It looks like the MTV Movie Awards loved the romantic coming-out/coming-of-age film Love, Simon as much as we did.
At last night’s awards, the film’s two lead actors, Nick Robinson and Keiynan Lonsdale, took home the trophy for “Best Kiss” for their yes-yes-yes lip-lock at the end of the movie.
Here’s the award-winning smooch:
Robinson wasn’t available for the ceremony as he's shooting a new project, but Lonsdale (who came out as bisexual last year) took the stage to accept the award saying:
“I just want to say to every kid — if you can live your dreams and wear dresses; you can live your dreams and kiss the one that you love no matter what gender they are. You can live your dreams and you can believe in magic, you can live your dreams, and you can be yourself.”
#MTVAwards: @KeiynanLonsdale wins Best Kiss saying "you can live your dreams and wear dresses" pic.twitter.com/0TitqfNzrt
— Hollywood Reporter (@THR) June 19, 2018
Backstage, Lonsdale was asked if he was thinking about winning an award for the kiss during the shooting of the film. “We both were equally scared going into the project thinking ‘Are we going to get this right,?’ cause it means a lot to people,” said the handsome 26 year-old from Australia.
This is the second year in a row the MTV Movie Awards have honored a same-sex kiss with last year’s nod going to the Oscar winning Moonlight's beachside kiss between actors Ashton Sanders and Jharrel Jerome.
Boy Culture points out the long history of same-sex kissed in the category with same-sex wins by Cruel Intentions in 2000, American Pie 2 in 2002, Starsky & Hutch in 2004, Brokeback Mountain in 2006, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby in 2007, and Moonlight in 2017.
Love, Simon was the first mainstream film featuring a gay lead character to be backed by a major studio. Released in March, the film was met with strong reviews and box office. To date, the film has grossed almost $60 million on a budget of $17 million.
