While portraying a teen struggling with his sexual orientation, Michael Cimino also faced some problems off of the small screen.
The 21-year-old actor, who plays the titular character on Hulu‘s Love, Simon spin-off, Love, Victor—now in its second season—opened up to Attitude about the negative reaction he’s gotten from some since taking on the important role. “I’ve definitely had some criticism from the LGBT community for being in the role,” Cimino, who identifies as straight, told the magazine. “I’ve had death threats, which is horrible. But the show is important to me. The messages of hate—I came into it knowing that would happen, regardless of how good I was.”
He also had to endure hate close to home. “I got some homophobic comments—I kind of expected that to happen,” he said. “I didn’t expect it from my own family members, though.”
Through it all, he’s continued to make his allyship clear. “There’s nothing wrong with being gay. That ignorance is often something that’s been passed on from generations prior,” he said. “I always approach that [by saying], ‘These are normal people that are struggling and they shouldn’t have to struggle.'”