Fantasmas, both subtle and overt. I’m curious of how it might resonate with younger viewers since it feels especially relevant to their experiences and challenges today. Did you specifically have a younger audience in mind while writing the show?

To be honest, I don’t know that I was trying to anticipate a reaction. I really make work that feels honest to me and honest to how I feel and how I see the world. But no, I don’t feel like I reverse engineer and be like, oh, young people are like this or young people feel this way and so I’m going to do something that caters to them. I think that if that ends up happening, then it is no longer organic.

But yeah, I think the show is very much a product of its time and it’s in conversation with the anxieties of the time, it’s in conversation with how do we keep living in a world that puts us in boxes every day, a world where the threshold for being a part of the society keeps getting harder and harder. And seeing more and more people are being left outside and seeing who walks into it passively and who has no choice. These are questions that are very interesting to me. I think that there was a period in my life where I felt very much like institutionally an outsider and I’m fortunate enough that that chapter is not necessarily true of me anymore.

But it really makes me think of like when I see establishments that don’t take cash, for example, I always think of how that might seem convenient for a lot of people, but it makes it impossible for some. The idea that in New York now, the convenience that we can just tap our phone and that grants us entry onto the subway. I think that will come at a cost in perhaps the not so distant future. That this is the only way you can access public transportation, which means that you need a smartphone, which means that you need a bank, which means that you need to be in good standing with the bank. These are all things that so many of us take for granted but are not the reality for everyone. And this idea of people getting pushed out was conceptualized and metabolized for me as ghosts, as Fantasmas in them. And you don’t need to be in those shoes to feel like that way, but I feel like that was my way into that concept.

Top and Bottoms: Tanner Fletcher (@tanner.fletcher), Tie: Daniel Roa (@danielroaart), Shoes: Thom Browne (@thombrowne), Glasses: Stylists’ own

As I was watching Fantasmas I was thinking about how your comedy style is so unique. I was curious, who were your inspirations growing up?

That’s a good question. I don’t know, I’ve always been pretty visually driven, to be honest. Stand-up comedy came about for me as a way of attempting to get an into a world that I didn’t know how to enter, by that I mean entertainment. So, I started doing stand-up, not really actually having aspired to be a stand-up comic. Now, of course I love it. But I really like watching movies and when I was really young, seeing like a Wes Anderson or a Tim Burton, for example, just make worlds that are fully their own and develop a very specific style, that was always very seductive to me.

I feel like your bio has grown from comedy writer to executive producer to director. You are so many things now, what title do you end up with in the end?

I think I have warmed up to the title of director quicker than I thought I would. I think that it’s because it’s broader, but yeah, I don’t know maybe creator. Artist. Audiovisual Artist? Haha I don’t know, because to me all of those go hand in hand and yeah, it has kept growing to encapsulate everything I need to do in order to make the kind of work I want to do.

Top and Bottoms: Tanner Fletcher (@tanner.fletcher), Tie: Daniel Roa (@danielroaart), Shoes: Thom Browne (@thombrowne), Glasses: Stylists’ own

Because even for me to ask you what’s your comedy style, it doesn’t feel like you’re just a comic because there’s so many different layers to your work now. It seems that you transcend conventional comedic boundaries, making it challenging to categorize you only as a comic.

But I do wonder what would someone who is not too familiar but familiar enough with my work, what title would they use? And I kind of think that they would just maybe name the things that I’ve done that they’re familiar with, and that feels nice.

As I was researching for this interview, I couldn’t help but notice how it almost seems like everything always fell into place for you career wise. Were there any significant obstacles you faced on your journey to where you are today?”

Oh, I mean, I feel like the biggest challenge career wise was what’s explored in my movie Problemista. I mean, getting to a place where I was able to just be here in the. U.S., catch my breath and dedicate myself to work without having the cloud of immigration and all those things hovering over me.

But since then, I have been lucky that one thing has led to another and they all help the next thing. But I also feel like this is a blessing and a curse with the kind of work that I do where it either happens or it doesn’t. And there’s no years in between spent in artistic compromises because this is the only way I know how to do it, right? It’s like, I pitch a show, the streamer or whatever either buys it or it doesn’t. And if it does, I fully feel like I can make it my own and if it doesn’t, then I move on. I haven’t spent years and years doing work that I’m not super proud of, which I feel very lucky.

Top and Bottoms: Tanner Fletcher (@tanner.fletcher), Tie: Daniel Roa (@danielroaart), Shoes: Thom Browne (@thombrowne), Glasses: Stylists’ own

Your presence on screen serves as a source of inspiration for many writers and directors within the Latin community, particularly with the relatable story of ‘Problemista.’ Have you received significant feedback from individuals who have personally experienced similar immigration challenges, both in your own life and as depicted in the film?

Yeah, a lot actually. It’s ironic because I felt so lonely in those times of my life and come to find out that it’s so relatable and that many of us have felt those ways. And yeah, that’s always really humbling that you’re not just making a vanity project that just speaks to yourself or a few, but that you’re actually speaking to a greater human experience.

Your approach to storytelling is always unique and endearing, and it evokes a sense of childlike wonder and optimism, even while your characters are struggling. It’s a quality that often fades as we mature and encounter the reality of life. Do you find that you still maintain a childlike optimism about the world as an adult?

Yeah, for sure. I’m an optimist. I was raised an optimist by my mother and I feel like I’m continuing to be that way, I hope. And I’m a glass half full person and it takes a lot for me to despair and I just keep going, going, going. Yeah, that’s just my default. And I do feel like a  kid when they hear the word “No”. Kids don’t go, “oh, okay”. No, they are like, “well why? Well, what about this? Well, what about that?” And I feel like I’m completely like that.

Top and Bottoms: Tanner Fletcher (@tanner.fletcher), Tie: Daniel Roa (@danielroaart), Shoes: Thom Browne (@thombrowne), Glasses: Stylists’ own

Would you say you’re stubborn?

Yes, very. Uh-huh.

Aquarius, right?

Aquarius, yeah. And either I care about it deeply and I’m so stubborn about it or I couldn’t care less and I’m like fine, yeah, whatever. So, for me, like, no, no, it’s gonna happen this way or we’re not gonna do it.

Blouse, Skirt, Jacket: Tanner Fletcher (@tanner.fletcher), Tights: Calzedonia (@calzedonia), Shoes: Thom Browne (@thombrowne), Glasses: Stylists’ own

Returning to the topic of Fantasmas, alongside yourself, Emma Stone serves as an executive producer on the show, and she also held this role for Problemista. Could you share the story behind your collaboration? How did you two initially connect?

We met when she hosted Saturday Night Live two or three times ago. And she really gravitated towards my writing in a way that was so humbling, and I really loved, loved getting to work with her. So by the time that I needed producers that felt like an obvious fit, but also because half of the production company is my friend Dave McCarrie who had directed everything I wrote on Saturday Night Live and he and I were like on lockstep together and creating for so long that it just made so much sense.

So, I’d like to delve into politics for a moment. I’ve noticed you’re quite active on social media, and given the current climate, particularly concerning the youth vote, it can be challenging to fully support a candidate. While there may seem to be an obvious choice, there’s definitely hesitancy among many voters in vocalizing support for Joe Biden this election year.

Yeah.

What are your thoughts on your role and influence as a celebrity in the political sphere, and what are your plans for engagement during this political season?

I don’t know. The big answer to that question is I don’t know because I feel the consequences of the worst of the two evils being elected are going to be catastrophic. And at the same time, I’m so furious, so furious that we have been painted into a corner where we have to choose someone who is going so against how we want the world to be, whose only selling point is that he is not as bad as the alternative. And that is such a gut punch to the youth and to the future and it’s very frustrating. And I don’t know, I think that like we will perhaps feel a greater sense of urgency to rally again, to rally for this person. I think we’re still in a bit of a denial period, maybe. Where we think they will be like “JK! Actually there’s this other option!”

Blouse, Skirt, Jacket: Tanner Fletcher (@tanner.fletcher), Tights: Calzedonia (@calzedonia), Shoes: Thom Browne (@thombrowne), Glasses: Stylists’ own

But it’s too late. We’re too far in at this point. And I’m looking for your optimism here!

