Keiynan Lonsdale has followed up his already acclaimed performance in the movie “Love, Simon” by releasing a new song with a similarly queer-inclusive theme.
Lonsdale told Billboard that “Kiss the Boy” ― which debuted Wednesday on YouTube, Spotify and other streaming platforms ― was inspired by “Kiss the Girl” from Disney’s “The Little Mermaid,” as well as his role in “Love, Simon.”
The 26-year-old actor-singer plays Bram, a high school soccer jock and one of several possible love interests for the movie’s closeted gay protagonist, Simon (Nick Robinson). The film has earned near-universal praise from critics and fans as Hollywood’s first mainstream coming-of-age comedy to center on a gay teen.
“I had so much to draw off,” Lonsdale said, “with the movie, my own personal life and every relationship I’d been in, and other people’s stories that they’d told me.”
The lyrics are reflective of Lonsdale’s experience as an openly bisexual man.
“If you wanna kiss the boy, then you better kiss the boy right now,” he sings. “And you ain’t gotta be afraid of the words you wanna say right now, ’cause love is a game we deserve to play out loud.” (Catch the lyrics video for the song, which features many real-life young LGBTQ couples, above.)
Lonsdale, who came out publicly as bisexual after “Love, Simon” wrapped, has been in the midst of a creative blitz. He’s slated to join the CW’s “Legends of Tomorrow” as a series regular this year and is currently at work on a full-length album that will feature “Kiss the Boy.”
The rest of the album won’t shy away from the subject of his sexuality either, he said.
“All I can do is be exactly me,” Lonsdale told HuffPost earlier this month, “and hope that connects with people that are wanting to be exactly them.”
