Exclusive: Alex Lawther gets fabulous in clip from Trudie Styler’s Freak Show
Alex Lawther in Freak Show (Mavern Pictures)
Ahead of the release of Freak Show, PinkNews brings you an exclusive clip from the upcoming film.
Freak Show is about teenager Billy Bloom, played by Alex Lawther, who loves to wear glittery and flamboyant clothing.
Billy’s life is upended when he is forced to leave his eccentric mother, played by Bette Midler, to go and live with his traditionalist and highly disapproving father.
Billy Bloom played by Alex Lawther in Freak Show. (BFI)
The movie, based on James St. James’s novel of the same name, follows Bloom’s experiences at his new ultra-conservative high school, where he is bullied for his gender non-conforming fashion sense and his refusal to be plain.
In this clip, ahead of the film’s release on June 22, we’re granted a sneak peek of the relationship between Billy and the school’s heartthrob Flip Kelly, played by Ian Nelson.
The pair have become close, acting out iconic scenes from Pulp Fiction on Billy’s balcony, much to the amusement of a group of older people on the pavement below.
Lawther and Nelson in Freak Show (Maven Pictures)
The clip then shows us Flip displaying a bit of his sensitive side, sketching Billy as he wears a white dress, a long blonde wig and gold face paint.
“I didn’t choose to be fabulous,” Billy says as he holds up a boot. “Fabulous chose me.”
Flip, seeing how much Billy has been bullied since he arrived at the school, then suggests that he tones down his fabulous nature during class.
Ian Nelson in Freak Show (Maven Pictures)
“Lay off the, ‘Hey, girl,’ why don’t we save that for after school and stick to chicks, cars and zombie flicks from 8:33,” he says.
Billy doesn’t immediately approve, saying: “You want me to change who I am for them?”
“No, for me,” Flip replies.
Billy then says: “I think we’ve pretty much established I’d do anything for him.”
Watch the clip below:
Freak Show includes an all-star cast, including Abigail Breslin and Laverne Cox as an unflappable journalist who covers the school’s fraught election for Prom Queen.
The film is also actress and producer Trudie Styler‘s directorial debut.
Freak Show debuted at the 2018 BFI Flare Festival in April, where PinkNews gave the teen comedy four stars.
Trudie Styler at the BFI Flare debut of Freak Show (Jeff Spicer/Getty)
Although the film was produced in the middle of 2016, Styler has previously spoken out about the relevance the film has gained in 2018.
Styler said: “Apart from the personal connection I initially felt with this story, it strikes me that at this moment in time, Freak Show has taken on a whole new level of relevance for us all.
“Racism, sexism, homophobia and xenophobia seem to have been given new credence, both in the US and in Europe, and as a result prejudice and hatred for ‘otherness’ will only thrive.”
Freak Show is in cinemas and on demand June 22.
