Each week The GLAAD Wrap brings you LGBT-related entertainment news highlights, fresh stuff to watch out for, and fun diversions to help you kick off the weekend.
1) The We and the I, which originally premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, opens in limited release today. The film follows a group of high school students from the Bronx on the last day of school before summer vacation as they board the city bus to go home and begin to express their true feelings towards each other. Among the bus passengers is a gay couple (Brandon Diaz, Luis Figueroa) “dealing with a sexual transgression outside their relationship.” Watch the trailer here.
2) Benjamin Charles Watson, best known for playing gay character Tariq on The CW’s GLAAD Media Award-nominated drama The L.A. Complex, has joined AMC’s The Killing for a recurring role as transgender teen Rayna. Watson will appear in at least four episodes of the 12-episode season, production began on the new season last week.
3) Glee star Jane Lynch will be pulling double duty for the Fox network this fall when she joins the new animated series Murder Police. Fox has ordered 13 episodes of the workplace comedy, which follows a neurotic detective and his questionable colleagues. Lynch will play Justice, “a sanctimonious detective/working mom.”
4) Sara Gilbert, co-host of CBS' daytime show The Talk, returns to acting this fall in the CBS pilotBad Teacher, based on the 2011 film of the same title. Gilbert will play Irene who is described as a "shy drama and English teacher who, when activated, can be a bit intense." In other casting news, Elliott Gould has joined an as-yet untitled comedy pilot for NBC and will play the gay neighbor of main character John.
5) Matt Damon and Michael Douglas appear in their Behind the Candelabra costumes on the cover of today's Entertainment Weekly. The stars of HBO's Liberace biopic, airing May 26, give an exclusive look at the film's sets, costumes and cast. Check out HBO's teaser trailer below.
6) Saj Golde of Showtime’s The Real L Wordhas launched BlackOUT Magazine, a monthly digital magazine for black LGBT people. "After being a part of The Real L Word, I learned of many other young LGBTQ people of color who were also in need of LGBTQ role models, a role I certainly couldn’t take on alone. So I wanted to create BlackOUT as a space where LGBTQ individuals can see themselves, people like them, experiences like theirs,” Golde told Elixher. BlackOUT is available through subscription and can be downloaded to mobile devices or tablets.
7) The Lambda Literary Foundation has announced the nominees for the Lambda Literary Awards. The “Lammys,” now in their twenty-fifth year, celebrate LGBT writing in books published in the previous calendar year. This year’s finalists were chosen from a record-breaking number of nominations with more than 680 titles from 332 publishers. Winners will be announced at the New York ceremony on June 3.
8) Tegan and Sara have released a lyric video for their new single “Now I’m All Messed Up” from the Heartthrob album. Watch “Now I’m All Messed Up” below.
9) Flute is a stop-motion animated fairy tale film about “two boys, a curious young girl, a wicked wizard and a magic flute” that is looking for funding help. The short will focus on teenage orphan Toby who teams up with fellow orphan Bernadette and a young man from their village named Leo to destroy an evil wizard and save their town. During the journey, Toby and Leo will come to realize their feelings for each other. Learn more at Flute’s Kickstarter page and watch a trailer below.