I know, I know. I think that the optimism here is that I think the seeds for something greater are definitely planted. I think that things move as quickly as we want them to. I have never experienced such loud, anti-war movements as I have now. And for the longest time I have always felt like I sort of had to always bite my tongue about this.

Because this idea, this very like patriotic idea that there are countries that are good and countries that are bad. And those were already decided. I don’t know, I like that these things are being questioned and examined now. And so in that way it is hopeful, but I don’t know. It’s very much that that party is really taking those votes for granted. It’s tough.

But we can move back into more positive topics. Because I want to get back to Fantasmas and all the great guest stars that are in it, I’m on episode three now but I’m like very excited to see who else is on. Can you name a few people? Well, by the time this comes out, everyone will know, but who else can I expect to see? Are there different celebrities in each episode?

Yeah, yeah. I mean, to me, the celebrities are as much as a joy as much as the cast who are new to the audience who they’ll get to meet and fall in love with. Obviously, I think Martine is a revelation that people will fall in love with. And I have other friends that you’ll see in later episodes. I think that my friend Spike really blossoms in later episodes. And as for people that audiences may already know, I was so delighted to get to work with Rosie Perez.

Full Look: Thom Browne (@thombrowne)

That’s going to be great, I love her.

Yeah, so you’ll see her.

I like how the casting is a good blend of a lot of the New York scene kids mixing in there.

Yeah, obviously Rosie is very much one, too.

Yeah, for sure from all generations, it’s like very New York.

Very New York!

Suit, Shirt, Boots, and Bag: Thom Browne (@thombrowne), Tie: Daniel Roa (@danielroaart), Tights: Calzedonia (@calzedonia), Gloves: Stylists’ own

 

THE HOMECOMING OF JAKE WESLEY ROGERS

Dress – Shahar Avnet, Pants -Peter Do, Earrings – Christian Lacroix

 

Creative Direction – Stepp+Dreedn
Photography – Alicia Stepp @aliciastepptx
Motion – Kevin Shivers @dreedn.ig
Stylist – Edwin Ortega @edwin.j.ortega
Makeup+Hair – Bianca Rivas @biancalinettehmu
Photo Assist – Myckenzee Kunn @myckenzee._.ann
Video Assist – Norma Shivers
Retouch – Thiago Peraça @thiagoperaca

 

Shirt – Unisecon

The Homecoming of Jake Wesley Rogers

 The queer pop musician talks tour, their new EP, and songwriting inspirations.

By: Hilton Dresden @hiltyhilthilt

You may know Jake Wesley Rogers best from TikTok, which spawned a viral moment for his song “My Mistake.” Or perhaps you’re a fan of 2021’s moody pop Pluto EP, the predecessor to their latest collection of work: the LOVE EP, out this fall, which includes the hits “Hindsight” and “Lavender Forever.” Alt-pop and rock influences combine to create a body of work about longing, identity, and the pains of love.

The unapologetically queer Missouri native is only 25, but has already established himself as a force to be reckoned with in the music industry. He’s been interviewed by Elton John, performed on Good Morning America, and, most recently, just finished a US tour opening for Ben Platt. Back in his hometown in Missouri, we caught up with the singer ahead of a special homecoming performance.

Candid and ever-honest about his emotions, the rising artist opened up to Iris Covet Book about LOVE, their forthcoming debut studio album, and a host of influences, from getting proposed to by the preacher’s son to quotes from Oscar Wilde.

 

Gucci

You just completed your first tour — how did it feel?

Oh, it was wonderful. It was really my first tour. And it exceeded every expectation. I was so excited. I love performing. There were a lot of variables that we have no control over, because we’re opening. And I’ve heard that opening can be pretty brutal, because it’s obviously not your audience, but I feel like we won, every night. I feel like what I came to do was transmitted, and it connected. That’s kind of all you can ask for.

Dress – Shahar Avnet, Pants -Peter Do, Earrings – Christian Lacroix

I want to start with the kernel of the idea for this new EP — from the beginning, the writing process and producing.

I think it’s important to say most of the songs are from about two years ago. Which, as you know, as a writer, that feels like 4000 years ago. How fast we move on. But I knew I needed to honor these songs as the true moments that they were. I released my first major label EP Pluto last year. I guess if this were a different decade, it probably would have been — this feels like Side B to Pluto. They feel like they’re in the same world and atmosphere. Because with Pluto, I feel like it was sort of asking the question: ‘What is love, and why is it making me feel so crazy?’ My grandpa was dying at the time. My grandma died, and he was heartbroken. I was looking at my parents’ love, like, ‘Is that what I want?’ Love is the most overused word probably. But it’s also essential. When I realized I needed to call it Love, I was reading a Maya Angelou quote, and she says she uses love, because it might be that which pushes the blood through the veins, or keeps the stars in their place. It’s a hefty force, for sure. When I listened to the project, it’s like, ‘Oh, these are just little questions of what is love for me.’ I don’t know the answer.

Thom Browne

So if Pluto was asking ‘What is love?’ What are the main questions you associate with this body of work?

I think it’s more like where’s it taking me, now. Obviously, love didn’t kill me. Even though I felt like it was a few times. Where is it leading me? I feel like this EP is a bridge for me, to where I am now. I’m working on my debut album. And I feel like these are the ideas and songs that took me to this place I am now, which is a much deeper, scarier, more confusing place, where I feel even freer to say everything I want to say. But I needed to write those songs to get here. Those are all true moments. And I love them.

Alexander McQueen

So you say it’s a bridge leading you to where you are now. Obviously you can’t share spoilers or anything, but with this debut album, what can you share about the headspace you’re in and the kind of things that are interesting you now?

I’m obsessed with Oscar Wilde, and I have been since I was, like, 19. He wrote this letter when he was in prison, for being gay, to his lover. And he was talking about being in the courtroom. They were reading all of the evidence against him — ‘You hired this rent boy!’

He calls it like a turning point, where he realized, it’s one thing to have someone else tell you what you’ve done wrong. But he’s like, ‘How amazing would it be if I stood up there? And I said every single sin or stain on my life, boldly. What would that look like?’ I was like, ‘Oh, that’s what this album [is]: What can I say that terrifies me?’ We wrote this song last week that affected me so much that I am going back to therapy. Which is the gift, because I don’t think that songs are healing. I think they’re cathartic. And I think they point you towards what is actually going on. A song doesn’t fix PTSD. Therapy is needed for those things, or whatever is needed, a song doesn’t do all the work, but it can point you to where you need to do the work. So that’s kind of what the songs have felt like. When I say ‘deeper,’ it’s not that the other songs are more surface level, I think it’s just [that] we’re getting closer to the points.

Alexander McQueen

You’re saying that the song you wrote last week prompted you back to therapy. I’m curious, what’s the song about?

It’s like a dark night of the soul song. I’m looking at this tarot card. I’m just going to use it to explain. I pulled it a lot on tours: the Ten of Cups. And traditionally, it’s like a happily ever after card because it looks like it’s this family, and there’s a rainbow. But I was reading this person’s interpretation, and she said ‘This is a stage card. If you notice, this family is on a stage. They’re performing happiness. They’re performing this kind of ideal that exists sometimes.’ Obviously, we are happy sometimes, but the point is, it’s a rainbow to show that to live a fulfilled life is experiencing many emotions. The rainbow is many things: it’s happiness, and despair and loneliness and joy, and probably within 20 minutes of themselves, sometimes. So the reason I pulled that card is because there’s always this sort of persona that we’re putting out. I’m on the stage performing a lot. But the song I wrote last week, I’m not performing for anyone right now, not even myself. So what do I need to say? And what I said was, basically, ‘I’m tired of living, but I don’t really want to die.’ That’s the gist of it.

Dries van Noten

Which songs on the Pluto EP are resonating with you the most these days, as you’re performing them?

It’s funny — the ones that are my favorites actually haven’t really [been] performed yet. “My Mistake” and “Call It Love” and “Dark Bird.” I don’t really perform those yet, just because the set was so short. Okay. Right. I’m going to say “My Mistake” is probably my favorite. And it’s really resonating, from what I can tell. It’s just me, at the piano, telling a story of dating the preacher’s son in high school. He proposed to me before I went to college. I said ‘Yes, question mark.’ I didn’t say no. But it was a capital T trauma moment for sure. So anything you say is not coherent. I put that song on Tiktok, like, two years ago, and it had a little moment. People do just want to hear the truth in the story. I think the more specific we are in telling our story, and the more explicit we are in telling our story, the more universal it is. It’s not really the other way around. I tried to do that on the song “Call It Love.” That’s an ode to Oscar Wilde. It starts with an Oscar Wilde quote, he said ‘The secret of life was in art.’ A lot of my music has coded terms. “Lavender Forever,” I mean, the last night of tour, my band was like, right before going onstage: ‘What the fuck is “Lavender Forever” about?’ I was like, ‘Gay sex what else?’

