Tut Star Avan Jogia Talks Gay Bullying

Photography by Nicholas Maggio for Out

In an interview with uInterview last week, Tut star Avan Jogia talked about Straight But Not Narrow, the anti-bullying charity he co-founded that focuses specifically on preventing bullying and passive bystanding towards children because of their perceived sexuality.

In the video, Jogia discusses the danger of apathy towards oppressive behavior:

"If you have a gay friend who is being bullied for that fact and you say nothing, your silence is as loud as their violence, is the best way to put it. It's basically an education to people to stand up and speak up, and the worst sickness that we live with in this world is apathy."

Jogia told Out about his organization earlier this year:

"I saw a gap. There was no one making straight youth responsible for their apathy. When you see a bully beating up a kid and you stand idle, that's as loud, or louder, than the actual oppression."

His latest project, Spike's mini-series Tut, aired last week, and stars Jogia as the famed pharaoh king. Get ready for more Jogia when he appears as James Franco's lover in the film I Am Michael. Franco was so at ease that he actually fell asleep in Jogia's arms. "Either I'm an excellent cuddler, or he was exhausted," the 23-year-old Canadian-born actor says with a laugh. "Maybe it was both!"

Watch the interview here.