CHAYCE’ING HIS DREAMS

JASON CACERES STARS AS CHAYCE IN BOY CULTURE:

GENERATION X, THE LONG-AWAITED SEQUEL TO THE GROUNDBREAKING GAY FILM

BY JAMIE BOOTH

Jason Caceres was a teenager when the trailblazing gay drama Boy Culture released in 2006. “I was in high school,” he recalls, “and watched it at a highly inappropriate hour to avoid having any difficult conversations with the people in my life. I remember starving for any content that would help me understand what I was feeling.”

He’s thrilled to star in its sequel, Boy Culture: Generation X, alongside the original film’s stars, Derek Magyar and Darryl Stephens. The film picks up the story ten years later with the onagain, off-again couple X (Maygar) and Andrew (Stephens), now broken up but still sharing a home out of financial necessity. When X attempts to plunge back into his previous job as a sex worker, he’s in for a rude awakening — at 40, he’s no longer the flavor of the month. Also, the entire sex industry has changed with new online platforms, attitudes and PreP. X reluctantly turns to Jason Caceres’ character Chayce, a bratty Gen Z twink, to guide him back into the sex trade.

We spoke with the young actor about his role in Boy Culture: Generation X.

It has to be exciting to be part of a groundbreaking film franchise!

It is definitely exciting. Comedy has always been my favorite genre but, growing up, we didn’t see many queer characters represented in mainstream comedies unless they were being made fun of by the cishet community. Allan’s body of work (Alan Brocka, the film’s director) was the first time I saw these characters fully embrace their individuality and own their own comic mishaps.

Were you even alive when the first Boy Culture film came out?

Yes, I was definitely alive. I came across the original Boy Culture at a time in my life where I was fully developing my own sense of self and coming to terms with my identity. I believe one of the only queer shows on television at the time was Queer As Folk. Once I had finished that, I wanted more! I wanted more stories, more characters, and more content. I wanted to get to know my community and, as I was still in, erm, high school, I had to rely on the internet. I would search for anything queer after I was done with school, extra-curriculars, and homework, so, naturally, it would be very late. That’s how I came across Boy Culture. I illegally pirated it online. Sorry, Allan.

How did you learn they were making a second Boy Culture?

I was performing in a play in Los Angeles and my cast mate was scrolling through Twitter before the show. He followed Darryl Stephens and Darryl had posted that they were looking for an LGBTQ+ actor in his early 20’s who could play Chayce in the sequel. I sent the producers my headshot, demo reels, resume, all the typical audition materials. They sent over a few lines for me to record at home and then they called me in to meet me in person. I remember the callback was at this kind of grungy theater somewhere in Hollywood and it took me forever to find a place to park, as is usual in Los Angeles. Everyone in the room was very nice and incredibly friendly and then they told me I had the part!

What are your thoughts on Chayce?

I enjoy his wild, confident, sexy side. It’s actually something I somewhat envy. He could not care less what others think of him and he is going to live his life his way. To me, that’s very admirable. He does have brat like tendencies but, if you take a look at the character as a whole, and dissect his actions, he’s extremely vulnerable and welcoming. The way he attaches himself to X and agrees to take him under his wing is very telling of his psyche. If he were truly, unequivocally, a brat, he would waste zero time with someone like X.

Do you agree with him that there is wide generational gap between young and old gay men, especially as it relates to technology?

Of course! It’s not a gap that is exclusive to the gay community. If you take a look at the world as a whole, the boom in technology in the last few years has been tremendous. Even now, there are new apps and systems that I don’t know and have to rely on the generation after me to teach me.

What can young gay men like Chayce learn from their gay elders?

The LGBTQ+ community owes a lot to our predecessors. They fought for very long and very hard to get us to where we are today. Obviously, we still have a way to go, but we’re standing on the shoulders of giants and it is very important to remember that.

What are your thoughts on guys like Chayce and X who choose careers in the gay sex industry?

I don’t think there’s anything wrong with it. Sex work should absolutely be destigmatized. We should have autonomy over our own bodies and if someone wants to make a living providing that service, then more power to them.

But what happens, when, like X, they reach an age where they are no longer the flavor of the month?

I think we’re past the point of the “flavor of the month” concept. People are into so many different shapes, sizes, ages now. Someone like X would find clientele very easily in today’s market.

Final message to all of your future fans?

I hope viewers will continue to consume queer content so that we can continue to make it. There is such a need for it in this world that I feel it is crucial to continue representing our community in mainstream media. It can save lives. I also want them to take away from this sequel that, yes, we are all one community, but there are so many different stories, and they are all valid. It’s important to unify our community but also celebrate what makes us different.

Boy Culture: Generation X is releasing to TVOD via Dekkoo Films, a subsidiary of the Dekkoo streaming platform, and is available on numerous platforms including Apple, Amazon, and Google. For more information, visit www.dekkoo.com.