Looking back on his pioneering portrayal of gay teen Billy in the soap opera One Life to Live, Ryan Phillippe has opened up about the initial hesitation he and his inner circle felt regarding the role.
At just 17, Phillippe made history as daytime television’s first gay teenage character on the long-running series, which aired from 1968 to 2013. His character appeared in 15 episodes during 1992 and 1993.
In a recent conversation with People, the now 50-year-old Cruel Intentions star described the experience as “really profound” while admitting that his youth at the time led to “elements of me that were afraid” to portray a gay character, noting “it was such a different time.”
He revealed that those close to him had cautioned against taking the role.
“I think there were some fears associated with the point in time that we were at and it being before so many walls and ceilings have been broken in that regard,” Phillippe explained. “But I know that any fears that anyone had about me doing it immediately went away once I saw the reaction that it got from the people who viewed it.”
The actor recalled receiving heartfelt letters from viewers who expressed, “I’d never seen someone represent me in any entertainment before in my life,” and from parents sharing, “Watching this show on my lunch break gave me a way to connect with my LGBTQ child.”
“Looking back now, I understand how meaningful that role was to so many people,” Phillippe reflected. “At 17, you don’t really grasp the full impact. It was such a different era then, but that experience really helped me mature and opened my eyes to how entertainment can touch people’s lives in profound ways.”
The star of I Know What You Did Last Summer now headlines Amazon Prime Video’s new series Motorheads as Logan Maddox. The show, which recently dropped on the streaming platform, chronicles the unlikely friendship between a group of high school misfits united by their passion for street racing.
In a touching family connection, Phillippe’s 21-year-old son Deacon, whom he shares with ex-wife Reese Witherspoon, appears in flashback scenes playing the younger version of his character’s brother.
“There’s this strange emptiness when your kids go off to college,” he shared candidly. “It leaves this void in your life. Getting to spend that week filming together gave us such a special opportunity to reconnect.”
Phillippe and Witherspoon’s marriage lasted from 1999 to 2008. They are also parents to daughter Ava, who is now 25.
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