'It's a scary time for queer people, so being myself is my purest form of activism'

Layton Williams speaks to Yahoo UK for Queer Voices about authenticity, seeing yourself, and his new theatre show Titanique.

Queer Voices (Yahoo)
Layton Williams speaks to Yahoo UK for Queer Voices. (Yahoo)
  • Layton Williams speaks to Yahoo UK for Queer Voices about authenticity, seeing yourself, and his new theatre show Titanique.

  • He is an actor, singer, dancer and musical performer known for his appearances in Bad Education, Strictly Come Dancing, and Beautiful People.

  • Layton Williams made his stage debut aged 13 in the title role of Billy Elliot the Musical, and he has starred in critically-acclaimed productions like Everybody's Talking About Jamie and Cabaret.

  • His new musical Titanique is being performed at the Criterion Theatre in London's West End until Sunday, 8 June.

I feel like there was no hiding for me when I stepped onto the scene. In my first introduction to the public, on TV anyway, I was playing a queer character from the age of 13, so I kind of embraced that and that almost helped me out the closet myself so I really just ran with it. That was a character called Kylie in Beautiful People.

I wouldn't like to label myself too much as an activist or anything like that, I just think me being myself has been my purest form of activism because that's the best way I can inspire people to hopefully be themselves. So if it has helped some people along the way then... werk!

I really don't know why over the last few years we seem to almost be going backwards, hate crimes of LGBTQ+ people are on the rise, and it's a scary time for queer people. So if I can get on TV and shake a leg and do a little cheeky salsa and a Cha Cha Cha with my Strictly Come Dancing parter Nikita [Kuzmin] and show people that two boys dancing together is really not going to kill anybody, it's really not that scary, it's absolutely fine, then I will.

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And if anything it can be inspiring, it can be beautiful, it can be moving and I think those tiny ripple effects of love are really important. Activism's important, marching the streets is important, but then smaller things as well are also important — just to see two boys together, happy, having fun as friends, platonic love, all of it, all of it's important to show.

Queer Voices (Yahoo)
Layton Williams spoke of how it's 'a scary time for queer people' but he feels 'me being myself has been my purest form of activism because that's the best way I can inspire people'. (Yahoo)

Only recently I've looked back at my first theatre role, Billy Elliot, and thought that even though my character wasn't necessarily queer actually the show had a really fab queer storyline. There was a character called Michael who was Billy Elliot's best friend and he was gay, he wanted to wear dresses, his song was called Expressing Yourself, so it was all written, it was all there.

I guess because I was a kid and I was dealing with my own things I was just like, 'oh, this is amazing'. Really, inside, deep down I think I was more Michael and Billy was definitely giving acting, but I did get to go on a couple of times as Michael.

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From the get go Billy Elliot was a story that said, 'hey what the hell is wrong with expressing yourself? Be who you want to be.' I mean I have no notes, it's iconic.

Stephen Daldry & Haydn Gwynne Introduce The New 2006 Billy Elliot'S At London'S Victoria Palace Theatre. (Photo by Justin Goff\UK Press via Getty Images)
Layton Williams is pictured front in a presentation of his first theatre role, Billy Elliot, where he felt seen in the character of Michael. (Getty Images)

I feel like theatre is a safe space for queer people because they can definitely see themselves represented in lots of shows, especially in our new show Titanique because it is the gayest show I have been in in my entire life. I don't think there's one actor who isn't gay, everyone's queer so we love that, and some of the girls are a bit fruity too.

I really love being in Titanique at the moment because I get to play lots of different roles, I start by playing the seamen who is just one of the crew, a queen of course, and then I transition into a character called Seamus, who was supposed to be a butch queen but if you see my inches you would differ and not agree, because I'm definitely giving you butch queen with a little bit of sauce.

Layton Williams in Titanique (Mark Senior)
Of his new musical, Layton Williams said: 'I feel like theatre is a safe space for queer people because they can definitely see themselves represented in lots of shows, especially in our new show Titanique.' (Mark Senior)

Then, I don't really want to give it away, but my Iceberg [character] is very out there, super queer, super elevated and a massive transition and a real nice surprise for the audience. It's really nice just to be 100% out there, like there's no hiding for us and I think it shows and everybody loves it, so I'm very happy.

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Go to the theatre and see yourself seen, see yourself celebrated. If you're sat in an auditorium and there's thousands of people around you enjoying queer people on stage and you yourself are going through this feeling of 'should I come out?' just look at the people around gagging, living and enjoying the people on stage and think 'that could be me in real life'. Life is not a dress rehearsal, babies, get into it.

Elton John has always been a big figure in my life because along my career —as well as being an inspiring, out and proud gay man— there's so many moments where we would just kind of cross. There's Billy Elliot, he wrote the music for that, I also was in Rocketman the movie. I went to Glastonbury to see him and met my partner [there] recently. There's just so many times where he pops up and it's like massive moments of my life, so I would definitely say Elton John is up there.

But then growing up it wasn't necessarily famous people who inspired me, to be honest. I don't always want to just say the stars because it's not true, the people that really inspired me were the first gay men that I saw who were just happy people.

GLASTONBURY, ENGLAND - JUNE 25: EDITORIAL USE ONLY. Sir Elton John performs on stage during Day 5 of Glastonbury Festival 2023 on June 25, 2023 in Glastonbury, England. (Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images)
Elton John is one of Layton Williams' biggest role models, though the actor also shares how real-life figures in his life played an equally important part. (Getty Images)

It's so simple, but coming from my town where I was from in Bury and seeing gay people but not seeing them necessarily thriving and living their best lives — but more trying to fit in or trying to be something that they think society wants them to be — and then moving to London and meeting my gymnastics teacher Matt Clinch and my dance teacher called Damien Jackson had an impact.

