Love, Simon Star Keiynan Lonsdale On His New Film ‘My Fake Boyfriend’
Image: Keiynan Lonsdale
Keiynan Lonsdale is an Australian actor, dancer, and singer-songwriter.
Best known for his roles in Love, Simon and The Flash, his newest film, My Fake Boyfriend, is a romantic comedy about Andrew (Lonsdale), who with the help of his friends, creates a made-up online boyfriend as a way to get space from his toxic ex.
Talking about the movie to Star Observer, Lonsdale, 30, said that it was a great “opportunity to play someone that I could relate to so much. You know, being late 20s trying to navigate the Queer dating scene and trying to understand yourself a bit better and love and you know, probably seeking love advice and clarity from straight friends that don’t really know his dating scene too well.”
When asked if he has ever created a fake boyfriend in real life, Lonsdale laughs as he says, “Probably in my dreams, but no, I haven’t gone and used my skills to craft a fake boyfriend.” He then punctuates the sentence with a mischievous, “yet.”
Prior to the role of Andrew in My Fake Boyfriend, Lonsdale found his stride playing Bram in the groundbreaking, coming-of-age LGBTQ romantic comedy, Love, Simon.
Love, Keiynan
This new queer role, however, is different from his role in Love, Simon.
“[My Fake Boyfriend] isn’t a coming out movie. It is still, in ways, about finding yourself but it’s more about being honest with yourself to a larger degree. It’s someone that is comfortable with their sexuality to a big point and that’s not a topic of the film. It’s about trying to have enough self-worth to give yourself what you deserve, which is a healthy good kind of love, and realise that you can also provide that for someone else.”
He went on to say, “It’s something that I also needed to see much like when I was younger and I needed to see something like Love, Simon. I really needed to see something like this, that shows a little bit of a light into the dating world.”
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One of a Dozen
Lonsdale was born in Sydney and has 11 siblings. About growing up in a large family, he says,
“We’re all quite different. I’m kind of in the middle of that group. So, it keeps life interesting, but I’ve got siblings that are Nigerian, Aboriginal, Chinese, Samoan, Irish. I guess it’s a good melting pot and it’s kind of a nice little reflection of the world; a small little reflection of the world. So I feel quite lucky.”
In his downtime, Lonsdale loves to relax with friends, play video games, watch anime, and write music.
He says that “Generally when I’m writing [it’s] because I have nothing else to do, like maybe I’m super anxious or I’m nervous, or I’m really confused about a situation with someone, or whatever,” he says, “and writing that song is really just to help me get through the day, as dramatic as that sound.”
“Then this song will come out of it and you start to think okay, so I was always supposed to be that anxious? You know? I was supposed to be that confused? Because, you know, now it’s birthed something that helps me make sense of it.
“I like to include those songs on projects. Because… much like the stories we tell in film, if they can help me understand something or myself a bit better. Or at least if it’s true, then maybe it’s true for someone else.”
The Things That Matter The Most
When in Australia, where he lives for half the year, Lonsdale prefers to spend time with friends and family.
“I love my life,” he says, “It’s always changing, shifting. It’s so crazy that you know, for a majority of my 20s, I wasn’t around my closest friends and family. So I really cherish, like, even just going to the park and working out with my brothers every Sunday. You know, making music together, or my sister is pregnant at the moment, so painting the room. Just little things like that.
“Those things matter the most to me than anything; they give me peace.”
Moving forward, Lonsdale says he wants to have a family and travel the world.
“I would love to have a family one day. Really excited about that. Not rushing. Not rushing at all,” he says with a laugh.
“And yeah, I just would love to tour the world. For me, to tour the world, playing music and creating stories and telling stories and sharing them; go to as many countries as I can, doing that. That’s the dream for sure. Just to connect with the world.”
My Fake Boyfriend is currently streaming on Prime Video.
