What a year 2021 has been. As we sit back and reflect on the past 12 months in culture (and stay tuned here on Xtra for plenty of that this week), new things just keep happening!
Every week in “The Buzz,” we bring you the tantalizing teasers, interviews, headlines and trending stories you missed in queer and trans pop culture.
This week, we’re talking about The Matrix Resurrections, Lil Nas X’s COVID-19 diagnosis and a few teaser trailers that will get you hyped for what’s to come in 2022.
Here’s what you missed this week in pop culture.
→Fans of Micah from The L Word: Generation Q rejoice! Leo Sheng is headed into the Matrix!
The original Matrix trilogy has long been heralded as a trans allegory, especially in the wake of both Wachowski sisters—who directed the first three films—coming out as trans in the past decade. That makes it an extra special thrill to see one of our generation’s thriving trans actors make an appearance in the franchise’s newest offering, The Matrix Resurrections, which is directed by Lana Wachowski.
We here at Xtra sat down with Sheng just this month for a “Speed Date,” where he hinted at some mysterious “fun surprises.” Now we know!
Be sure to look out for Sheng when The Matrix Resurrections hits theatres Dec. 25.
→Speaking of The Matrix, star Jonathan Groff was profiled in GQ about his workout routine, dreams of being like Keanu Reeves and his journey as a gay man in Hollywood.
→Euphoria is coming back Jan. 9, and there’s a tasty new trailer to wet your appetite.
→Sara Ramirez’s queerness is all over And Just Like That, including giving a gay awakening to Miranda Hobbes in last week’s episode.
“It’s important to remember that the non-binary community is not a monolith, just like the bisexual community is not a monolith and the queer community is not a monolith,” Ramirez said in an interview with Entertainment Weekly this week. “This is one fictional character who gets to be multidimensional, complicated and dynamic.”
→Trans Jeopardy champion Amy Schneider says she’s proud to be a Jeopardy champion, but wants fans to remember she’s “a lot of other things too.”
→Kristen Stewart has teased what sounds like a perfect movie.
→Spiderman: No Way Home’s Marisa Tomei says she pushed for her Aunt May to be queer in this iteration of the iconic comic book character.
“There was a moment where I thought that May, maybe she should just be with a woman,” she said. “And I really just wanted [executive] Amy Pascal from Sony to be my girlfriend… but no one went for it at the time.”
→If you haven’t already caught an early screening, the batshit Céline Dion biopic Aline is set to hit U.S. theatres in January, though this trailer that earnestly quotes the early reviews talking about how wild it is may be just as good as the film itself.
→Former U.S. president Barack Obama’s annual playlist is suuuuuuper gay, with appearances from Mitski, Lil Nas X and Brandi Carlile.
→And speaking of Lil Nas X, he apparently tested positive for COVID-19 last week, according to a series of since-deleted tweets.
“Started running around the house in excitement when I saw this, then I remembered I have COVID lol,” he wrote in response to the Obama playlist.
→Killing Eve’s final season is on its way, and this trailer is almost as teasing as the show’s queerbaiting!
→The new West Side Story film, in theatres now, includes a canonically trans character played by actor iris menas, a reimagining of the “tomboy” character called Anybodys who at one point declares they are “not a girl” in the original film.
“Actually believing Anybodys was the biggest piece of this puzzle,” menas said of revamping the character. “I was like, this is dropped right in. Trans people were obviously so integral to the 1950s fabric of New York City, and to just zero in and believe Anybodys gave depth and nuance to this character that I don’t know if we’ve seen before.”
→The real-life sport of Quidditch is changing its name because pretty much everyone involved doesn’t want to be connected to a certain big ol’ transphobe.
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