“Grey’s Anatomy” star Sara Ramirez, who recently came out as nonbinary (pronouns she/they), has been cast as Not Samantha Jones on HBO’s “Sex and the City” reboot, titled “And Just Like That…” They’ll be taking on the role of a character named Che, a nonbinary, queer stand-up comic and podcast host (on whose show Carrie appears regularly). What interactions Che will have with Charlotte and Miranda remain to be seen. But for now we’re going to be the fans we’ve always been, and offer low-key hope that the character’s presence will be an opportunity for the “SATC” franchise to finally renovate its own longstanding reputation as less-than-evolved about expressions of sexuality outside the realm of heterosexual white women and that one time one of them briefly dated a lesbian (that hope also includes nonbinary POC creatives working behind the scenes, in the manner of “Pose,” to keep it real). And while we’re making a wish list, we would also like to see Che in some fashion-forward outfits, otherwise it won’t really be “SATC” now, will it?
Cher tweets biopic news and we’re hanging on her every word
When one follows Cher on Twitter, one becomes used to — let’s even say enveloped in — her personal style of distributing information and opinions. There are frequent emojis, elipses and Caps Lock. It’s how you know Cher doesn’t farm out her tweets to an assistant and it only serves to make her more perfectly glorious. For example, this press release, to which you may choose to add your own editorial notations (or not): “Ok Universal is Doing Biopic With My Friends JUDY CRAYMER, GARY GOETZMAN PRODUCING … THEYY PRODUCED BOTH MAMMA MIA’S,& MY DEAR DEAR Friend 4 YRS, & OSCAR WINNER..ERIC ROTH IS GOING 2 WRITE IT!! FORREST GUMP, A STAR IS BORN, SUSPECT, TO NAME A FEW OF IS FILMS.” And now you know as much as we do about the planned upcoming biopic about the cultural icon’s life, produced by “Mamma Mia!” producers Judy Cramer and Gary Goetzman. Will it be a jukebox musical like “The Cher Show?” Who’ll star? Will there be serious consideration of her roller-disco phase? And can we watch it today? And if not, why not? Universal, the universe is waiting for you to get this into theaters.
Civil rights doc ‘Hating Peter Tatchell’ coming to Netflix
From executive producers Elton John and David Furnish comes a film about a man you might not know: “Hating Peter Tatchell,” a documentary centering the work of 69-year-old queer British human rights organizer Peter Tatchell. Tatchell co-founded the UK direct action group OutRage! and has committed acts of civil disobedience for decades (being beaten by neo-Nazis in Moscow and Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe’s guards in the process). Over the course of his career he’s found himself in the center of controversy and battling rabidly anti-queer politicians and laws, but he’s kept going. Written and directed by Christopher Amos, the film will feature archival interviews, a conversation between Ian McKellen and Tatchell, as well as interviews with people like activist Angela Mason and actor Stephen Fry. It will also follow Tatchell as he stages a demonstration at the FIFA World Cup to protest the brutal treatment of LGBTQ+ people in Russia and Chechnya. And it all drops on Netflix June 20 to fire you up for Pride.
Take a ‘Reunion Road Trip’ with the original cast of ‘Queer Eye’
Do you miss Thom, Ted, Kyan, Jai and Carson? This is healthy and normal. Back in the 2000s on “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy” they gave some hetero allies a chance to be cooler for a moment, cook a nice meal and discard the futon, and it was all extremely sweet (though the time they made that poor bear wax his back is still a pain in our heart). Now you can see them back together again in the one-off special “Reunion Road Trip: Queer Eye for the Straight Guy,” on E! The original “Fab Five” will assemble, Avengers-style, to reminisce, reflect and, naturally, makeover one of their own. It’s Jai’s 40th birthday and apparently he needs a little zhuzhing (at least that’s the story we’re being told, does it matter?) The show is part of the E! Network’s four-part series reuniting casts of popular series like “All My Children,” “A Different World” and “Scrubs,” and in the wake of the “Real World: Homecoming” series our appetites for this sort of thing has increased. We’ll be watching and applying moisturizing masks on June 17.
Zoe Kravitz from Catwoman to ‘KIMI’
First of all, is Zoe Kravitz queer and are she and Taylour Paige (“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”) a “thing” in the way that all English-speaking human beings understand to be the meaning of “thing?” Because, see, Kravitz’s Instagram post says that they are — a “thing,” that is — which means we’re going to take this minor mystery as true, assume that the two of them just went public about a new relationship, and that neither of them are #queerbaiting all of us. Moving forward, then, to Kravitz’s upcoming projects post-“High Fidelity” (unjustly cancelled by Hulu and depriving us of a fascinatingly complicated bisexual character played by Kravitz). Obviously, she’s Catwoman in the upcoming Robert Pattinson-starring “The Batman.” But best of all she’s the lead in the new project from legendary filmmaker Steven Soderbergh, “KIMI.” Kravitz plays a tech worker with agoraphobia who discovers evidence of a violent crime, only to encounter resistance and mounting complications when she attempts to bring it to light. It’s the kind of serious work we like to see happening for our favorite actors. And it’s almost as meaningful to us as thinking she and Paige are girlfriends.
Novel ‘Detransition, Baby’ prepped for TV
Transgender author Torrey Peters saw her debut novel, “Detransition, Baby,” find mainstream success when Penguin Random House picked it up for publication, until now a fairly rare occurrence. And now comes another: a TV adaptation. “Detransition, Baby” is in development as a 30-minute comedy-drama (no cast yet) with a pilot written by Peters. The story involves a trans woman named Reese whose ex, Ames — who is in the process of detransitioning after living as a trans woman — contacts her with the opportunity to co-parent a child that Ames and their employer Katrina are having. Reese then has to decide whether or not to re-enter a partnership with Ames in order to fulfill her dream of motherhood. Early stages here, so this one will take some time to make it to your television. But now that acclaimed series like “Pose” and “Euphoria” have laid fresh narrative groundwork around trans characters and the complexity of their lives, and with “Pose” coming to an end, another well-made series unafraid to explore ideas about gender and trans identity will be more than welcome.
John Cameron Mitchell, king of tigers
Joe Exotic has his actor avatar at last. The infamous “Tiger King” from the Netflix documentary series of the same name is now the subject of more than one narrative project, but the one simply called “Joe Exotic,” set to debut on NBC, USA Network and the Peacock streaming service at the same time, the one co-starring Kate McKinnon, has now cast “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” creator John Cameron Mitchell as the titular gay wildlife enthusiast. By this point, even if you didn’t watch the Netflix series, you more or less know the story about exotic animal keepers with exotic personalities locked in a deadly feud. But these leads have us convinced to dive back into the story just to see two of our favorite character actors do unusual work. Mitchell has already called Exotic a “modern folk antihero,” which is a fun euphemism for “tried to have someone murdered” but we’ll allow it. He’s also expressed a cultural affinity based on their shared experiences of growing up gay in rural backgrounds. It sounds like he’s totally in, and so are we. Look for it sometime in late 2021.
Romeo San Vicente smells like several Aesop skin care products at once.