Anthony Keyvan on telling the right stories

Definitely. That actually reminds me of my own experience, because I was so close to studying abroad before the pandemic, so I definitely feel like you get a new learning experience just from what I’ve heard with other friends as well. One of the things that stood out to me about XO, Kitty that I loved so much was the friendship dynamic between your character Q and Kitty. On a personal note, what has been the craziest thing that you have done to help out a friend, and what type of friend do you consider yourself to be?

Loyalty is always my top priority. I feel like that’s really important with friendships, and keeping your circle tight. That’s something that I try to practice because I want to give the closest people in my life all of my attention and all of my efforts. What is the craziest thing I’ve ever done for a friend? I’m the kind of friend that you can call me at any time at night and be like, I need your help, and I will be there. I just can’t think of a specific time that happened. Sometimes my friends will call me and be like, I want to book a trip, let’s go, and I’m the first one in the group chat to say, ‘Okay, send me the link, send me where we’re going. I’ll book it right now.’ That’s probably the craziest thing I’ll do, is I’ll spend an exorbitant amount of money just hanging out.

Honestly that’s a big deal. Shout out to the friend that always responds first in the chat. I think that’s super helpful and something that I really appreciate so I’m glad to hear that. In XO, Kitty, your character Q mentions his fear of acceptance in a city like Seoul. What would be your advice to individuals growing up or living in regions where LGBTQ+ views are not as accepted, so they can embrace and celebrate their true selves?

I don’t have any experience in that personally, but I know how important and impactful it is to have proper representation for communities like this. If you don’t feel like you are supported within your own community, you can seek communities online or even watch TV shows like XO, Kitty that can provide a little bit of comfort in knowing that you’re not alone and that your stories are able to be told. My best advice would be to find resources — they’re always out there, there’s always a community out there that will have your back.

I’m sure the community will appreciate hearing this advice, and it will help them out a lot in their journeys, as everyone’s can be very different. You’ve also starred in other successful shows like Generation and Love, Victor. How would you say that your character Q is different from these other characters, and was there ever a point where you took inspiration from Pablo or Rahim to play this new role?

Obviously, there are some similarities between Rahim and Q. They’re both queer, and they’re both Iranian. The main difference between Q and Rahim’s stories is that Rahim had a very difficult time coming out and coming to terms with his queerness. Amongst his friends, he was extremely comfortable, but when it came to his family, he wasn’t as ready to be himself around them. With Love, Victor, we saw a lot of stories of coming out being a really traumatic experience, and something that was really scary and daunting. What’s really special about Q is that his queerness isn’t his identity, and it isn’t something that traumatized him. It was normalized for him and his peers. No one in the show has ever questioned his sexual orientation or discriminated against him, and he was immediately accepted by everyone. We don’t get to see that side of the coming out story or that way of being queer a lot of times because the media shows the opposite, which can be really scary for questioning or queer young people who are watching these shows. Q’s story allows people who might be questioning their sexual orientation or sexual identity to see that it can be easy — it doesn’t have to be super scary, and you can be accepted by the people around you, but it is always about surrounding yourself with the right people. 

Given that you’ve starred in several series playing LGBTQ+ roles, I can personally tell you that the community looks up to you as a public figure with your authentic representation of these characters. Do you have a favorite experience with fans who have either approached you in person or through social media and expressed their gratitude for the impact that you had on them? Is there a story that stands out from these encounters?

There’s no specific story, but I do read a lot of the messages, and I see how impactful characters like Rahim and Q have been for these people, not just on a queer level, but also on an ethnic level. Seeing a mixed kid and mixed queer kid on TV is not something that is often really portrayed in television and film, so when I got the chance to play these characters, I knew it would be really special. I didn’t realize just how impactful it was, but now seeing all these messages, it really warms my heart that I get to do what I love, but also do it with authenticity and have it be impactful for people. That’s really the goal as an artist: to make your art and leave a lasting impression. To know that the characters I play have brought representation to people like that is really an honor and something I don’t take lightly. I can’t think of a specific story, but there are so many queer Iranians who have reached out to me who live in Iran, where it’s not accepted or illegal to be who they are. That really resonated with me because as an Iranian, these are my people, and my people are hurting. The fact that I can bring a little glimmer of hope to their lives is something that I will take with me for the rest of my life.