More than 30 years later, Ryan Phillippe is reflecting on his groundbreaking LGBTQ role.
The actor recently recalled the “really profound experience” of playing gay teenager Billy Douglas in the ABC soap opera One Life to Live from 1992 to ’93, which resulted in an “almost instantaneous” outpouring of praise from LGBTQ fans.
“I was so young that there were elements of me that were afraid because it was such a different time,” he told People of his tenure in the role.
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“I think there were some fears associated with the point in time that we were at and it being before so many walls and ceilings have been broken in that regard,” added Phillippe. “But I know that any fears that anyone had about me doing it immediately went away once I saw the reaction that it got from the people who viewed it.”
Phillippe recalled receiving letters from viewers who said they’d “never seen someone represent me in any entertainment before in my life,” as well as parents who said, “Watching this show on my lunch break gave me a way to connect with my LGBTQ child.”
One Life to Live‘s Billy Douglas was the first gay teen character in a soap opera, paving the way for onscreen LGBTQ representation.
Phillippe has since become known for roles in White Squall (1996), I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997), 54 (1998), Cruel Intentions (1999), Crash (2004), Flags of Our Fathers (2006), MacGruber (2010) and The Lincoln Lawyer (2011). He can currently be seen in the Prime Video coming-of-age series Motorheads, Season 1 now available to stream.