Corset – AREA, shirt – Y/PROJECT, skirt – SEYIT

You were talking about Oscar Wilde — I’m curious, are there other sources of inspiration that you are taking these codes from right now?

I don’t think I’ll ever shake the Bible metaphors. I don’t really know why. But they’re there. I just love telling the queer story through biblical metaphors. I feel like it’s happening, I see it everywhere now. It’s kind of in the zeitgeist. It’s a bit of a reclamation. But I do find most inspiration from authors, at least lyrically. And lately, a lot of Beethoven.

Gucci

So you’re home right now — do you like being home?

I do love going home actually. I think there’s part of me that will always probably feel most at home in Missouri. I don’t predict that’ll live there anytime soon again. Same as the Christ archetypes, I don’t know why I just can’t shake this. I’ve tried to shake it and it just kind of creeps back. I guess it’s accepting who you are and how you’re raised. You can let go of the things that don’t serve you. But if there’s parts of it that still do serve, you don’t want to let go of all of it. I do love going home.

Dress – Annakiki, Shirt – Unisecon

VALERIA GOMEZ BY JAHULIE ELIZALDE

Collar – Gothic Renaissance / Dirt Bike Armor – Cycle Gear / Boyshorts – Vex Latex / Sunglasses – Balenciaga / Earrings – Balenciaga / Shoes – Custom by Stylist

Photography – Jahulie Elizalde

Stylist – Jahulie Elizalde

Makeup – Christyna Kay @ Art Department

Hair – Yukie Nammori

Model – Valeria Gomez @ Muse Model MGT

Dress – Kuai Li / Shoes – Custom by stylist / Sunglasses – Diesel / Earrings – Kenneth Jay Lane

 

 

Bodysuit – Vex Latex / Leather Blazer – Ventura / Wader boots – Dicks Sporting

(L): Bodysuit – Vex Latex / Jeans – Desigual (R): Dress – Kuai Li Boots – Max Mara

Top & Collar – Gothic Renaissance / Boyshorts – Vex Latex / Waders – Dicks Sporting goods / Sunglasses – Balenciaga / Dress worn as coat – Vintage

Blazer – Aramide / Trousers – AKNVAS / Bodysuit – Vex Latex / Choker – Saint Laurent / Shoes – Custom by stylist

Bodysuit – Vex Latex / Choker – Saint Laurent

Jacket & Jeans – Desigual / Bodysuit – Vex latex

Collar – Gothic Renaissance / Dirt bike Armor – Cycle Gear / Boyshorts – Vex Latex / Sunglasses – Balenciaga / Earrings – Balenciaga

GREECE DREAM BY GREG SWALES

John wears Sèfr blue jacket from Neighbour, Gentle Monster x Moncler sunglasses from Roden Gray. 

 

GREECE DREAM

Photographer: Greg Swales

Stylist: Leila Bani

Makeup & Grooming: Maria Walton @ Nobasura

Photo Assist: Alex Guiry

Stylist assist: Hana Pesut

Models: Anastasia & Akoy with Family Management 

Claire Ross with Key Models

John Deng with Liz Bell Agency

 

John wears Sèfr blue jacket from Neighbour, Song For The Mute black knit pants and Gentle Monster x Moncler sunglasses from Roden Gray. 

Akoy wears sage bustier top by Ganni from One Of A Few, vintage black Alexander McQueen pants, white Margiela shoes, Patou collar from Bacci’s

Anastasia wears Ganni dress from One Of A Few, X9 swimsuit (worn over), models own jewellery, Dries Van Noten boots from Bacci’s

Claire wears vintage knit Prada bralette, Shyfuck Originals shorts, X9 bikinis string bikini bottoms, Sacai boots, Haider Ackerman jacket

John wears Song For The Mute green jacket from Roden Gray.

Akoy wears Ganni multi colour knit bottoms from One Of A Few, Good Night Day taupe sweater from One Of A Few

Claire wears Old Fashioned Standards hat, Dries Van Noten belt, Deta brown knit bra & briefs from One Of A Few

Akoy wear Maryam Nassir Zaden blue track pants and Deta blue knit bra & briefs from One Of A Few

John wears multicolor mohair sweater and jeans by Marni from Roden Gray, model’s own Crocs, Paloma Wool necklace from One Of A Few

Anastasia wears Blazer and blouse by Ganni from One Of A Few, Eckhaus Latta x UGG sandals 

Akoy wears Alicia Grunert feathered skirt, stylist’s own metal bra, Shyfuck Originals long sleeve sheer top, model’s own shoes

Claire wears Clyde cowboy hat from One Of A Few, Shyfuck Originals polo tee, Eckhaus Latta dress (worn underneath)

John wears ERL floral pink shirt and Marni jeans from Roden Gray, rus x maar hats grey cap from One Of A Few

John by Jil Sander vest, OAMC black pants, and Asics x COMME des GARCONS sneakers from Roden Gray

Akoy wears Shyfuck Originals bra, Christina Sabaiduc robe, Utility Palace bleach dyed pants from One Of A Few, Y3 slides

John wears Namesake JiyongKim knit hat, windbreaker and shorts from Roden Gray

Akoy wears Ganni multi colour knit tie bottoms from One Of A Few, Good Night Day taupe sweater from One Of A Few, oxblood Marni sneakers

Anastasia wears ARQ taupe bikesuit from One Of A Few, Y3 desert boots , models own sweater

Claire wears Ganni multi colour knit tank from One Of A Few, William Okpo hat, Paloma Wool knit shorts from One Of A Few, Sacai platform hiking boot

DIGITAL COVER: TANNER REESE

Top, Short and Pant by Prada

Photographer: Gabe Araujo
Model: Tanner Reese @ The Society
Grooming: Nicole Elle @ The Wall Group
Set Design: Emma Magidson
Light Tech: Eric Tanaka
.
Sweater, Shirt and Short by Prada
Jacket and Shirt by Calvin Luo
Shirt and Pant by Dion Lee
Pant by Dion Lee
.
Jacket, Sunglasses and Pant by Alexander McQueen
Full Look by Alexander McQueen
T-shirt and Pant by Dsquared2
Jacket, Sweater, Pant, Socks and Shoes all by Dior
Jacket by Calvin Luo

AUSTIN MAHONE BY MARCUS DERRICOTTÉ

Turtleneck. Dries Van Noten
Sweater. Kiko Kostadinov

 

 

Photographer: Marcus Derricotte @mderricotte
Stylist: Douglas VanLaningham @dvlstylist
Styling Asst: Jose Santiago 
Hair: Stefani Annaliese @stefaniannaliese
Makeup: Paloma Alcantar @palomamua

 

 

Cardigan. Marni
Tank top. Dries Van Noten
Trousers. OAMC

 

Tank top. Dries Van Noten
Trousers. OAMC
Belt. Maison Margiela

 

 

Tank top(in hand). Dries Van Noten
Trousers. OAMC
Belt. Maison Margiela

 

 

Sweater. Maison Margiela
Jeans. Maison Margiela
Necklace. Vitaly

 

 

Sweater vest. Dries Van Noten
Trousers. Raf Simons

 

 

Blazer. Raf Simons
Shirt. Maison Margiela
Trouser. Maison Margiela

 

 

Shirt. Bottega Veneta
Trouser. Botter
Belt. Maison Margiela

 

 

Tshirt. Saint Laurent
Underwear. Calvin Klein
Jeans. Martine Rose

 

COMEDIAN/ACTOR AND STAR OF HULU’S DOLLFACE ESTHER POVITSKY

Dress: Khaite, Tights: Fogal, Headpiece: Vintage, Shoes: Open Edit

 

Comedian and actor Esther Povitsky is perhaps best known for her Lonely Island-produced comedy series Alone Together, or her supporting role in the Hulu series Dollface. Maybe you’re just a fan of her neurotic, deadpan online comedy persona. But what many may not know is the story of how Povitsky became one of the digital age’s biggest names in comedy, and the intense personal obstacles she had to overcome to get there.

