Actor Peter McPherson discusses his short film ‘Others,’ and why fighting stigma in any form is so crucial. You can watch the film here.
You can read the transcript of their conversation below.
PETER
I think it’s worth being visible and speaking out about it. I think that’s really important, and only when you do, that’s when the game starts to change.
KARL
Hello, there. Welcome to +TALK on +LIFE, where we’re all about turning positive into a plus. Today I’m joined by HIV positive actor Peter McPherson. He stars in the fantastic short film, “Others”. Hey Peter, good to see you.
PETER
Hi. Thanks for having me.
KARL
Thank you for being on. I mean, I’ve got so many things to say thank you for. You know, being out and proud about your status, fighting stigma. But let’s talk about the film “Others” to begin with.
PETER
Yeah.
KARL
This is a special short film that’s been made in conjunction with Casey House in Toronto, who is an amazing hospital and facility-
PETER
Yeah.
KARL
That takes care of people living with HIV. How did you come to the project? How did this all happen? Because you’re in London. This in Canada.
PETER
Yeah. So my agent got in contact with me and said, “We wanna share this with you. “It’s about HIV,” ’cause I’m very open about my status. Always have been for years. Done a lot of work in London, Make a Difference Trust. And so they came to me and said, “It’s a bit sensitive.” And so I read the email, and it was saying that they were actively looking for an actor with HIV to play a character with HIV. And I’d never experienced that before. Like, that was just like, okay, that’s really interesting ’cause I think representation really does matter. And so I read it, and then I read the story and I was blown away by the story and I was like, wow, okay. And then I was like, okay, I want to know a little bit more about Casey House, and did my research and was just, everything that they do is just special. So I did my self tape, and at the end of my self tape, I’ve never done this before, but I just added a little clip, ’cause I just felt like I just wanted them to know that what they’re doing, actively searching for someone with HIV to play this role, was really special. So I just said that, I shared that with them, and then I also kind of told them a few experiences that I’ve gone through with stigma, and then I just sent it off into the ether and then heard back. And what I found out, which I didn’t know until I went to the preview in Canada a couple of weeks ago, was they put out the breakdown in Canada and no one came forward, and then they were like, okay, we’ve gotta stretch this up to America, and they got the same response again and again. People don’t want to come forward because they don’t want to out themselves and it might affect their career. And so they were like, okay, we have to go to Europe, and then that’s when it came to me.
KARL
Does it shock you that that is still the case and at this point where we are at 41 years of HIV and U=U and anti-retrovirals and PrEP and all of that?
PETER
Yeah.
KARL
Does it shock you that they can’t find an out HIV positive actor in Canada or anywhere in North America-
PETER
I know.
KARL
That’s willing to do it?
PETER
I know, it really does. I’m just, I mean, maybe I’m stupid, I don’t know, but I just think I don’t give, I don’t care about that kind of thing, do you know what I mean? If it affects my career. Like, I mean, I love what I do, of course, but I just think, I think it’s worth being visible and speaking out about it. I think that’s really important. And only when you do, that’s when the game starts to change, so yeah.
KARL
What was the point for you, though, in your HIV journey where you kind of made that acceptance? ‘Cause I can’t imagine you always felt this way about it.
PETER
No. I think when I was first diagnosed, there’s a lot of, ’cause stigma just doesn’t come from external. It can also, internalized stigma. And I had to kind of go on that journey a little bit of really tackling that. And personally it came when I went on a date with someone and I disclosed to them that I was HIV positive. I’d known this person years. We’d always liked each other. We just, it was never, we just never got to that point of being on a date at the right time. And I saw their, when I told them, they just kind of retracted. And I was like, wow, that’s… And then messaged after the date saying, “Yeah, I just don’t really feel comfortable.” And so for me that was, no, I’m not gonna do this again and I don’t wanna have to have this conversation again, and I’m gonna put it out. And so it’s so interesting ’cause I’ve had this question a lot with all of the interviews that I’ve done, and my original response was that it was really to protect myself. But I think, and it only hit me today thinking about this question more and more, was I think what I was doing was I was taking ownership of it. Because when you take ownership of it, you take back the power. And this might seem silly, but I keep thinking of Dolly Parton and-
KARL
Who doesn’t, by the way?
PETER
Exactly!
KARL
Just at any time of the day. I’m thinking of Dolly Parton all the time. I’m listening to you, but I’m thinking of Dolly Parton right now.
PETER
Like, you know, she’s had a lot of plastic surgery, but she owns it, doesn’t she?
KARL
Yeah.
PETER
And she’s the first one to talk about it. She’s the first one to comment, and it’s like, she just goes, no, I’m gonna address this before you can. And it just, and that’s I think essentially what it was for me.
KARL
Yeah, yeah, look, I think I agree with you. It’s incredibly liberating when we can own our truth, whether it’s our-
PETER
Yeah.
KARL
Sexuality, whether it’s a mental illness that we’re afraid-
PETER
Yeah.
KARL
To talk about, whether for you and I it’s living with HIV.
PETER
Yeah.
KARL
And it’s incredibly liberating. What’s interesting I think is, and because I’ve been there and I know you have, and most people with HIV, the fear of that moment is so all-encompassing and so overpowering that-
PETER
Yeah.
KARL
That that’s why we don’t do it. What’s the reaction been like?
PETER
No, but that’s exactly what this whole thing is about. Because Casey House, what they’ve so brilliantly done is, they’re like, they want to tackle stigma and they go, okay, so what is stigma? It’s a negative belief or attitude towards a certain group of people, in this case HIV positive people. And then they go a step further. They go, okay, so, what fuels stigma? And they know that what fuels stigma is fear. And so what they’ve done with this campaign is gone, right, how do, this year, how do we want to tackle this, address this issue? And they’ve gone, we want to make, cinema is a really powerful tool to get a message across. And then they go, okay, so what, if we’re gonna use cinema, what genre are we gonna use to address fear? And it’s like, hands down, it has to be horror, do you know what I mean? Like, it’s like, yes. And that’s what this film is tackling that what it’s like. ‘Cause all this film is based from really, like, it’s lived experiences. That’s what it’s drawn on, so that’s the conversation you write with the fear.
KARL
Yeah, and I will tell you, the film does a phenomenal job at making you incredibly uncomfortable-
PETER
Yeah.
KARL
Incredibly uncertain of what’s coming next. Almost-
PETER
Yeah.
KARL
I don’t know where this is going, and again, fear of the unknown, right?
PETER
You see an other, and if you even get close to them or their blood, it’s the greatest risk imaginable. These people, these people think they’re like the rest of us. And I just, I fail to see the proof.
KARL
The film is called “Others”. You can check it out online. We’ll put the information up on the screen. But thank you for all the work you do. Thank you for being an out-
PETER
Yes.
KARL
Proud, HIV positive homosexual man.
PETER
Thank you.
KARL
And congratulations, congratulations on the film as well.
PETER
Thank you. Thank you so much for having me.
KARL
Of course. That’s gonna do it for this episode of +TALK. If you want more information or you want to check out “Others, go to our website, pluslifemedia.com. All the information is there and you can follow us across social media. We are at @pluslifemedia. Until next time, see you soon.