The truth in L.I.E.

The teen stars of L.I.E. hope their controversial film might open a few minds

When the film L.I.E. earned sustained applause from an overflow crowd at its premiere at the Sundance Film Festal in January, its two 16-year-old stars wee there to soak it up. Paul Franklin Dano, who plays 15-year-old Home, sat and smiled broadly as costar Bily Kay--who plays coquettish Gary--stood and hooted with pride in support of the film and its makers. Maybe others in the audience were silently wincing over the film's exploration of two teenage boys' mutual (but unrequited) sexual attraction and their interactions with an unrepentant pedophile called Big John, but for Dano and Kay it was simply a job well done.

The next day the boys appear for an interview, eager yet serious two seasoned pros. Kay, who graduated early from his Long Island, N.Y., high school (and who turned 17 in April), is a regular on the soap Guiding Light He didn't hesitate to play omnisexually delinquent and underage hustler Gary: "When I read the script, I said, `Wow, this is such an out-there character. This role is definitely going to be cool.'"

Dano, a high school senior who's been acting since age 10, says what drew him to the lead role of Howie, who is just coming into sexual awareness, was that Howie "was a lot more intimate with the [other] characters, such as Gary and Big John"--something he hadn't played before.

Clearly these are not your squeanish up-and-coming actors of the past.

THE ADVOCATE: You guys have a lot of sexually charged moments together that you both seem comfortable with.

KAY: It definitely helped out the chemistry with me and Paul because we've been such good friends for a long time.

DANO: I've been at his house. I've slept over there, met all his friends.

What did you each think when you first read the script?

KAY: Gary originally was supposed to be black. I went up for [Howie], and [director] Michael [Cuesta] said. "Will you read Gary for me? I see you in Gary's role." I loved it! I got to have such cool tattoos and everything--it was great.

DANO: Howie's very innocent--in the beginning of the movie he's really lost and not grown up yet. Then he meets Gary, who becomes one of his best friends. And I think he grows a lot because of the person Gary is--streetwise, a lot more out there. Then [Howie] meets Big John, who becomes like a fatherlike figure to him. It's like a coming-of-age story for Home. At the end he's able to take care of himself and he has confidence. He believes in himself.

Is Gary gay? Is Howie?

KAY: Gary's bisexual--he says it in the film, actually. He says [about Howie's dad's voluptuous girlfriend], "Hey, I'd fuck her. I'd fuck anything." He's more of a hustler than just to say he's gay [or] straight: He takes whatever he likes, whatever he needs.

DANO: I don't think Howie knows an the movie if he's bisexual, gay, or straight. I think he experiments throughout the movie, trying to find out what he wants--exploring sexually--because he really doesn't know. It's al too much for him at one time: discovering [his] sexuality, if he has one, and all the things going on with his father [who's under FBI investigation] and his mother [who has just died] and Gary and Big John. You're not supposed to know what Howie is--he doesn't know himself.

Do you guys know gay kids?

DANO: We have a few kids who have come out in our school People respect that. One of them still plays a sport--he plays football I mean, they take showers in the shower room. It doesn't bother people. He's a normal person. KAY: My school I think it's more homophobic than [Paul's]. There's always going to be the pad [of the school] that's gonna be antigay. And there's people who were like, Hey, whatever, I'm fine with it. I mean, just let the people live their life--it's ridiculous. That's what I think.

What would you say to people--gay and straight--who find L.I.E.'s subject matter disturbing?

DANO: What it deals with is real. It's not something that doesn't happen. There are people out there like [Big John], and just because a person's like that, you can't ...

KAY: You can't deny them their rights.

DANO: It is a film, a form of entertainment and it's a form of knowledge. It's both. And I think it was written that way too--for you to go in there and enjoy yourself, challenge your mind, and to let you see things that you haven't seen before. And learn something. And I think the film is going to do that if people open their minds.