Josh Shinner
Artists
Andrew Scott
Meet one of the artists, disruptors, educators, groundbreakers, innovators, and storytellers who all helped make the world a better place for LGBTQ+ people.
Between starring as Professor James Moriarty on Sherlock, a hot priest on Fleabag, the head of an intelligence agency in Spectre, and a World War I lieutenant in 1917, Andrew Scott has been a breakout star in every project he’s been a part of.
Over the years, the Irish actor has won a BAFTA Award for his performance on Sherlock and two Olivier Awards for his work in the theatrical productions of A Girl in a Car With a Man (2005) and Present Laughter (2020). Scott’s TV work also earned him nominations for Emmy Awards, Golden Globe Awards, and Screen Actors Guild Awards.
In 2023 Scott is taking yet another big career step by playing Adam, the complex lead character in All of Us Strangers, directed by Looking’s Andrew Haigh and also starring Paul Mescal and Claire Foy. Critics have lauded Scott’s performance in the film, which drops in December. Upcoming projects include the title role in the Ripley limited series, based on Patricia Highsmith’s The Talented Mr. Ripley, and Seth Gordon’s action-comedy film Back in Action, alongside Cameron Diaz, Jamie Foxx, and Glenn Close.
But it’s on the stage where Scott found his proudest accomplishment this year, playing nine characters in a one-man version of Uncle Vanya in London’s West End. “It was a bit of a crazy idea but I absolutely loved it,” he shares. He looks forward to sleeping “for three weeks” once the run concludes in October.
Scott underscores that LGBTQ+ issues are no modern-day fad. “I think sometimes there’s a notion in the world that sexual politics has only reared its head in the 20th and 21st centuries alongside the media age, whereas different sexualities have existed since the dawn of humanity, and always will,” he says. “Quite simply, being queer is as natural as the grass growing. Don’t let anyone, no human, no law, no book, tell you different.”
Artists
Troye Sivan
Meet one of the artists, disruptors, educators, groundbreakers, innovators, and storytellers who all helped make the world a better place for LGBTQ+ people.
Photo by Stuart Winecoff
It’s been five years since Troye Sivan’s second studio album, Bloom, was released to much acclaim. And Something to Give Each Other, which came out this October, was well worth the wait.
Sivan and his art routinely spark conversation in pop and LGBTQ+ culture. “Rush,” the album’s lead single that dropped in July, is no exception. It became (along with Kylie Minogue’s “Padam Padam”) the queer song of the summer. The steamy music video, an explosion of dancing, abs, and hedonism, unleashed its own rush of think pieces about popper use and body diversity in queer spaces.
Sivan, who as an actor had a role this year on The Idol — Max’s much-skewered scripted show on pop stardom— also made headlines for his candor this year. He revealed on the High Low podcast that, despite the reputation he received from 2018’s “Bloom,” which was widely received as a bottom anthem, he is, in fact, not a “power bottom.”
Whatever his preferences, Sivan has proven himself a versatile artist. The release of Something to Give Each Other was Troye’s proudest accomplishment of 2023 — along with the launch of Tsu Lange Yor. The Australian lifestyle and homeware brand, for which Sivan serves as creative director, sells candles and scents as well as home objects. “My brother and I started it together, had to trust our guts, find incredible people to work with, and have learnt so much along the way,” the 28-year-old says.
In art and in life, Sivan remains inspired by his community. “Through so much adversity, the LGBTQ+ community pushes to be a safe space for all — pulled together by pillars of love, support, chosen family, and freedom,” he says. “Queer people everywhere need to be protected and be able to celebrate themselves as loudly as they want.” @troyesivan