Out gay actor Michael Johnston says he hopes his next project will be a “really intentional queer role” built around a meaningful story — and he is prepared to write it himself if necessary.
The Obsession star discussed his ambitions during an appearance on the I’ve Never Said This Before podcast, reflecting on how the record-breaking horror film has given him greater freedom to decide where his career goes next.
Johnston said he had reached a point where he could “choose what I want to do”, opening the door to projects that more closely reflect his personal experiences and creative interests.
“I would love my next role to be a really intentional queer role and a really meaningful queer story,” he said. “I don’t know, maybe I’ll write it myself.”
Sexuality Is Only One Part of a Character
Johnston explained that he has never wanted sexuality to become the sole defining feature of any character he plays.
“My whole thing has been that what the character’s sexuality is doesn’t matter to me,” he said. “It’s just another part of who they are, and that’s how I am. It’s just a part of who I am.”
However, that perspective has not diminished his desire to tell a queer story with emotional depth and purpose.
Johnston grew up in North Carolina and said his experience of being a gay boy in the deeply religious and socially conservative Bible Belt could provide powerful material.
“But that being said, growing up in the Bible Belt can be problematic for a gay boy,” Johnston said, describing it as “a whole kind of experience”.
Teen Wolf Role Helped Viewers Come Out
Johnston also reflected on playing Corey Bryant in MTV’s Teen Wolf from 2015 until 2017.
Corey was a gay supernatural character whose relationship with Mason Hewitt became an important source of representation for young LGBTQ+ viewers.
Johnston said he was “still not comfortable with [his] sexuality at the time” and did not initially understand how much the role meant to the programme’s audience.
“I got thousands of messages from people thanking me and telling me how they feel better about themselves. They were able to come out to their parents,” he said.
The response showed Johnston how a queer character could make viewers feel recognised and give them the confidence to speak openly about their own identities.
Success of Obsession Creates New Opportunities
Johnston’s comments follow his breakout performance as Bear in Curry Barker’s supernatural horror film Obsession.
The film follows a lonely romantic who uses a mysterious object to make his childhood friend fall in love with him, only for his wish to produce increasingly terrifying consequences.
Johnston has described Bear as a “toxically hopeless romantic”, with the film examining entitlement, rejection and the darker side of supposedly harmless “nice guy” behaviour.
Produced for a reported US$750,000, Obsession has earned more than US$400 million worldwide. It became Focus Features’ highest-grossing film and the highest-grossing original horror movie of the century.
That extraordinary success has placed Johnston in a position to be more selective about his work.
His experiences growing up gay in the Bible Belt, playing a queer character before fully accepting his own sexuality and receiving messages from viewers whose lives were changed by that representation now appear to be guiding his next move.
Whether the project comes from another writer or Johnston ultimately creates it himself, he is ready to tell a queer story with intention, emotional weight and something meaningful to say.
