Spencer Stevenson (Photo by Dylan Perot)
Dreams come true for out Texas actor in Hulu’s ‘Rosaline’
RICH LOPEZ | Staff writer
rich@dallasvoice.com
Last weekend, Spencer Stevenson became a much more familiar face. The film Rosaline premiered on the streaming channel Hulu, and for the Grand Prairie-raised actor, it’s a big moment. From North Texas to Los Angeles, Stevenson is navigating his way through Hollywood, and he is off to good start.
At the time of this interview, Stevenson’s Hulu premiere was a couple of days out, but he was already excited about the movie’s prospects. “I feel so great about this. I’m so happy with it, and it’s crazy that it was a year ago when we filmed it,” he said by Zoom from his California home. “It’s been a phenomenal experience.”
From filming to streaming, Stevenson’s career has been on a fast trajectory considering he graduated from Texas State University in spring 2019. Later that year, he was already in California.
But his path started long before.
Raised by his single mother in Grand Prairie, he acted in theater throughout school, but it was television that caught his fancy. “As a kid, Raven was my icon,” he said, referencing Raven-Symoné and her show, That’s So Raven. “She was the only Black woman I saw on the Disney Channel, and she stuck out to me. I wanted to be that.”
Raven-Symone now identifies with the LGBTQ community but has rejected specific labels. She did spark something in Stevenson which is perhaps his calling.
“I went down a rabbit hole trying to get on the Disney Channel, and I would look up auditions. I wanted that so bad,” Stevenson said. He wanted it enough that he ultimately signed with an agent while in eighth grade and began training at DTV Studios in Lewisville.
Along with commercials and PSAs, Stevenson landed spots in The Purge and the Mindhunter television series.
But still, he said, “I wanted to work for Disney so bad.”
Filmed in Italy, Rosaline is a comedic retelling of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet told from the point of view of Romeo’s jilted ex-girlfriend, the Rosaline of the title. The cast includes Kaitlyn Dever, Kyle Allen, Academy Award nominee Minnie Driver and Emmy winner Bradley Whitford.
The movie is produced by 20th Century Fox which is — wait for it — a division of Walt Disney Company, and the film is also distributed by Disney+ as well as Hulu.
“I didn’t think I was going to book this. I didn’t even have my passport at the time,” the 25 year-old Texan said. “And here we are now, working for Disney. This really is a dream come true. This is what I wished for.”
In the movie, he plays Count Paris. In Shakespeare’s play, Count Paris plans to marry Juliet in an arrangement set up by her father. In the movie though, Paris is Rosaline’s gay best friend.
“He’s kind of bougie and pretty famous around town,” Stevenson said of the character. “He’s also super charming but will step in and tell it like it is.”
The actor felt he could relate to the character as written, but he had the liberty to make the character his own.
“I will say I didn’t have to stretch too far because he felt familiar. But in that sense, it was easier for me to let go and have creative freedom.
And the director, Karen Maine, gave me those opportunities,” he said.
Not only did Stevenson get his Disney wish, he also got his acting wish. He credits his team with finding practically the perfect role and project.
“I really wanted a gay role, and my reps have a good understanding what I’m looking for. I can play straight and serious, but I can do comedy, and I am gay. So let’s do this,” he said. “Plus, it’s a female-led project.
“Even with the premiere, I’m still not believing all this,” Stevenson admitted. “But I am proud of my performance and this project, and maybe my work can be a message to little gay boys who have dreams like me.”
Rosaline stars is currently streaming on Hulu and Disney+.
