When Mikko Mäkelä‘s Sebastian debuted on the festival circuit, everyone praised Ruaridh Mollica for his performance.
Mollica plays Max, an aspiring writer who takes on a different identity as Sebastian to research his main character’s story for his book.
Seeing him in action, one cannot tell that Mollica was a newcomer when he was cast in the film. He gave a masterful layered performance that left viewers wishing for more.
The film opened more opportunities for the young Scottish-Italian actor.
With roles like in HBO’s The Franchise and the upcoming WandaVision sequel series Vision Quest, Mollica’s career is on the rise.
However, the film also gave him another gift: it allowed him to embody the character as queer man, which in turn gave him the courage to come out.
Ruaridh Mollica Is Proud of Himself and ‘Sebastian.’
Mollica talked to Wonderland about his coming out process which was tied to his career as an actor and his role as Max.
“I didn’t have any queer role models growing up, especially bisexual role models,” he told the outlet, echoing sentiments shared by many queer people.
However, moving to bustling London gave him never-before-seen freedom. “When I moved to London, and felt the anonymity of the city, I realised I could wear whatever I wanted, do whatever I wanted, and no one would say anything,” he said.
Sebastian was a great opportunity for him to live openly. “[The film] was an opportunity for me to come out publicly,” he said.
Authentic queer roles are becoming more common, and the actor was proud of having contributed to that trend, something he spoke about, saying:
“I’m really proud of this film, and I’m really proud of who I am. If you are queer and you’re portraying a queer role, then I wanted to be able to champion that.”
What’s Next for Him?
Mollica will be seen next in the Paul Bettany-led Marvel series Vision Quest.
The series based on Vision is said to occur “after the events in WandaVision, where the character made a return after Thanos killed him in 2018’s Avengers: Infinity War.” (Deadline) The new series is believed to follow Vision as he tries to regain his memory and humanity.
Mollica plays a character named Tucker.
The actor is the next queer performer to join the MCU after actors like Heartstopper‘s Joe Locke who played Billy Maximoff in Agatha All Along.
His other upcoming projects include the short films Joe and The Method.
Sebastian is available on streaming and physical media.