Let’s hop into the queer time machine and set the coordinates to 1992—back when crimped hair reigned, Queer Eye was still a twinkle in Carson Kressley’s eye, and daytime TV was about as queer as a bowl of unbuttered popcorn. Enter: Ryan Phillippe, 17 years old, nervous but game, and about to rock the soap world by becoming the first openly gay teenager on daytime television. Gays, brace yourselves—this is a story of quiet rebellion, accidental iconography, and one gloriously pretty boy doing the damn thing before it was safe.
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Speaking to PEOPLE, Phillippe, now 50 and still entirely too handsome for our collective emotional health, reflects on his role as Billy Douglas on One Life to Live with genuine gravitas. “It was a really profound experience,” he says, and no surprise—portraying a gay teen in early-’90s America wasn’t just groundbreaking; it was borderline career sabotage.
“I was so young that there were elements of me that were afraid because it was such a different time.” Read that again. This wasn’t the era of rainbow capitalism or Instagram bios with pronouns—it was the time of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell and dial-up internet. Phillippe wasn’t just breaking ground; he was stepping on landmines.
Let’s be clear: not everyone in his corner was cheering. “I think there were some fears associated with the point in time that we were at and it being before so many walls and ceilings have been broken in that regard,” Phillippe admits. Translation? People thought a gay role might tank his career. (Spoiler: it did not. Have you seen Cruel Intentions?)
But then came the fan mail. And not just swoony teenage thirst letters (though, let’s be real—there were probably a few of those too). No, this was deeper. Heartfelt. Healing.
“I’ve never seen someone represent me in any entertainment before in my life,” wrote one young fan.
A parent added, “Watching this show on my lunch break gave me a way to connect with my LGBTQ child.” That’s not just a fan reaction—that’s a cultural reckoning with a kid from Delaware at its center.
And here’s where it gets even more touching. Phillippe, now a dad to three, understands the value of connection in a way that probably hits harder post-Billy. “When your kids go off to college, it’s really unsettling. It really leaves a deficit, a hole in your life in some ways,” he says, discussing his recent project Motorheads, in which he stars alongside his son Deacon. Yes, gay people—Ryan Phillippe is hot and a wholesome dad who loves acting with his children. The bisexuals are not okay.
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Reflecting on Billy Douglas all these years later, Phillippe recognizes the unintended legacy. “As that job progressed, I realized how important it was to some people. And I was only 17 years old, so you don’t really have a sense of that,” he shares.
“It was such a different time, but I very much matured through having had that experience and seeing the impact that it had for others.”
In other words, Billy Douglas wasn’t just a role—he was a ripple in the pond. A pastel-sweater-wearing, perfectly blow-dried ripple that made the world a little bit safer, a little bit gayer.
So here’s to Ryan Phillippe: the original soft-boy revolutionary. He didn’t set out to become a queer TV pioneer—but then again, some heroes don’t wear capes. They wear pleated khakis, look confused in church scenes, and accidentally make history.
And for that, Ryan, we’re still watching.
Source: PEOPLE