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Funnily enough Damien's husband I think makes the wigs on Titanique now and I saw him the first week and he said 'Oh yeah, I'm with Damien and I met you when you were 12' and I gave him the biggest hug. I was like, 'Oh my God, I can't tell you how much he helped.'

He didn't know what he was doing for us as children but just being himself, both of them — Matt from gymnastics was so camp and fabulous and I've still got to thank him to this day because that's why I can still flip, honey — just being themselves and being beautiful people and showing me that when I grow up I can be like you, I can be happy, I can thrive. I can have partners, I can be in love. They were the most formative people for me growing up.

Queer Voices (Yahoo)
Layton Williams shares how films like Spiceworld, Brokeback Mountain and First Wive's Club were important to seeing himself in his youth. (Yahoo)

There's a few films where I felt seen growing up. Is it really crazy to say the movie that feels super queer to me but I don't even know if there's a queer storyline is Spiceworld? It's just the girls.

The Spice Girls were a thing for me anyway, being a young boy and loving the Spice Girls and everyone saying 'that's really not something you should love' felt almost like I was a rebel. I mean, of course, there's your classics like Brokeback Mountain and First Wive's Club.

Credit where credit's due when it comes to the Heartstoppers of the world. As bubbly as it is I wish we could live in a world where it was all so perfect, but it's so nice for some people to see things that are a nice, positive representation of us.

I also do think though, and maybe this is controversial, but it's not all day, everyday, nicey-nicey when it comes to queer people. There's so much trauma, so I also like the kind of shows that go into the darkness of queer culture as well, because in reality that is what happens for a lot of people when they feel like they have a straight jacket on for so long.

UK. Nathan Stewart-Jarrett and George Mackay in (C) Agile/BBC/Signature film, Femme (2023). Plot:A man is targeted in a homophobic attacked. He later meets one of his attackers in a gay sauna.  Ref: LMK106-S191123–003 Supplied by LMKMEDIA. Editorial Only. Landmark Media is not the copyright owner of these Film or TV stills but provides a service only for recognised Media outlets. pictures@lmkmedia.com
Modern films like Femme, starring Nathan Stewart-Jarrett and George Mackay, are ones that the actor highlights as gold standard in queer storytelling now. (BBC)

There's films like Femme, I'm going to be working with Nathan [Stewart-Jarrett] next year so I'm excited, he's such a talent and my best friend John McCrea is in it. Shows like Everybody's Talking About Jamie, not to clang it because I was in [the stage show] but having that movie twenty years ago, can you imagine what that would have been like?

There's so many queer shows and films now, which is fab. We love to see it, we really do love to see it.

There's a lot of amazing queer art being made at the moment and I am here for itLayton Williams

I know there's arguments about the casting of Park Sung-hoon as a trans character but I recently watched Squid Game season 2, and I read that they tried to cast someone who was queer or trans in that role but apparently nobody turned up. But I just thought, wow, what a huge moment in South Korea, that must have ruffled a few feathers for them to even write that storyline so it's a step in the right direction though, yes, we want trans people playing trans people — duh.

There's also Emilia Pérez, wow this is what I'm saying about the darkness, that was really dark but it was a musical so it was right up my street. I caveat that by saying I know there's controversy around the film's Mexican representation, but I'm just talking about the art form, chill out. There's a lot of amazing queer art being made at the moment and I am here for it.

Queer Voices (Yahoo)
Layton Williams also spoke of how he hopes his work, and simply being his authentic self, has been able to help others. (Yahoo)

I hope that my work is helping queer people. It's really funny I just made a TikTok the other day because somebody messaged me who was like, 'Oh my God, your character was so underrated in Bad Education', but girl can we get 'underrated' up on Wikipedia or a dictionary because I'm so sorry but it wasn't underrated. I was like 'you're late to the game girlies'.

Beautiful People, maybe that was slightly underrated, but still it had two seasons, it had its cult following. I mean, Olivia Coleman is in it for goodness sake, Sarah Niles played by mum, the cast was lit.

I feel really fortunate to have been in shows that can still stand the test of time, you can look back and go actually it was Heartstopper before Heartstopper. I was 13-years-old, singing The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow and being called a 'batty boy' and dancing down the street.

Bad Education s5,13-12-2023,A Christmas Carol,Stephen (LAYTON WILLIAMS),Tiger Aspect Productions,Adam Lawrence
Layton Williams, pictured in Bad Education, shared: 'I feel really fortunate to have been in shows that can still stand the test of time.' (BBC)

I don't think at the time I thought this was something for queer people, but over the years you meet so many people and they go, 'Beautiful People helped me come out to my parents' or 'Bad Education helped me come out' or 'I just watched Jamie and then I went home and I told my mum I was gay', there's just so many stories.

I don't necessarily do it for that, I think I just get cast because I'm good at being a big, gay boy. But you know what? I love it, I love the queer characters that I've played from the MC [in Cabaret] to an iceberg, to Jaime, and I wouldn't change it.

If I need to switch it up any day, listen, I can do it, I've done it in the past. But if I play queer characters for the rest of my life, so long as they're good ones and different, and they're all three-dimensional and nuanced, then I'm happy.

Layton Williams told his story to Roxy Simons.

Titanique is being performed at the Criterion Theatre in London's West End until Sunday, 8 June.