BY ANDREW BAILEY
BG Independent News Correspondent
Lack of representation among minority groups in film has been an issue for as long as film has been around, and Chris Schermerhorn, star of the new film “DIVOS!” hopes the diverse cast and crew can help amplify these voices.
Schermerhorn, a non-binary BIPOC actor and graduate of the Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City, plays the character of Mitchell, an extravagant, unfiltered divo — a male diva.
The character of Mitchell, like many actors’ roles, allowed Schermerhorn the chance to embody a personality different from his own and run with it.
“When I got the script, Mitchell had all these crazy, wild lines, and I thought, ‘This character is so much cooler than I am in real life,’ and I wanted to see where I could go with that,” he said.
Schermerhorn took his inspiration for the role from many popular divas today, like Jennifer Hudson and Beyoncé, as well Mariah Carey, who Mitchell “is obsessed with” in the film.
“When you think of Jennifer Hudson or Beyoncé or Aretha Franklin, you’re like, ‘What goes through their heads all the time and how much of that could come out of their mouths if they didn’t care?’” he said.
He took personal inspiration for the character as well, since Mitchell was the first character he played who was similar to him in his gender fluidity and non-binary identity. Schermerhorn related to the character’s flamboyance.
“He’s a lot cooler than me, but he’s got a lot of flair, and I was like, ‘Oh, I think I can relate to that,’” he said. “But what I wanted to see the most was how much we could do with it, so that’s when the extensive wardrobe came in. A lot of the ideas were inspired from my personal wardrobe, but then we’d take it a bit farther. So, we’d start with short-shorts and schoolgirl socks, and then we’d add a tape or a sparkling headband. There was always something inspired by me or my personal fashion, and we’d just turn the dial up.”
After graduating from Eastwood High School in Pemberville, Schermerhorn pursued his acting career in Manhattan at the Academy of Dramatic Arts. Then, he moved to Los Angeles and landed acting roles in “Impractical Jokers,” “Henry Danger,” “Miss Arizona” and most recently, “DIVOS!”
“DIVOS!” was written by Matt Steele, who plays main character Ricky Redmond in the film, and was directed by Ryan Patrick Bartley. The movie was a passion project for Steele, as he began his idea for the script eight or 10 years ago, according to Schermerhorn.
“The inspiration (for “DIVOS!”) came from relatable experiences that anybody who has either done a musical or a play in high school, or at least knew those kids, can watch this and go, ‘Oh yeah, I get that,’” Schermerhorn said.
But after viewing the finished film himself, Schermerhorn hopes that audiences, especially those in high school theater, can realize the experience “is about having fun and doing the best you can,” and getting “too wrapped up in it” is detrimental.
Schermerhorn hopes that beyond this relatability, audiences can appreciate the diversity, both on and off screen.
“There are a lot of us,” he said, in reference to the LGBTQ+ representation in both the cast and crew.
An example of this is in Mitchell, the character Schermerhorn plays. The character was based on singer-songwriter Matt Palmer, co-host of the “Two Gay Matts” podcast with Matt Steele.
“He’s this gender-fluid character, a lot like me. But it wasn’t about that, at all,” he said.
Something Schermerhorn hopes audiences take away from his performance as Mitchell is that despite his quick wit and confidence, he has his own internal struggles as well and has experiences that make him just as human as anyone else.
“The people that are the strongest and quick-witted … still have things that scare them and make them sad. They’re also the people that go through things too, so it might be good to check on those people,” he said.
And Mitchell’s gender fluidity and how it is portrayed in the film is something Schermerhorn is particularly proud of.
“A lot of the stuff I read for or other things I’ve done, if I do bring that quality (his own gender fluidity) into the character, because it’s just very close to me, I like it to just be a character that happens to be gender-fluid or just happens to be gay, instead of it being all about that,” he said.
“That’s just reflective of life …This is a part of life and there are people like this who are perfectly awesome and wonderful and pretty cool, too.”
Schermerhorn sees the diversity in “DIVOS!” being mirrored across Hollywood, “but there’s a lot farther we can go with it,” he said.
He hopes that as acceptance of people from all demographics becomes more commonplace across the country, that change can be reflected in the entertainment industry.
“I love that now when I read for roles there are non-binary roles, there are cisgender roles, straight men, gay men, there’s much more of a mix. But we definitely need to keep it going,” he said. “Media can reflect people who are Black and people who are dark-skinned. There are other people with other cultures and different skin colors. And I think that as that starts to become more accepted, in entertainment but also just in regular life, those things will be reflected back a lot easier and people won’t make such a big deal out of it because it’ll just be normal.”
And he sees Mitchell as a character who sets an example for this need for diversity.
“I’m proud that I get to set an example, at least for some people. And the farther I go, I hope to set more of an example of, ‘Hey, you don’t have to only hire straight white people. There’s a lot more.”
“DIVOS!” is available to rent and buy on DVD and On Demand now.
