First of all, let’s just get this out of the way: I loooooooove Nico Tortorella. I love the way he lives his life. I love his fearlessness, his exuberance, and by God, you know what? He IS too good-looking. Too good-looking by FAR. If anyone else ever dared to say such a thing, I would mercilessly mock them until the end of time. However, in an interview with Elle.com (entitled “Want to Know What It’s Like to Be Too Good-Looking? Ask Nico Tortorella”) the Younger star is asked – point blank – how he feels about being objectified for his looks. His answer is both fascinating and refreshing.
“I know I have to play into it to a certain extent,” he tells the magazine. “If I have to be objectified in my twenties to be taken seriously in my thirties, I’m doing something right.”
Yeah. That’s pretty self-aware. And it sounds like Hollywood in a nutshell, doesn’t it?
He continues:
ELLE: Was [being objectified] part of the job, something you were aware of as you got into acting?
NICO: As long as my work continues to speak for itself outside of what I look like, I’m okay. This is going to sound obnoxious, but I get told I’m too good-looking for a lot of roles. They don’t write roles people would think I’m supposed to play as often as they used to—the rom-com pretty-boy storylines. Movies are thankfully about real people nowadays, and I don’t necessarily always look like a real person.You seem pretty aware of how you you’re presented.
One hundred percent. I wear my heart on my sleeve and live my life as openly and honestly as I can.
He then opens up about his much-discussed gender fluidity:
“Look, a lot of people don’t think that the way that I live my life is a real thing, that it exists, that having a broad spectrum of sexual orientation is even possible. I get told all the time on social media. God forbid you open up a Reddit article. But it comes with it, you know? I’m not trying to redefine sexuality or humanity or say that my answer is right and yours is wrong. I’m just happy with who I am. I am driven by love and I have been in love with a handful of different people, men and women. It’s like, if you go to a bookstore and you know exactly what kind of book you want, you have to look it up in the system because it’s in a specific section of the bookstore. I fit into a handful of sections in the bookstore.”
Some people believe that a bi or pansexual relationship can’t be monogamous. You’re dating a woman right now. Do you believe in monogamy?
I believe in it. I am not ruled by sex. I never have been. I’m not looking to fuck all the time. I am more interested in the ability to have intimate relationships with people on an emotional level.What’s been the industry’s attitude toward your “coming out?” Because Hollywood is notoriously—
Run by a bunch of old white dudes who say anything other than heteronormative is blasphemy? That is still sadly the case, but I had hours and hours of conversation with my entire team about how I was going to handle this, because I refused from the beginning to restrict myself to any sort of lifestyle. I think as long as you come at it from a place of positive passion, it sets the right example. And I do think it’s gotten better for actors who want to be out or open in their careers. I think—I hope—we are moving toward a tipping point.
Read the whole interview here. And if you don’t follow Nico on Instagram, GOOD GODWHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU? You are depriving yourself of one of life’s great pleasures. Flow him here, now.
