Lukas Gage Is Having a Moment, but Says 'Authenticity Is Expensive'

Lukas Gage burst on the scene not because of a role he received, but one he didn't get. It happened four years ago when the blonde, boyish 28-year-old actor was in a Zoom call with British film director Tristram Shapeero. During the call, Shapeero bemoaned to an assistant about "these poor people" who "live in these tiny apartments" not realizing that his mic was on. Quick on his feet, Gage responded, "I know it's a shit apartment," he says with a smile. "Give me this job, so I can get a better one." The story went viral, though Gage was discreet enough not to mention Shapeero's name, who later apologized to Gage.

Since then Gage has found better digs. His career took off when he had a supporting role on the first season of "The White Lotus" in which he played a hotel staffer who hooks up with his boss, played by Murray Bartlett. The two get caught as Bartlett was performing the rim job seen around the world and overnight people were asking just who was the actor on the receiving end.

Gage appears on the cover of the British queer magazine Attitude this month and said that his role on "The White Lotus" is his favorite to date, adding that he would work again with the series creator Mike White in a second. "I'd do anything with Mike White, or 'The White Lotus.' It's probably my favourite thing I've ever done," he says in an excerpt from the interview. He adds he would jump at the opportunity to appear in an All-Stars "White Lotus" season, which, he says is something "they could totally do it. It hasn't been done before [with a scripted show]. And I think it would make sense, because Mike White did 'Survivor'and 'The Amazing Race,' which I believe both had 'all-star' seasons."

Because of the scene, Gage went on to become the poster boy of the sexual act – at least for five minutes – on an appearance with Andy Cohen on "Watch What Happens Live." He also got push back on social media about that sex scene, with many calling it "disgusting." Such judgments pissed him because "because I don't want to yuck anyone's yum. But a lot of people can have a hard time separating the actor from the character, and then, suddenly, people are coming up to me at Starbucks asking [if the scene was real]. People forget it's make-believe."

Gage grew up in a San Diego suburb, the youngest of four boys raised by a single mother. He told the New York Times two years ago that he moved to Los Angeles when he was 18 to pursue an acting career "acting after a brief stint at the University of Oregon, where he got in a gruesome fight trying to protect a friend. '"'I have all these scars from where I had to get my face put back together," he said. "Maybe, selfishly, I needed a reason to get out.'"

But he found auditioning for some roles, such as for commercials, to be triggering. "I remember, at 17 years old, people saying out loud what was wrong with my face and that I wasn't in shape enough," he told the Times. "As a teenager, that really makes you crazy. I had to stop commercial auditioning when I was younger because it was making me dysmorphic."

As for his sexuality, he tells Attitude, he recalls being bullied for being gay and covering it up with girlfriends. "I'm grateful and privileged that my family were for the most part amazing, and it was smooth. I grew up bullied for it but always covered with girlfriends. My friends were all great. The only backlash was from strangers online or in life. I try not to read anything online, but we all do."

And he expresses empathy for "Heartstopper" star Kit Connor being 'bullied' into coming out at just 18 years old after playing Nick in the Netflix series. "I remember, it was the same time people were coming for me, they were coming for Kit [Connor]. "Feeling bullied into coming out at 18 years old? That area where public and private intersect is so confusing to me."

He explains to Attitude that issues of coming out as an actor is a complicated one, along with that of straight actors playing gay roles. Before he acknowledged his sexuality, he recalls being called out for taking a gay role away from a gay actor. "I was dealing with people coming for me, being like, 'Why is he stealing a gay role? He's just a straight guy, how dare he, blah blah blah.'"

He sees it two ways. "I'm in the camp where there's of course certain scenarios,' Lukas said of who should play gay characters. It's an injustice to not cast with diversity and inclusion, to tell the most authentic story.

He then adds: "In other less specific cases, it's important to remember it is acting, and we should be free to play as many different kinds of roles as possible. There has to be grace and generosity. I don't like it when people do a witch hunt for people for doing it."

And cautions: "I want to have visibility, to be a role model. I want little kids to see me and think, 'He's doing it – I could do it too.' But it's also the thing Tina Fey said, 'Authenticity is expensive'"

Early on in his success, his authenticity was questioned when it was felt he was being coy about his sexuality. "You don't know my alphabet," he said in response to a question about it in 2022, suggesting that he was above definition. He told the Times he had lost an agent over that very point. "Stop dyeing your hair, stop wearing weird clothes and pick a lane: gay, bi or straight. It's too confusing," the agent told him.

In the ensuing two years he did embrace his queer side, starring in the film "Down Low," which he co-wrote with his writing partner Phoebe Snow in which he played a sex worker hired by Zachary Quinto who attempt to hook-up with a third man, only to accidentally kill him in the process. Even more famously, he married celebrity hairstylist Chris Appleton after the pair were seen vacationing in Mexico. But it wasn't to be – the pair split after nine months and divorced. The couple's Vegas wedding, though, received much publicity due to the fact that Appleton's client and good friend Kim Kardashian officiated and Shania Twain serenaded them with "You're Still the One."

And just this past week, Gage appears to be pushing those sexual boundaries again when the Daily Mail reported he was photographed locking lips with Pitch Perfect star Anna Camp, 42, at a SAG-AFTRA party held at the Chateau Marmont on Friday. But while the tabloids are making it seem like it is some sort of burgeoning romance, Gage has a history of such encounters. Last August it was reported that he was spotted at another LA event making out with various celebrities, to which the actor attempted clarity by saying: "Grow up, it was like 2 ppl!!" Still, PDAs appear to be part of Gage's DNA.
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In the Attitude cover story, he spoke to the magazine about his recent film roles. In the past few years, Gage appeared in the terrific indie film "How to Blow Up a Pipeline," Doug Lyman's remake of "Road House," opposite Jake Gylenhaal, and the smart second feature in the "Smile" horror franchise in which he plays a drug dealer possessed with the deadly 'smile virus' who bludgeons himself to death in front of the film's heroine, pop sensation Skye Riley (played by the terrific Naomi Scott), who is infected with the 'smile virus' in the process. "Firstly, what I love about 'Smile' is there's humour in it," he explains to Attitude about the appeal of the franchise. "The best films are when you're laughing and scared. A juxtaposition. What I loved about the first 'Smile' is it talks about mental illness. Thematically, a lot of intense conversations that are very real. And then this one was about fame, where private and public intersect, the balance of someone in that position."

Gage also relates to the plight of Skye, who is attempting to balance new-found pop fame with increasingly bizarre events brought on by the virus. "I have a lot of friends that are that level of fame," he tells Attitude. "Watching them struggle to be authentic, be honest with the world and their fans, but also... authenticity is something that needs to be treasured and kept sacred. That's what I felt the character of Skye is dealing with. Wanting to be honest – talking about substance abuse on The Drew Barrymore Show, trying to have her comeback while trying to have some semblance of a normal life and normal friendships, relationships, family dynamic. All those things are either non-existent or completely tainted. It's a cautionary tale."

He also co-stars in the upcoming horror thriller "Companion" (due out on January 31, 2025). The film is produced by Zach Cregger, the actor-turned writer/director who first film was 2023's much buzzed horror/thriller "Barbarian." Cregger does not direct; instead those duties are handled by the film's screenwriter Drew Hancock.

Gage explains to Attitude about the film. "It's by the producers of 'Barbarian.' It's got 'Barbarian' twists and turns, genre-mashing, humour, horror, thriller – everything. It's about a group of friends who go to a lake house, and it goes terribly wrong. I can't give [away] much more than that. But it's a fun ride."