Hollywood has witnessed a queer revolution in recent years, with out actors like Laverne Cox, Indya Moore, Brian Michael Smith, and Mj Rodriguez blazing a trail of inclusion.
Schitt’s Creek, which ended its sixth season with a wedding between pansexual David Rose (Daniel Levy) and his partner, Patrick (Noah Reid), boasted a historic sweep at this year’s Emmy Awards, winning in every major category.
But as an anecdote from Teen Wolf alum Charlie Carver illustrates, Tinseltown still has a long way to go.
In a new interview with Variety, Carver recalled that he was once slapped across the face for being “too effeminate.” The alleged incident took place in 2015, when he was confronted by a former coworker at an Emmys party for being too visibly gay around power brokers in the industry.
“I was told that I needed to ‘get it under control’ around people in the business,” the 32-year-old told journalist Marc Malkin.
The confrontation came to a head when Carver saw this coworker — whose identity he did not reveal — while waiting for his car at the valet. When the actor asked for “clarification” regarding the conversation they had earlier in the evening, the unnamed gentleman suddenly struck him.
“It wasn’t playful but intentional, pointed, and meant to be instructive. A slap,” he said. “I told him that if he ever touched me again, I would name him.”
Carver wasn’t out at the time. After making his start playing one of Lynette Scavo’s twin sons on Desperate Housewives along with brother Max, he appeared in The Leftovers and Hawaii Five-O — in addition to the aforementioned MTV drama — but remained quiet about his sexuality. He has said in previous interviews that he was worried about losing job opportunities if he addressed being a gay man publicly.
But the Emmys incident changed everything. “I can’t do this,” Carver said he thought to himself. “I cannot police myself in that way.”
Just months later, Carver addressed his sexual orientation for the first time in a series of Instagram posts. In January 2016, he posted a photo with a message reading “Be Who You Needed When You Were Younger.”
“As a young boy, I knew I wanted to be an actor. I knew I wanted to be a lot of things. … It was around that age that I also knew, however abstractly, that I was different from some of the other boys in my grade,” he said in text accompanying the post. “Over time, this abstract ‘knowing’ grew and articulated itself through a painful gestation marked by feelings of despair and alienation, ending in a climax of saying three words out loud: ‘I am gay.’”
Despite his fears that coming out might limit the roles he was offered, Carver has stayed busy in the four years since his coming out letter. He is currently pulling double duty for Ryan Murphy on Netflix, appearing in both the One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest prequel Ratched and the Broadway adaptation The Boys in the Band.
While this is the first time Carver has discussed the Emmys slap, he has previously claimed the best way to address the challenges that LGBTQ+ actors face in being visible is through more representation.
“[M]ost of the time, I’m the only out person on a set, and while that’s not necessarily lonely, it does do things to you,” he told the British entertainment site Digital Spy in September. “So much of what needs to happen is more equity behind the scenes, and having all kinds of people in positions of power. I think that’s what needs to happen most.”
