Featured Image Credit: Shutterstock/Marvel
Topics: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Celebrity
Tom Wood
Topics: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Celebrity
Tessa Thompson says that her openness surrounding her own sexuality has prompted others to come out.
Thompson, who is openly bisexual, makes a second MCU appearance in Thor: Love and Thunder, and the actor says it has been a ‘dream’ of hers to help other people be comfortable with their own sexuality.
In case you've not seen the film just yet, you can take a peep at the trailer here:
Responding to a comment from Variety's Marc Malkin about how being open about her sexuality has helped LGBTQ+ children, the 38-year-old said: “That’s been tremendous.
“I’ve had so many folks write me and say that they were able to come out or to talk to their family, which is a dream.”
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Thompson's character Valkyrie became one of the MCU’s first LGBTQ+ characters after appearing in Thor: Ragnarok and returns again for Love and Thunder to develop the role.
Speaking to the Just for Variety podcast, Thompsons said: “There is something powerful about seeing an image of yourself reflected in any way.
“But we know all too well there are some ways that really just matter because we don’t have enough of it.”
However, Thompson also accepts that there is more work to be done when it comes to being open about sexuality in Hollywood.
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“It’s a real problem,” she explained.
“I feel really lucky in the sense that I work in real close proximity to people that I think want to advocate for me to be myself and be the fullest expression of myself.
“I think the industry at large might put a tremendous amount of pressure, never mind their sexuality, but a real pressure, I think, to be a certain kind of thing.
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“And I think that’s intensified particularly where sexual orientation is concerned and that’s a real problem.”
On her own character’s love life, Thompson told how she does not believe that a romantic storyline was necessary in illustrating Valkyrie’s queerness.
Thompson said: “She’s out in the world.
“She’s ready for love.
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“She’s definitely single and ready to mingle, but also I think when the time is right.
“I think a part of really being able to normalise queer characters, LBGTQIA characters, is to allow them to exist in their humanity and that doesn’t always mean that they’re in love or in a partnership because plenty of us know that sometimes you’re not.”
This isn’t the first time that she’s covered this topic.
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Recently, she told Yahoo: “We talked about it a lot, it was a big topic of conversation,
“Because I think, rightfully, there’s this real want in audiences to see characters be very clearly queer or LGBTQIA inside these spaces.
“And I think it’s hugely important to have representation.”
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, contact the LGBT Foundation on 0345 3 30 30 30, 10am–6pm Monday to Friday, or email [email protected]