Max Minghella: “I Was Raised Almost Entirely by Gay Men”

What about karaoke? I do like karaoke. As you can tell from the movie, my taste in music is quite poppy, so maybe I’ll belt out a boy band number.

On some level, did you live vicariously through Elle and her character? On some level? On every level! Believe me, man, I wish I could’ve been a pop singer. But I fucked up and became an actor.

Are you a fan of singing competitions like American Idol and The Voice? Oh, yeah. I was watching American Idol in bed the other night. I really love those shows, but it’s funny how little I thought about them in making this movie. We all have a pretty clear understanding of what those shows look like, so that wasn’t high on my list of concerns. I was more interested in what we’re not allowed to see, so a lot of my research was around what happens off-camera.

The Idol judges would approve of your fresh song choices. It really started with “Dancing on My Own,” the Robyn song. The whole movie kind of started from there, really. That song felt very cinematic to me, and it had a very interesting and specific tone. So I wrote Violet’s first audition scene with that song and built the movie out from there. Then the rest of the songs had to fit, so “Dancing on My Own” was the tonal set piece for everything else.

Robyn, Carly Rae Jepsen, Annie Lennox, Tegan and Sara—you’re really attracting a queer audience here. [Laughs] Yeah, and I love that. But there was no agenda there at all. Those are songs I just felt were right and all lived together under the same roof. There are also some songs in there chosen for totally selfish reasons. Like the Ariana Grande song, “Tattooed Heart,” there’s no narrative purpose for it—it’s just a song I love, and it was an excuse to get more people to listen to it.

Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for Turner Growing up in London with a filmmaker father and dancer-choreographer mother, what was your introduction to the LGBTQ community? I was raised almost entirely by gay men, so I’m not surprised we share similar taste in music. My godparents—who are actually the choreographers on Teen Spirit, Jonathan Lunn and Amir Hosseinpour—really were as present in my life growing up as both my parents. They were more like co-parents than godparents. My father’s best friend, Duncan Kenworthy, was also a massive part of my life, and we’d go on every Christmas vacation together. So from a very early age, I’ve been surrounded by and very comfortable with gay people. That’s been a part of my reality since before I can remember.

Your father’s film adaptation of The Talented Mr. Ripley brought the novel’s gay subtext to the forefront. Are there queer stories you’d like to explore as a filmmaker? Absolutely. I want to tell more stories about people who haven’t had their stories told. I’m certainly not interested in telling stories that’ve been told a hundred times. Really, I’m looking at a blank screen, thinking, What film doesn’t exist that I wish existed? What is the movie I want to put on but I can’t put on? Even though Teen Spirit is a traditional fairytale, we’ve tried to reinvent it, hopefully in a way that feels new and unique.

You played a gay character, Richie Castellano, on The Mindy Project. I absolutely loved that show. I actually reached out to Mindy Kaling and asked to be a part of it.

It was heartwarming to watch Danny, a conservative Catholic curmudgeon, be so accepting of his younger gay brother. How did you approach the character? What I really cared about with Richie was not making him a stereotype. I wanted him to be a representation of a young gay male character that I hadn’t seen before, especially on a sitcom where often those characters end up being very broad or played very flamboyantly. I saw it as an opportunity to do something completely antithetical to that, without betraying his orientation and still letting him being true to himself. The more we did the show, the more dimensional and real he became.

The Mindy Project/Jordin Althaus/Hulu The dystopian society in The Handmaid’s Tale oppresses not only women but also LGBTQ people. How does it feel to be giving voice to these persecuted communities at this moment in history? I’m just so pleased and proud that the show is on the right side of the conversation. I think every time I’ve cried while watching the show has been tied to Alexis Bledel’s character. When she’s separated from her wife and child in Season 2? As a viewer, that absolutely ruined me.

It’s a cautionary tale that’s becoming more plausible in our current administration. Has the show made you more socially and politically active? I like to think I’m socially and politically aware—I’ve always been a big news junkie—but I don’t know that I’m interested in bringing that out into a public forum. Maybe later in life I will, but I don’t think I’m somebody who has a clout to advocate for things on a big platform and make a difference. I do things in my personal time, quietly, that I hope are helpful and contribute in some way. I get nervous, man, mixing politics and social media. That seems dangerous.

Your fans are probably too busy posting about your eyebrows anyhow. [Laughs] Yeah, my eyebrows have their own seaport and economy.

GQ has used your face to champion bushier brows. There’s even unofficial Handmaid’s Tale merch for sale with the phrase “Under His Eyebrows.” How do you feel about that attention? I’m not somebody who’s very comfortable with any kind of attention, to be honest. That’s why I loved getting to write and direct a movie. I definitely feel way more comfortable hiding behind a camera.

I’m like him and miss his father. Brooding masculinity in HT is always evident and appreciated. We even got some butt shots last season

He's a dickhead. Those comments he made about being a feminist tell you all you need to know. A douche.

He seems fatty

[quote]lives for Robyn and Ariana Grande

All I needed to know. Bye, bitch.

R6 what's wrong with Robyn?

Her music. And the spelling of her name: Robe-whine?

I like him.

TL; DR. So is he gay or not?

I find him very underwhelming in every movie I see him in.

Has he shown dong?

I just heard him on NPR describing his new movie, Teen Spirit and it sounds awful. All I could think was, “he must be fucking Elle Fanning and so made this vanity piece for her.”

What is more boring than "another coming-of-age movie about a straight guy? Answer: a straight guy complaining about the boringness of "another coming-of-age movie about a straight guy."

R8 are you new to the English language?

No, dumbass. What's wrong with "Robin"?

So has he engaged in the homosex or not? I lose interest when I find out a guy can’t be had.

Is he related to Sony Exec, Hannah, who was getting paid less than her male counterparts?

Hannah is his half sister, from his father’s first marriage

He's chinese.

HARD PASS.

His father's production of Madama Butterfly is still at the Metropolitan Opera.

Doesn't look like he fucks around.

I'm sure that he enjoyed his father's very homoerotic "The Talented Mr Ripley"......

That movie portrayed gay obsession as creepy.

I'm just shocked DL isn't nuts about this guy like they're obsessed with every young AWG that comes along.

R25 i am too.

He started dating 12 years younger Elle Fanning when she starred in his movie. He cast her when she was 18 I believe. Director casts a much younger actress in his own movie and starts dating her soon after that...

That's what I was about to say r27.

That he chased after a teenager on his set makes me roll my eyes a little.

I'm confused, if she was 18 she's legal? It's not like he's a pedophile.

Noone says that it was illegal. But a 12 years older director/producer hiring an actress as the lead in his own movie (when she's only 18) and then starting to date her leaves a bit of a bad taste.

r30, it's a tale as old as time, a natural development between the male mating approach and the female mating approach.

He's beautiful.

Who's he with now?

R30 Are you doubting her ability to consent? She could be attracted to older guys or could’ve just said ewww, you’re too old.

R34 I didnt say anything about consent. I'm sure they like each other very much. It's just clear that he was attracted to her, cast her because of that, then became her boss for the movie and then they started dating. And the age gap and that she was so young doesn't make the situation better. It's perfectly legal to do things like that. But it still leaves a bit of a bad taste knowing the relationship started because a 30yr old guy hired an 18yr old girl he was attracted to for his movie.

Who is Noone????