The internet-viral comedian opens up about overcoming anxiety to create her own work.

By: Hilton Dresden

Photography:
Michelle G Gonzales

Photo Assistant-
Sydney Patitucci 

Stylist-
Jensen Leigh Edmonson

Stylist Assistant – Priscilla Alejandrina Langdon

Hair:
Joseph Torres

Makeup: Brittany Leslie

Povitsky grew up in Chicago, in a household full of laughter — her dad set the tone for daily silliness, she explains. After studying at comedy institutions like Improv Olympic, she ultimately made the decision to move to Los Angeles, realizing she’d need to spread her wings if she were to reach the fiscal and professional goals she had for herself.

While starting out on the West Coast from scratch was far from easy, performing at open mics around the city eventually led to representation, and then roles on acclaimed TV shows including Parks and Recreation, Key and Peele, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Difficult People, and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. Her breakout came with Alone Together, which she co-wrote, co-created, and stars in alongside her bestie Benji Aflalo. What started as a self-made short eventually became a full TV series, currently watchable on Hulu and produced by Saturday Night Live video legends The Lonely Island. Additionally, Povitsky currently has a Comedy Central stand-up special, “Hot For My Name,” now available for streaming.

 

Dress: Ganni, Tights: Fogal, Bag: Ferragamo, Shoes: Open Edit

 

What was initially inspiring you to comedy as you were growing up?

Esther Povitsky: I grew up watching SNL and loved Chris Farley and Adam Sandler and David Spade and all those people on the show. Cheri Oteri. Will Ferrell. And I just always wanted to live in that universe. I thought I was going to be a professional dancer because I love taking dance class. And then I just realized: “I think what I loved about dance class was making my friends there laugh.” Wanting to work in comedy, it’s like you kind of don’t even really know what that means when you first think about it. There’s no clear path of what that could be. So I just knew that and discovered stand up comedy as a good option to get me started. That was how I ended up moving to L.A. and pursuing stand-up full time.

You studied at iO in Chicago, and then at Groundlings in Los Angeles. Tell me about what you took from those places, and about the decision to make such a big move from your hometown.

EP: I would say my time at iO, Improv Olympic, in Chicago is really memorable and special, and I felt for the first time like I had tapped into something that made a lot of sense to me. It was where I wanted to be, and I loved my teachers and my classmates and my instant life goal became to be a performer on the stage there. Then I realized that the people who were performing on those shows were not being paid, and they made no money off of what they were doing. And I just felt like, “Gosh, that makes no sense to me.” Like, if these people are rock stars to me, I want to be them when I grow up, so to speak, and they’re not being paid… that just freaked me out. And it made me really confused. I was like, “I think I need to leave Chicago, because this doesn’t make sense to me. I need a different way.” And that’s what prompted me to move to L.A.

I’m a homebody. If I had the choice to stay home at my parents’ house versus, like, go into the city and do an open mic in Chicago, I’m lazy. If the option is to sit at home, I’m taking it 10 out of 10 times. So I just knew I had to shock the system: go to a different city where I have no money, nowhere to stay. Not that I had money in Skokie, but I had a place to stay. So it would have been easier. I just was like, “I need to throw myself out there.” I was scared. I was terrified. I mean, the day I moved home from school, my 21st birthday, I dropped out of school and my parents came and helped me pack up my stuff and we moved home. I don’t think they spoke a single word to me that whole day while they were packing my stuff, and it was my 21st birthday. They were so solemn. I never use that word, but I don’t even know what other word to use. They were somber. It was so sad. They were so sad because my mom had never gotten the opportunity to get a college degree. She thought it was this big opportunity for me, and my dad had actually dropped out of the same school, so he wanted to see me finish there. And I just was like, I can’t do it. They were really, really sad for me to leave. And I remember I woke up the next morning in my childhood bedroom and I was like, “What did I just do? Did I just do it? Did I really just submit my form for a partial refund from school?” I immediately started Googling community college in Los Angeles because I just couldn’t believe what I did. But I fought through that fear and just pushed and followed through.

 

Dress: Tory Burch, Belt: Isabel Marant, Tights: Fogal, Shoes: Open Edit

Did you find the standup scene in LA welcoming at first? What were those early years like?

EP: I don’t think any community is overly welcoming of newcomers, so I wouldn’t say that, but I got here, and the first night, I was with one of my college friends and I was making fun of them at the bar. And the bar owner literally came up to me and was like, “You’re so funny.” I was like, “Really?” “Yeah, you’re really funny. You should do stand up.” And I was like, “I can’t believe you’re saying that to me because I literally just moved here today to do that.” And I was like, “I don’t know where to go, what do I do?” She said: “You should go to The Comedy Store. I’ve heard of that.” OK. And just because that bar owner said that that night, I was like, “Great.” And then I went there the next day with a resume trying to get hired, and they didn’t hire me. But they explained Sundays and Mondays were the open mics, and then that just kind of became my home base and where I hung out the most and met people and made friends. Then I did open mics all over the city after that.

I want to hear about Alone Together and how it went from a short to a pilot and then a series produced by Lonely Island. What was the kernel of inspiration there?

EP: So one of my close friends that I met during that time was Benji, and he and I, we just became instantly inseparable. We just had all the same things in common, but we were so different. He’s a guy. I’m a girl. He was from Beverly Hills, I was from the Midwest. But we were both kind of short and didn’t really fit in school. And because we were both short and kind of Jewish-looking people just assumed we were dating, everywhere we went, and we would always be like, “What? No!” We would almost both just be insulted, like ill. Just because we’re both short and ugly doesn’t mean we’re dating. We both thought we could do so much better than the other person. And we were not shy about it. Then eventually, we were like “Everywhere we go, people keep spinning this narrative to us about how we should be together and we’re so adamantly not about that. Let’s make a short film about our lives.” Literally exactly from real life to the script. We just did exactly what was true to us, and that was how we made the short film that came to be the show.

Top: Tory Burch, Skirt: Marco Bologna, Tights: Fogal, Shoes: Open Edit

What was it like when you found out Lonely Island was getting on board?

EP: We most certainly made the short film with the intention of it becoming a TV show. We definitely knew it was very unlikely, but that was the end goal. Creators are really making their own stuff, so we [thought we] might as well take a swing. It was such a slow process from start to finish that there was no like, “Oh my God, it’s going to be a show” moment, because when we pitched it, we pitched in four places and no one bought it. That night we were like, “It’s over.” We were both sad and we were like, “You know what? I’m so proud of us that we tried. There’s nothing worse than not trying. And then the next day, my agent said “They want to buy it,” and I was like, “Who?” And he said, “Everyone, everyone wanted to buy it.” We couldn’t believe it. So what does that mean? They buy a script. OK, then they have to decide, do they want to shoot the pilot for the script? Then they have to decide, do they want to pick up the series? I think now that streaming is changing it a little, where you just go from script to series and they cut out the pilot stage. But it was a really long process, and I remember the day that they told us that they were going to shoot the pilot, I found out that I didn’t book this audition for literally a one line role in a Netflix show, and I wanted it so bad because my scene was going to be with Timothy Olyphant. I was so sad, I did not get the one line role. I got the news that they were going to shoot the pilot, and my fianceé was like, “You’re crazy. Why are you upset that you didn’t get one line when they’re making your pilot?” I was like, “I would have rather had one line on a show with Timothy Olyphant than do my own pilot with Benji.” I just wanted so badly to be accepted by normal show business that that meant more to me than this project that I made on my own, which now I feel the literal complete opposite. But it just goes to show how insecure I was and how I’ve changed so much since then.

So then fast forward to Dollface. I want to hear about booking that and and your approach to that character and your experience filming and anything you’ve taken away from that?

EP: That was such a game changer, working with all those women on that show. They really elevated my performance, I think, because they were so professional and so experienced and so talented. Working on that character, especially in the second season, was so cathartic for me, because her character arc in season two is dealing with anxiety and self-sabotage and those are things that I really did in my 20s. My anxiety ruled my life. I would self-sabotage unconsciously. And so showing those things on screen, I would not have been able to write those things out because at the time, I didn’t even have the self-awareness to know that’s what I was doing. I almost needed someone else to write it for me to then realize, “Oh my gosh, I can help tell this story and help share what my real experiences are.” But it was so deep for me that I wouldn’t have been able to do that without Jordan Weiss writing that role.

