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The film details the shame and anxiety Caleb
experiences while waiting three months for diagnosis. Current
medical guidelines require 12 weeks from exposure to be 100%
certain.
Set in 2011, when a positive diagnosis was no longer a death
sentence but fear and ignorance remained rife, the film explores
the lingering stigma faced by people living with HIV.
"I think there's a lot of, not necessarily misinformation, but a
lot of kind of ignorance (around HIV)," Sivan told the Thomson
Reuters Foundation in a video call from Los Angeles.
"I would love it if this movie plays a part in getting rid of
the stigma around HIV and educates people on the fact that with
access to healthcare, this is not a death sentence at all
anymore."
The 26-year-old star rose to prominence after joining YouTube in
2007, coming out as gay in 2013 and becoming known for his
music, personable nature and collaborations with other YouTubers.
He now has more than 7.5 million subscribers.
Sivan released his debut album "Blue Neighbourhood" in 2015 with
his second, "Bloom", in 2018 peaking at No. 4 on the U.S. album
chart. He is one of the most streamed artists of all time on
Spotify (Top 200) with more than 5 billion total streams.
Sivan has had smaller roles in South African teen drama "Spud"
and Hollywood blockbuster "X-Men".
But "Three Months" - to be released on Feb. 23 on the Paramount+
streaming platform - marks his first major lead role.
For the film's writer and director, Jared Frieder, Sivan was the
obvious choice.
"I always thought of Troye for this role," Frieder said in a
video interview, adding that he started writing the script when
Troye was rising to fame on YouTube.
CHANGING TIMES
Sivan was born in South Africa and raised in Australia. He now
splits his life between Los Angeles and Melbourne.
Sivan said he was never schooled on either LGBTQ+ issues or
HIV/AIDS while growing up.
"During sex ed at school, I was never ever, ever taught about
HIV specifically ... gay sex was never, never spoken about."
There were also few openly LGBTQ+ characters on screen.
"When I was growing up, I remember the two, maybe three times I
saw queer stories in TV and film. And I remember it being a
very, very, very formative experience," said Sivan.
"Those were kind of like, these rare, rare moments that I
remember felt so private to me, that I was like 'Oh, my God, I
need to watch this in the middle of the night'," he said.
Frieder said he hoped "Three Months" would help fill the gap for
LGBTQ+ people growing up, wherever they are in the world.
"I want people to feel less alone. If this movie helps kids see
themselves on screen, especially queer kids, that would be the
joy of my life," he said.
(Reporting by Samuel George Baugh in London; Editing by Lyndsay
Griffiths. Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the
charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers the lives of
people around the world who struggle to live freely or fairly.
Visit http://news.trust.org)
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