Disney Channel star Joshua Rush got some exciting news last year when he found out he’d be playing the first openly gay character on the kid’s channel.
Now, he’s talking to People Now to share how he felt during the whole process of his character coming out.
“I feel the pressure, and I also don’t,” said Rush, who plays Cyrus Goodman on Disney’s Andi Mack, “I think the most important thing for me when I got this part was to do it right.”
“I knew that I wanted to do it justice, because I knew that people were gonna end up seeing this and being like, ‘Wow that’s me, I identify with that [and] I can be who I am now,’ but I also wanted to make sure that it’s not all-encompassing. Like that’s not all of Cyrus’ personality,” he added.
But 16-year-old Rush wasn’t alone during his coming out scene (which we shared with you here). His costar Sofia Wylie, playing best friend Buffy Driscoll, was also a part of the scene and prep for it.
Rush says the two practiced the scene multiple times the night before, ““just brainstorming, how are we going to do this.”
“We put the work in, and I think it shows,” he adds.
Rush also shared that he’s happy to be that representation that LGBTQ pre-teens, middle schoolers, and teens need.
“I think this storyline is definitely going to help a lot of my peers,” Rush says. “I was the first person that one of my good friends came out to, and I think that if I had someone like Buffy on TV, I think I would’ve done a better job and had been a better friend in that situation. I’m glad that I can be a part of this.”
He adds, “I hope that more shows will follow in Disney’s footsteps with Cyrus’ storyline. Really, I look forward to the day that it’s not an unusual occurrence. I hope everyone can one day see that our differences are beautiful and that love is love.”
It seems that Joshua Rush has a good head on his shoulders and we’re happy he’s the one to present this important story on tv to the world.