Bra: Vintage, Nightgown: B.Tempt’d By Wacoal, Tights: Fogal, Coat: Lapointe, Shoes: Open Edit

You said some SNL people were your inspirations — are there any other big people you look to as role models?

EP: Honestly, I just scroll TikTok all day and there’s so much good motivating stuff on there for me. Whitney Cummings — I think just knowing her…when I moved to LA, I didn’t really know her, but I saw her perform every night at the Comedy Store and I saw her write and star in her own TV show. I feel like she almost paved the way. And a show like Workaholics, where they were writing for themselves and found a lot of success with that… I think seeing other people do things and then being like, “That’s what I want to do,” is kind of how I’ve always operated.

What shows and movies have you been enjoying recently?

EP: Well, obviously I’m obsessed with Euphoria. Succession. And then right now I’m working on developing a new show that I would write and be in, and that is inspired by my favorite show, Eastbound and Down, but is not the same subject matter at all. That’s one of my favorite comedies of all time: Eastbound and Down.

 

Dress: Khaite, Tights: Fogal, Headpiece: Vintage, Underwear: I.D Sarrieri, Shoes: Open Edit

DIGITAL COVER: DIEGO BONETA

Jacket by Dsquared2

 

Photography by: Emilio G Hernandez

Styling & Interview by: Marc Sifuentes

Creative Direction: Louis Liu

Grooming by: Benjamin Thigpen

Location: @alloy.bk @168plymouth @rebeccarobertsoninteriors

 

Some might call it fate when an 11-year-old Diego Boneta won a televised singing competition with his rendition of a classic Luis Miguel hit song “La Chica del Bikini Azul”. Fast forward 20 years later, and Boneta is not only the star of the three season Netflix hit series Luis Miguel: The Series, but was an integral part in creating the series as Executive Producer to the project. Not one to shy away from a challenge, Boneta recreated and re-recorded some of Miguel’s top hits for the series, a nearly impossible task for those that understand the complexity of Miguel’s catalog of music.  

Boneta spoke to Iris Covet Book about the time and preparation involved in playing the legendary crooner and the craft of perfecting a beloved real life character while still making it his own. Boneta also discusses the inspiration behind producing, starting his own production company, and his determination to open more doors for Latino actors.

 

Suit by TEDDY VONRANSON, Jewelry by Konstantino

 

The Luis Miguel series has been a huge hit for Netflix for three seasons, but I want to go back to the beginning and talk about your process preparing to play the role of this international superstar.

Of course. Well, when I got offered the part I knew the challenge it would entail because Luis Miguel is somebody who is still very relevant and more importantly still alive. Normally a show like this happens once the artist has passed away. I knew that there was only one way to do this right and that was to really take the preparation part seriously, even more seriously than the actual shooting. It was the first time that I worked on a movie that was a full transformative role and becoming someone else is very, very intense. 

It’s me becoming someone else, and not only acting but also singing. I basically took a year to just work on that. I had a vocal coach, Ron Anderson, and then I had my acting coach, Juan Carlos Corazza, helping me on the acting front, and I was also an Executive Producer on the series! It’s the most demanding project I’ve ever been a part of. 

Some people might not know that you originally are from a musical background ,you were in a singing competition show at eleven years old and starring opposite Tom Cruise in the movie musical Rock of Ages. Did you know that you would have to take on the responsibility of re-recording all of the songs in the series in your own voice?

I sat down with Jamie Foxx one day,I’ve been a big fan of his work and his Oscar winning performance in the movie Ray about Ray Charles, I think he absolutely crushed that movie, and what he told me was, “the key is to do everything.” You know, he told me if we recreate all the songs, don’t stop there. I needed to recreate the music videos, the album covers,even the prop pictures on the set had to be me. He was also the person to say I needed to sing in the series. You know, Luis Miguel has crazy pipes. He’s one of the best singers of all time. And I wanted to give it a shot. I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to do it. Ron Anderson, who was the vocal coach of Rock of Ages, helped me try to replicate the sound of Luis Miguel. It was like learning how to sing again. Going from changing your vibrato, to seeing where you have to place your voice to sound closer to his tone, to how to pronounce his vowels, where he places each vowel. It was crazy, and that’s all I did for a year. 

 

Full look by Thom Browne, Jewelry by Konstantino

 

If you didn’t have the musical background, do you think you would have taken on that challenge or is that part of your personality to push yourself out of your comfort zone? 

I don’t think I would’ve been able to do it without having a musical background. Because Luis has one of those voices that, I mean, what that man can do with his voice is insane. I don’t think I would have been able to do it without having my 20 years of vocal training. 

A key part of the success was having Kiko Cibrian, who produced a lot of Luis’ records, produce this soundtrack. All the songs were re-recorded, all the instruments were re-recorded. So I wasn’t just singing over recorded tracks. Kiko made sure we re-recorded every single song. A lot of those songs were written and recorded back in the 90’s by Kiko, so it was incredible to have him as the music producer for all three seasons of the soundtracks. 

And what about Luis Miguel? Did he have any advice for you during the recording process?

Well, I met him before we started shooting. There’s actually a scene in season three that recreates when we met. He shared some very personal stories with me and he told me ‘this is just for you for no one else, use it for your interpretation’. We hung out a few more times and he got to listen to the songs. He was extremely nice and very supportive. After seeing the show he said, ‘Man, you killed it.’ Hearing that from the person that you’re playing, I don’t think you can get any better than that. 

 

Full Look by Alexander McQueen

 

You prepared for this role for over a year, when did you feel that you had mastered the part? 

I’d say whenever we started doing rehearsals in Mexico City, before we started shooting with the director. He’s really the one that found the tone for the show. In those rehearsals, in talking to him, going over the scenes and just playing with the script, that’s where we found it. 

Just knowing and having that confidence that there was nothing else I could have done to prepare anymore. I had done my homework and no one knew the character better than I did. That gave me the freedom and the confidence to know that I was ready.

You also put in the work to be in a makeup chair for 4 to 6 hours a day getting your prosthetics on. What was that experience like? 

That was a whole different ball game because it’s not just putting on the prosthetics and then boom you’re the part, you know? Studying him and being him for 33 years of his life, from 17 to 50 years old. Studying each of those stages of his life, changing the mannerisms and the way he spoke throughout his life. 

The hardest part was trying to understand and imagine what life must have been like for him. The prosthetics consisted of six hours of makeup, wigs and body suits everyday to become that older Luis Miguel. The team behind it was amazing. Bill Corso is a two time Academy Award winning special effects makeup artist alongside Alfredo Moda, an amazing Mexican makeup artist.The fusion between both teams was a really cool experience, and they paid attention to the smallest details

 

Full Look by Zegna

 

This series is your first project as an Executive Producer, and I was reading that Mark Burnett called you and threw out the idea. Had the thought of being an EP ever occurred to you before this project? Is that a role you were interested in?

I worked with Tom Cruise in Rock of Ages and observed how he did business and how he manages his career in-between making movies. He was always working on the next thing and working through pre-production on another. I thought that’s what I wanted to do. 

Mark Burnett and I worked together on a TV show called the Dovekeepers, back in 2014. And I told Mark I really wanted to get into producing. It’s not something that I want just to have a vanity credit. I actually wanted to learn all the in’s and out’s. So when Luis Miguel came around, he called me and said ‘I have the perfect project. There is no script but I know you’re very familiar with the music, with his life, with his story. Be a part of this production team and let’s do this together.’

Producing together was the best part of the learning experience. Fully learning before there is even any scripts, no actor, no one cast yet. Really shaping this project from the very beginning. That was the best part and I got a big satisfaction out of it.

Full look by Casablanca, Jewelry by Konstantino

So tell me more about your production company Three Amigos. What is your team’s vision? 

We see it as a media company because of our focus on television, film, books, and broadcasts. We want to find projects that show Latinos in an uplifting light. We are so excited to team up with some of the best filmmakers in the industry. At the moment, we are working on a romantic comedy with Paramount called At Midnight, it’s something of a fusion between Hollywood and Mexico. Today, with more opportunities through streaming services, the business is realizing that people don’t really care as much about the language as they do about a relatable and interesting story. Spanish is a global language. There are a lot of hugely successful Spanish speaking shows watched all over the world and we are looking forward to being a major player in bringing quality content to a global audience.

