Troye Sivan Takes on the Silver Screen With 'Boy Erased'

How did one of today’s most outspoken queer pop music icons find himself playing the role of a gay conversion camp attendee? As Troye Sivan tells it, Boy Erased—director Joel Edgerton’s cinematic adaptation of Garrard Conley’s memoir detailing his own gay conversion experiences—“is such an important story to be telling, one that we can’t go without talking about.” Featuring Lucas Hedges as the son of devout Baptist parents (played by heavyweights Russell Crowe and Nicole Kidman), Boy Erased is a heart-wrenching portrayal that many are calling an early Oscar contender. In the film, Sivan plays Gary who, in a central scene, advises Hedges’s character to “play the part” in order to survive the camp.

“He’s communicating to [Hedges],” Sivan points out, “that there is another way, an alternative to this.” In addition to his role in the film, the polymath Sivan contributed the title track “Revelation,” created with longtime collaborators Jónsi of Sigur Rós and performer Leland. “‘Revelation’ was set in this really beautiful scene in the movie,” Sivan points out, a moment in the film when Hedges’s character experiences love in an unashamed, pure way. “I’m so proud of the song,” Sivan confesses, “and I’m so happy with how it turned out.” To be sure, Sivan’s ongoing activism, paired with his musical and acting gifts, is nothing short of a revelation itself.

Casting: Ian Monroe