The actor delivers the performance of his career at the Toronto International Film Festival in “Close to You,” about returning home to family and friends after transitioning.
at the end of 2020. It’s a tender, intimate drama about one of the scariest things any person can do: presenting themselves to their family as their true, authentic self for the first time. Sam isn’t worried about being accepted as trans, but instead about the off-color comments and remarks people might make. Whoever said sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me was a liar.
Sam too feels like a bit of a mystery—we don’t know what he does, who he’s friends with, or how he spends his time. But what we do clearly understand is that Sam, finally, is happy. Everything in his life is going the way he wants it, and he feels more confident and sure of himself than he ever has before.