Full Look by Dries Van Noten

 

There has always been a lack of representation in Hollywood for the Latin community, and a lot of the roles that were out there leaned towards a certain stereotype. Did you ever have to confront a time where there were roles being pitched to you that were not a good fit for you as a representative of the Latin community. 

I think times have definitely changed from when I first moved to LA in 2007. There are more roles and better roles. But back then, yes, it was difficult to get good latino roles. 

There are plenty of actors of different races out there that can play different nationalities, and so can we. So yes, I think things are better today. I think they’re moving in the right direction. There’s still a lot of work to do. There’s still a lot of room to grow and improve and that’s why I’m so passionate about my production company Three Amigos, which is creating those vehicles for other actors as well. 

 

Suit and Pant by Zegna, Jewelry by Konstantino

 

Shot at 168 Plymouth, the last historic factory to residential loft conversions in Brooklyn’s Dumbo neighborhood, composed of two 100-year-old paint factory buildings which have been attentively transformed by Alloy Development’s architecture team. Pictured is the new Brick and Timber model residence with interior design by Rebecca Robertson Interiors.

ADOT BY GREG SWALES

Courrèges dress from Albright fashion library, Sunglasses – Miu Miu, Boots – Marc Jacobs

 

 

Photography GREG SWALES @gregswalesart

Styling LEILA BANI @leilareira

Model ADOT GAK @adotthegreatt

 

 

Courrèges coat from Albright fashion library 

 

 

Courrèges dress from Albright fashion library

 

 

Lace bodysuit by Haus Zuk, Eyewear by Sara Armstrong , Tube top by Yard666Sale, Beaded briefs from Albright fashion library 

 

 

Evan Clayton hood, Earrings from Lara Koleji 

 

 

Jacquemus belt, Vintage comme des garcons jacket from Lara Koleji, Leather shorts from Albright Fashion Library

 

 

Y3 bustier custom painted by Shyfuck, vintage D&G bike shorts from Albright fashion library, 

Sleeve is stylist’s own

 

 

Custom bustier by Shyfuck, Gareth Pugh skirt and Marc Jacobs platform shoes from Albright fashion library

 

 

Comme Des Garçons top and leather shorts from Albright fashion library, Pink leg straps are stylist’s own, Dries Van Noten sandals

CONNOR JESSUP STAR OF NETFLIX’S LOCKE & KEY

Sweater and Pants: DSQUARED2, Shoes: Prada

 

Photographer: Emma Craft

Stylist/Interview: Angel Emmanuel

Groomer: Ellen Guhin via Canvas Agency

Set Designer: Lidia Moore

Set Design Assistant: Tess Donlevie

 

The fans are loving the supernatural fantasy drama, Locke & Key, which premiered its second season on Netflix this October. The show’s success has kept the series in the top ten on the platforms ratings list and has already prompted the creators to move forward with season three. The show has also garnered a few notable new fans including one Britney Spears, who earlier this week prompted her instagram fans to watch the show in typical Britney fashion “Holy crap you guys, gotta check out Locke & Key…it’s pretty good!!!”

Playing Tyler Locke, the eldest of the Locke siblings is; Actor, Director, Writer, Avid Reader, Heartthrob, Globetrotter, and recent guest judge on Canada’s Drag Race, Connor Jessup. We sat down with Jessup over Zoom to talk about why he’s “straight4pay”, RuPaul’s Drag Race, how his accessibility through social media has influenced his queer experience, and how secluding himself in a cottage for a month in the British countryside is influencing his upcoming projects.

Sweater and Pants: DSQUARED2, Shoes: Prada

Nice to see you again!! Congratulations on the new season of Locke & Key!!

CJ: Thank you!

You’ve now filmed three seasons of Locke & Key, with the third being filmed back to back simultaneously with the second. Having played Tyler Locke for three seasons, is it hard for you to separate yourself from a character that you’ve put a lot of time into?

CJ: No, I’ve never had that. Maybe it’s where I’m at in my career or the characters that I play. I’ve never felt followed by a character. The reality of shooting something is so mechanical; you shoot in many little pieces, you shoot out of order, a hundred people are standing around you. You’ve got a 10 hour, 12 hour workday and spend about 40 minutes at most actually shooting. So it’s never been hard for me to remember that, that’s work. Maybe if I was playing a character that was more radically different than I am, I haven’t really had that experience though.

The sets and visual effects were amazing this season! I loved the Spider scene from episode 3, “Small World”, also the small antique toy house was very cool.  Did you have any favorite visual heavy scenes that you filmed? 

CJ: Yeah that was an amazing prop. The spider one was probably the most fun I had. We had great fun at the end, there’s a scene where Kinsey, my sister, carries me through the air with her angel wings that she’s found, which involved me and Emilia (Jones), flying on wires for days at a time which was almost like working at a theme park, it was so much fun. There was a scene where we’re making a key, there’s a montage of us forging a key, so they needed lots and lots of little bits and pieces. No one there had any idea how to forge anything, so we literally just made shit up. I’m sure the blacksmithing community is furious! That was fun, in a way it felt like when you’re a kid and you go on a boat and you pretend to know how to sail it, and you do all sorts of random stuff, like pulling ropes but none of it has any actual connection to the reality of how to properly sail a boat, so it felt like that.

A couple of days after our shoot you went to Greece by yourself for two weeks with no plan on what to do. How was your trip, what did you do? 

CJ: It was extremely lovely, I did mostly very touristy things! I wandered around Athens, I saw very old things. I ate a lot of overwhelmingly delicious food. I went to Milos and Santorini. All and all, I had a very quiet, restful and calm time, which is exactly what I was looking for. I had never been to Greece before, so it was fun!

Based on your Instagram stories and highlights, it’s safe to say that you’re an avid reader. During your trip, I saw that you were reading Photocopies by John Berger. Considering you were living in a picturesque moment worth capturing and writing a story about; if you were to write a short snippet about that moment with an accompanying photo, how would it go? What would that photo look like?

CJ: That’s a good question! It’s interesting, I was thinking a lot as I was traveling, about the roles of different types of photos. I had my proper camera with me and my phone of course. I was taking a lot of pictures, because I was in a scenic place and also I was alone which helps. It’s funny what you feel compelled to take a photo of with your iPhone and what you feel compelled to take a photo of with your “proper camera” and how the perspective between the two changes. There’s a famous Gertrued Stein quote where she says, “I like a view, but I like to sit with my back turned to it.” I was in Santorini near the end of my trip which is just this stunningly scenic and idyllic place, swarmed with tourists who obviously all feel the same. It’s amazing how quickly you stop looking at “the postcard.” It’s amazing how quickly you tune out the landscape and the beautiful buildings, and the sunsets and the reasons why, ostensibly why, people are there. I feel like it would end up being a photo of a fragment that could almost be anywhere. It could be the pattern of the way a few walls intersect with some light. It’s not anything particularly beautiful but something that catches your eye in that one moment, you can’t repeat it. You can’t exactly put your finger on why it’s striking. That’s why I try to stay open to photography, it makes you look.

Button up top and Jumpsuit: Martin Asbjørn

Do you consider photography a hobby or something you just enjoy on trips?

CJ: I always chastise myself because I want to do it more often when I’m at home, but I just find that the energy for it is less present when I’m at home than when I’m abroad. Even though what I end up taking pictures of when I’m away is not anything particularly touristy. So I really should start forcing myself to carry my camera everywhere with me when I’m home. I have a very bad memory, and it’s a great way to remember things. Not in the traditional sense of you have a photo of a thing but in deciding to take a photo of something. You remember that moment.

You’re creating your own “photocopy”!

CJ: Exactly! Which is in a way what Photocopies is about. The fascinating thing about that book is that every little snippet, story, fragment, whatever you want to call it, is inspired by a photo. But for the vast majority of the pieces you don’t see the photo. It doesn’t do the thing you expect it to do, like here’s the photo and here’s the story. There’s actually stories where the photos are absent, so it really is like the stories themselves are the photocopies. I think a lot of people with an interest in photography understand that feeling; which is that the photo just becomes a stand-in for some other feeling, or some memory, or some moment.

