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Erin Kellyman Praises Willow's 'Normalized' Queer Storyline
She also had kind words for what seeing this would have meant to her growing up.
The Willow revival series on Disney+ has made waves with its decision to center a queer relationship between two female characters — representation the 1988 film didn’t contain, and something frequently absent when it comes to all things Disney. And LGBTQ+ fantasy fans aren’t the only ones grateful for the inclusion.
Actress Erin Kellyman, who is gay herself, recently praised the show’s queer storyline in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter.
“I know that if I saw this when I was a kid, I would have been completely in love with Kit and Jade, and I would have felt a lot less isolated and scared and weird,” she admitted.
Kellyman plays Jade in Willow, an aspiring knight who is clearly in love with her princess best friend, Kit (Ruby Cruz). The feelings are mutual, although it takes the two some time to admit as much to themselves and to each other.
Still, it sidesteps the “coming out” storyline that, for so long, was one of the only types of representation queer people got on TV. Willow treats their journey with one another as it would any other type of romance, which is exactly what so many queer fans have been hoping representation would move towards.
“It’s not a story where they’re worried about being gay. It’s not a story where they’re hyper-sexualized. It’s just two people being in love,” Kellerman added. “I think for anybody that is struggling with realizing that they’re gay, or knows somebody that’s realizing that they’re gay, having this normalized representation is just so important.”
With only three episodes left in this season of Willow, and no word on whether the show will get a season two, fans are looking forward to seeing where Kit and Jade end up by the finale. But regardless of that, it’s clear that this story has made an impact on both fans and Kellerman herself.
“Having not seen these shows when I was younger, now being able to be the representation that I didn’t have is something that is so peaceful,” she said.
Yes, the TV series picks up sometime after the 1988 movie of the same name.
20 years after vanquishing the wicked queen Bavmorda, the sorcerer Willow Ufgood leads a group of misfits on a dangerous rescue mission into the unknown.
Willow (1988) had moderate success at the box office, but ultimately became a cult classic after its release on home video.
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Rachel Kiley is presumably a writer and definitely not a terminator. She can usually be found crying over queerbaiting in the Pitch Perfect franchise or on Twitter, if not both.
Rachel Kiley is presumably a writer and definitely not a terminator. She can usually be found crying over queerbaiting in the Pitch Perfect franchise or on Twitter, if not both.
