Mean Girls, possibly one of the campest movies ever made, responsible for countless quotes has another claim to gay fame to make it fabulous, one of its stars has come out as gay!
Daniel Franzese who starred as uber camp Damian in the 2004 comedy ‘Mean Girls’ has come out as gay in an open letter, first published in indiewire to his character. The 35-year-old actor wrote:
“Dear Damian: It’s been a long time since our last encounter. Ten years to be exact,” Franzese writes. “I was twenty-six; you were sixteen. You were proud of who you were; I was an insecure actor. You became an iconic character that people looked up to; I wished I’d had you as a role model when I was younger. I might’ve been easier to be gay growing up. You WERE beautiful in every single way and words couldn’t bring you down.
“What you may not know…When I was cast in the role of Damian in Mean Girls, I was TERRIFIED to play this part. But this was a natural and true representation of a gay teenager–a character we laughed with instead of at. (You can thank Tina Fey and Mark Waters for that. I can only take partial credit.).
“When we first made this movie, I’m not sure any of us knew how loved and quoted this movie would become. You certainly hope when you pour your heart into something, that people will respond–but to paraphrase Gretchen Wieners, ‘We can’t help it that we’re so popular.”
Franzese finished up his letter with:
“P.S. I hate it when people say I’m ‘too gay to function.’ I know you do, too. Those people are part of the problem. They should refrain from using that phrase. It really is ONLY okay when Janis says it.”
Brooklyn born Franzese, says that he hit a ‘gay glass ceiling’ after the role and was repeatedly turned down by Hollywood casting directors who were looking for more masculine actors.
He has gone on to star in numerous other shows and films, including The Comeback with Lisa Kudrow.