Anytime I visit a new country I always come back learning so much more about myself than I did before. Did you learn anything new about yourself while there, or London, or now the countryside?

CJ: I’m sure I did, maybe I’m still in the process of that. I’m out here in the countryside in a cottage for about a month. The mission of being here in one place in the quiet for a month is to try and do some writing. So maybe through that process I’ll come to more of a bit of understanding. I always find it takes a second. I felt like I was in such a specific mood for a year while we were working. There’s a certain automatic quality to that, as an actor your life is kind of planned for you while you’re working. I’ve been trying, in the last month since we wrapped and in traveling, to find what my normal speed is again or what my new speed is. I’ve made a lot of new friends in the last little bit. So I’ve been enjoying remembering that friendship can be a great source of energy and inspiration.

Button up top and Jumpsuit: Martin Asbjørn, Shoes: Converse

Speaking of friendship, during the shoot you showed me a photo of you and Tilda Swinton proudly showing off your manicures. How did that friendship start and when are you going on a Mani/Pedi date?

CJ: Friendship is a strong word, but Tilda is one of these people who is almost supernaturally open to other people and experiences and the world. Which I don’t think is a huge surprise to people who are familiar with her. I’m good friends with this Thai filmmaker, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, who is one of the greats that we have. I made a documentary about him a few years ago as he was on a research trip for his most recent film which just premiered at the Cannes Film Festival starring Tilda Swinton. I visited the shoot a couple of years ago and spent time with them, that’s how I got to know Tilda a little bit. I saw her again in New York a few weeks ago because the film premiered at the New York Film Festival. That’s the Tilda connection. I’m still a little Queer boy, so Tilda is obviously in the pantheon.

So no mani/pedi date set??

CJ: I’ll keep you informed, I sure hope so! We’ll see how that materializes in the real world!

I’m so obsessed with your instagram bio, it’s hilarious! It’s “straight4pay 🏳️‍🌈”  which is a play on words on “gay4pay”. As a queer actor how does one prepare to be a straight man?

CJ: I didn’t do anything to prepare for that!

That’s something!

CJ: I insisted to myself that I was straight for many years while I was young so I have enough experience in knowing that vocabulary.  In many ways gay people are great studies of straight behavior, because we’ve tried so hard to understand. I would trust a gay man to describe a straight mans behavior better than I would trust a straight man.

Since coming out, how freeing has it been to be yourself, especially in the industry?

CJ: More than I thought it would be honestly. More freeing than I expected. Coming out is a process, which is a phrase that gets thrown around, but only started to mean something to me recently because I came out many years ago in my private life. There’s such a big build up to that, you know? There’s coming out to your mom, and your best friend, and that felt like the important thing. Then years passed and I had convinced myself that I had come out, and then for various reasons I had decided that I wanted to come out publicly and it’s really only since then which is something that I didn’t put a lot of weight on when I did it, emotionally, that I started to feel a part  of the community and connected to a heritage and really started to properly feel gay. I’m still in the process of examining exactly why coming out to people that I don’t know had the effect on me that it did.

Jumpsuit, Coat, and Scarf: Kenzo

A lot of people shared their stories with you when you publicly came out

CJ: Yeah it was two years ago when I came out on instagram. Most days people will send me messages, stories, some fragments short or long of their experience whether they’re in the closet, or freshly out, or out for decades, or in countries where you can’t come out. There’s such a variety of queer experience and not just gay people but; ace people, trans people, pan people, and others under the wonderful rainbow umbrella. Which I think contributed to me feeling a part of the community, and broadening and deepening my understanding of queerness, because my experience is so limited compared to this whole range of other peoples experiences.  I think that has had a big ongoing impact on me. It’s hard to know if I feel shy about the whole thing because I have no claim. I’m just an actor, I have no expertise or training or real wisdom to share or help. It boils down to receiving these stories from people and trying to understand them through the prism of whatever tools I do have. Social media is a weird thing, this flow of information.

Getting all these messages everyday, how does that make you, Connor Jessup the person, feel?

CJ: Depends on the message. Sometimes it makes me feel really warm, and seen. Sometimes it makes me very sad. Sometimes it makes me confused and angry. Really the range of emotions. The type of messages are so varied. It goes from something as simple as someone who sent me a message the other day that just said, “Thank you for coming out. I feel less alone.” That was the whole message. That for some reason, the moment that I read it, had a real emotional impact on me. Even though there’s no information on who that person is or what their experiences are. The hard thing about social media is, which I think we all feel, is that it has a tendency to dehumanize. People are seen faceless. When you’re interacting with celebrities or even when you’re interacting with your friends, it just feels a bit separate from real life. You allow yourself to react in ways where you wouldn’t if you were talking to someone in real life. Even the comments on anything I post I’m like, “I doubt you would say this if I were to bump into you on the street.” So there’s that level of separation and it’s hard and it takes work when you’re sending and receiving to consistently remind yourself that you’re dealing with full people. Anyone sending me messages saying “I feel less alone,” or “I hate my body,” they’re just as full of a person, with just as full lives as I am, as any of us are. I have to remind myself that all the time, that’s a good exercise of mine.

Jumpsuit, Coat, and Scarf: Kenzo

This week you’ll be on Canada’s Drag Race as a guest judge! How excited are you to see the episode?

CJ: I’m very excited! I’m a little nervous, obviously. I haven’t seen any of it. You shoot for, well I was there for 10 hours shooting for what will probably be 15 minutes of the show. So I don’t know or have no concept of what they included, what they didn’t include, how they edited it. I’m excited, nervous, and I hope that the gays don’t turn against me!

The Drag Race fandom is notable for voicing their opinions! Good or Bad.

CJ: Yes! And so far I have yet to be on the receiving end of any gay backlash

Good! Let’s keep it that way!

CJ: Yeah exactly! I hope that this is not the first time

Shirt and Pants: Marrakshi Life, Shoes: Superga

The preview for the episode shows that it’ll be Snatch Game (a challenge where the queens have to do celebrity impersonations following the Match Game show format) which is the most beloved challenge of all time! What was that experience like not only getting to judge Drag Race but also the Snatch Game episode?

CJ: The way the episode went; there was a different guest on the actual Snatch Game but I was on the main stage. It was a scheduling thing, but I was actually there since it all happened on the same day. I was there in the morning and I watched the whole thing live. It was a great way for me to get acquainted with the queens. It’s episode 4 of the season so everyone watching will have seen 3 episodes worth of getting to know the queens, and I came in blind, so it’s a great introduction. It’s also so fascinating as a fan of Drag Race to see how unbelievably hard Snatch Game actually is. It seems hard when you watch it on the show but when you see how dry and slow and hot the actual shooting is. There’s no energy at all, there’s no flow, so to be witty and sharp and quick in that environment is impressive.

Have you watched Drag Race for a while, are you a fan?

CJ: Yeah I am, of course! I mean now though everyone is a fan. It’s relatively new to me though, I’ve watched it for about two years now.

Do you have a favorite queen from any of the Drag Race franchises?

CJ: I don’t think I have one favorite. Last season I was really bummed by the way things ended for GottMik, I was a huge GottMik fan. There are many queens I love, but they’re one of them

What was it about GottMik that you loved?

CJ: They’re enormously talented and fun! What GottMik represents; which I saw a little bit of when I was guest judging, is the broadening of what the definition of drag is. I’m not at all an expert in drag, but it seems from an outsider’s perspective that people like GottMik are leading the excavation of new territory, new ideas, new permissions, and that’s really exciting to watch

Would you ever do drag?

CJ: I would love to try! Now I have people around me that I can call, like makeup artists, that could help me. So I would absolutely love to try! I feel like I could probably make it work.

Oh you’ve got it! For sure!

CJ: Thank you! I don’t know what my style would be at all, I have no sense of that. I would like to explore.

Shirt and Pants: Marrakshi Life, Shoes: Superga

Do you have a sense of style now?

CJ: In my life? It depends on who you ask!

Well if I’m asking Connor!

