Out actor-writer Joel Kim Booster
covers the June issue of Gay Times.
Booster appears shirtless on the cover
in a denim jacket.
Booster wrote and stars in Fire
Island. The movie, which began streaming on Hulu and Disney+ last
month, was directed by Andrew Ahn (Spa Night, Driveaways).
Rounding out the cast are Bowen Yang, Conrad Ricamora, James Scully,
and Margaret Cho.
Booster has previously said that the
film was inspired by Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice.
“[Booster] had this idea for this
movie the first time we went to Fire Island together in 2015,” Yang
said. “He brought Pride and Prejudice with him and he was
reading it like, 'Wow, a lot of this translates so neatly into the
dynamics of this place, where people are obsessed with wealth and
class and social standing and relationships.'”
Booster said that he wanted the film to
“show people that there is joy in the experience of being gay.”
“I remember sitting, terrified as a
16-year-old like, ‘Oh my god, what kind of world is waiting for me
out there as a gay person? Is there happiness out there for me?'”
“A big part of wanting to do this
project was for me to say, ‘You will find your queer family, and
through those people, you will have all of these wonderful
experiences and create such an amazing tapestry of joy in your life.
Not just 'despite being gay,' but because you’re gay. That’s
really what I wanted to get across with the movie,” he said.
Booster added that he wanted to show
the complexities of the LGBTQ community.
“When we’re all together on an
island, no straight people, nothing to oppress us from the external,
how do we oppress each other?” he explained.
“It was really important for me to
show that dichotomy of both the closeness that comes from chosen
families and also the toxicity that can come when we’re suddenly
emboldened by the things that, for years, gay culture has lifted up
as important: body image, wealth, race,” he
said.