CJ: I’d like to think so! Maybe it’s connected to coming out, the timelines would suggest, it’s only in the last couple of years I started to really have fun with clothes and started to care about them in a way as a form of expression at all. I’m relatively late to that idea. I had a lot of ideas when I was younger, which is partially connected to sexuality and partially other aspects of my personality, about certain levels of seriousness. I wanted to be taken seriously, and I think it’s also a symptom of being a child actor and growing up around professionals and adults. I always wanted to be seen as mature, and classy, and simple so the clothing I had reflected that. In other words, you could say, it’s boring. So it’s only in the last couple of years that I started to branch out. I don’t know how I would describe my style though.

Who are some designers that you like?

CJ: I’m obsessed with Bode, and J.W. Anderson. I’m no fashionista at all but it is something I’ve given more time, money and attention to! Hopefully I can find ways to surprise myself!

Besides acting, you’re also a director. Where would you like to take your directing career?

CJ: Forward, ideally! I’ve made shorts, documentaries, music videos and I’ve kind of tired myself of making short form stuff. I definitely want to make the next inevitable step and make a feature, which I’m working on literally right now. Hopefully in the next few years I can get a feature off the ground.

If there was nothing holding you back from making your larger than life film, what would that dream project be?

CJ: The film I’m working on right now, if it can pan out like it is in my head, that would be the immediate dream project. Last year I read The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller, which is a beautiful, beautiful, queer retelling of the Iliad, which is a massive story on a huge canvas. I’d love to do something like that.

What kind of stories do you hope to share?

CJ: I don’t think there’s one descriptor, or one type of story. To me directing and writing is a way of better understanding myself. I find that most of the time what I’m fighting against is the temptation to go through life automatically. Writing and directing is a way of resisting that or forcing myself to resist automatic living. It’s a way of asking myself questions and accepting boredom. The stories I’ve been drawn to tend to be ghost stories, but not in the horror sense. Themes I come back to, that I’m interested in, deal with this relationship between loss and desire. Maybe it’s a queer thing, I mean it’s a human thing. The impulse towards it, the queer thing, this feeling of things you want but they slip away from you or they’re out of reach. Maybe that’s why ghost stories always appealed to me. I expect that to pop up in lots of things I make, but I’m not sure what form that would take.

Jacket, Sweater, Jeans: Sandro, Shoes: Prada, Necklaces: Stylists’ own

Would you ever direct and act in the same film?

No. 

Why not?

CJ: A lot of reasons, I have a lot of insecurities as an actor, which requires a lot of energy to combat while I’m working, that I don’t think I’d have that energy to give while directing. Part of the exciting thing about being a director, one of the most exciting things, is working with actors and being surprised by actors. You write something, or come up with an idea or stage a scene, and then actors breathe life into it, and you’re surprised, and you have to react, or you didn’t think this scene would play out that way or that line wouldn’t have that impact. I don’t think I could surprise myself in the same way, so I think in a sense it would be robbing me of the fun of being surprised by someone else. Also there’s so many brilliant actors who I’d love to work with, and friends of mine, and people I’ve met, and people who I’ve dreamed of meeting. I know myself, why would I get in the way?

Who are some of those people?

CJ: I have good friends for example, these two young british actors Joe Locke and Sebastian Croft who are two of my dearest friends, and they’re beautiful actors

Also Netflix actors right?

CJ: Yes! They’re in Heartstopper which is coming out next year sometime. Which is gonna be fantastic and they’re gonna be brilliant, and way, way more famous than any of us! So it’s people like that who are not household names but close friends of mine who I’d be very, very excited at the idea of working with. One of the most fun parts of doing anything, whether it’s acting or directing, is making work an extension of friendship. It’s the best way of making fun. All the things that I’ve made that’s been the most fun and satisfying are things that I’ve made with friends, or with people who become friends, where the work and the friendship is almost inseparable. Beyond that I’d love to work with Tilda, there’s more actors on that level that I’d also love to work with. It’s a great world out there of people who can surprise you.

What are your favorite films?

CJ: Oh my god, that’s just a mean question!

Sorry ‘bout it!

CJ: I mean it changes all the time! The movies that I’ve seen the most are; the Taiwanese movie Yi Yi by Edward Yang. Still Walking by Hirokazu Koreeda, which is extremely tender, detailed, I’ve seen that movie hundreds of times. Spirited Away by Hayao Miyazaki which is the most beautiful movie ever made. You know what movie I’ve been watching a lot recently is, A Sunday in the Country, a French movie from the 80’s, by Bertrand Tavernier. It’s a beautiful movie. That’s the movie where the first time you watch it, it seems very nice but doesn’t hit you over the head, but as you think about it more, it kind of expands inside you. I’m especially interested in and moved by how the camera moves in that movie. I’ve never seen a camera move like that, it’s like it’s powered by wind and not by grips. My friends and I went to go see a screening of, In the Mood for Love, a Wong Kar-wai movie last week, which I’ve seen a few times and always loved but for some reason this time watching it in theatres with other people at this point in my life, it overwhelmed me. I was a fucking hysterical mess. It’s strange, this amazing thing about art, that something you feel like you know can completely sneak up on you.

Jacket, Sweater, Jeans: Sandro, Shoes: Prada, Necklaces: Stylists’ own

Are there dream roles that you’d like to one day play?

CJ: I should have a better answer to this question, but I don’t really. I would like to do things that are different from what I’ve done before. I would like to be pushed to do things that I don’t think I can do. Specifically what that looks like, I don’t know. It’s always hard for me. I’m always most comfortable playing characters who are fragile, vulnerable and unsure. It’d be a good healthy challenge for me to play someone who’s really, really confident. I don’t feel like I think that’s at all a tool I have control over; confidence

While in New York, you visited galleries and museums. Were there any galleries, art work or artists that stuck out to you? 

CJ: I have this artist friend of mine who I’m obsessed with named, Bambou Gili, who’s a young Brooklyn based painter and she had a show which just ended, called The Nonexistent Night which is a riff on the Italo Calvino title, The Nonexistent Knight. She’s a beautiful, beautiful painter and also an obsessive Hayao Miyazaki fan so we bonded over that. She’s a genius and she’s gonna take the world by storm with these great sensual,  figurative paintings. So I love her and was very grateful seeing her first solo show. The only other art I went to see was at The Met, which I’ve been to a few times. It always, at least for me as a non New Yorker, feels like going to a different museum. 

It always feels that way!

CJ: I wandered parts of the museum I’d never seen before, there’s so much to see, and a lot of pictures to take on my phone. In the Greek section at The Met there’s this display with small glass beads in the shape of tiny fragile animals which for some reason struck me. It’s one thing for a sword or a marble statue to survive, but the fact that these tiny beads had survived 2400 years really touched me.

Did you see any glass bead animals while you were in Greece?

CJ: Not like that! The thing in Greece is like almost the same thing when you visit anywhere that has such a rich history. In Japan for example they call it “Temple Fatigue,” where you’re so inundated with history and culture that it almost becomes meaningless. Everywhere you look, everyday, you’re seeing something that has 2400 or 3200 years of history. I think the same thing happens in museums, where all these miraculous things are grouped together in such quantity that you kind of lose sight of it. But I did see some beautiful things in Greece.

As a Toronto native, tell me about what the experience was like growing up. How did it influence the person you are today?

CJ: I love Toronto more now than I ever have, I think I grew up and it was my home so I didn’t really think about it, it was just the place I lived. When I was a teenager I thought it was peaceable, but boring…but now I think it’s peaceable and boring!!! The intonations just changed! I’ve come to really value that quality. I have this weird relationship with Toronto where I don’t find it inspiring at all, no part of me is moved to tell Toronto stories, or set stories in Toronto. When I walk down the street I’m not moved by what I see unlike some other places, but I feel a great sense of safety while I’m there and warmth. My whole family’s there, I get to settle in a way where it’s really comforting. There’s an amazing film community, and amazing artists, and young people on the verge of really exciting work, so I feel really excited by them. Toronto is a major metropolitan city with about 5 million people, there’s a lot of layers to Toronto. 

Finally, who is Connor Jessup?

CJ: He’s usually not sure. He’s trying to figure that out. Like I said when I was younger it was very important to me to have a clear self image and work on a brand. Not in a careerist way, but in identifying who I am, the way I interacted with the world. I never really questioned that, that it came from an honest place. Now I feel like a lot of the foundation that a lot of that was built on was not quite true. I’m trying to make less assumptions and leave more open space, and be okay with that.

Shirt and Pants: Private Policy