February 10, 2020
Jonny Beauchamp on Playing 'Super-Shero' on 'Riverdale' Spin-off 'Katy Keene'
Steve Duffy READ TIME: 8 MIN.
In 2014 Native New Yorker Jonny Beauchamp was cast in what looked to be a big Hollywood film about a pivotal LGBTQ event: "Stonewall." The film proved to be a disaster, but for the queer actor, it was the favorite thing he's ever done. And with the experience of playing Ray/Ramona, a composite character based on real-life activists Ray Castro and Sylvia Rivera, Beauchamp got his chops as an actor.
While making the film, he was offered "another kind of prostitute character" on the hit Showtime series "Penny Dreadful." At first he wasn't interest in playing a similar role, but discovering Oscar-winning screenwriter John Logan was behind the project, he changed his mind and was cast as Angelique, a transgender woman working as a prostitute who has an affair with Dorian Gray (Reeve Carney) on the hit series.
Beauchamp called the character "transgender in a pre-transgender world," whom he wanted to honor with his performance. "For me, the most important thing and what I kept stressing the whole season was I really wanted to honor the transgender community especially because we were working with a representation of the trans community in a time before transsexualism was even a construct," he told the website Backlot.
His latest role brings him into the Archie Comics universe with a featured role on "Katy Keene," a spin-off from "Riverdale." Developed by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and Michael Grassi and produced by "Riverdale" show runner Greg Berlanti, the series follows its titular character (played by Lucy Hale), an aspiring fashion designer who moves to New York and lives with two equally ambitious roommates: Josie (Ashleigh Murray), a wannabe musician, and Jorge (Beauchamp), an actor with Broadway dreams who discovers his inner-strength when performing as a drag queen named Ginger.
What is most surprising about the series is how different it is from the show it has been spun from. "In fact, 'Katy Keene' is everything 'Riverdale' isn't,
As for Beauchamp in his new role,
EDGE spoke to Beauchamp about his latest role, his commitment to LGBTQ visibility and fears of being typecast.
Who is Jorge Lopez?
EDGE:: Where does Katy Keene take place in the "Riverdale" universe?
Jonny Beauchamp:: It takes place in-between five years of the two worlds. "Riverdale" is about these amazing kids in high school and "Katy Keene" is about 20-somethings in New York living their dreams. Josie is our bridge between the shows. She left Riverdale to pursue her dreams of singing and it seems that she has stopped somewhere else before she got to New York. And Veronica Lodge used to be friends with Katy when she was living in New York.
EDGE:: Were you familiar with the Archie comics before being cast?
Jonny Beauchamp:: Funny enough, I used to live in the Riverdale section of New York City. I was familiar with the old-school Archie comics. When I was little growing up in the Bronx, I would go to the corner store and get Bazooka gum and every pack included an Archie comic. After I chewed the gum, I would stick it to my bedroom wall and attached the comic to it. I stopped doing that after my mom freaked out.
EDGE:: Can you tell us about your character, Jorge Lopez/Ginger?
Jonny Beauchamp:: Jorge is a Puerto Rican boy from Washington Heights, who has always had big Broadway dreams. His mother is a Broadway star and he is so inspired by her, his Latin roots and the Broadway culture. So, his dream is to make it to Broadway, but he is always turned down because he is too short, too skinny, too pretty, and too feminine. Finally, in a moment of sheer frustration, he decides to start moonlighting as a drag queen. He takes all those negative things said about him and turn them in to this wonderful, glamourous, and positive super-shero named Ginger. All the things that he can't really say or express, or is afraid to do, are not a problem for Ginger. Jorge feels his strongest when he embodies Ginger.
Playing complex queer characters
EDGE:: How did portraying Angelique from "Penny Dreadful" and Ray/Ramona from "Stonewall" prepare you for this role?
Jonny Beauchamp:: It seems like my entire life has been preparing me for the work that I do. You don't always get to pick the work that you do, but if you rise to the occasion and it works then you are lucky. I feel really lucky that I have been able to play a lot of interesting and complex queer characters. Growing up in New York, I spent a lot of time on Christopher Street, the Village, and just being around the queer community has really helped me prepare for these roles. Having those dark complex roles before prepared me for playing this light and easy character. Really, my life has prepared me for the role of Ginger. Like Ginger, I grew up in New York. I am a theatre boy. I am a Latino. And as mentioned, I lived in Riverdale for a bit.
EDGE:: You have done some singing in the past. Will you be able to showcase your singing talents on the show?
Jonny Beauchamp:: That is one of the biggest gifts of this show. I have wanted to sing for so long and I think of myself as a pretty good one. It's my favorite thing to do. I have never really been able to showcase that anywhere. The writers have been very generous to me. They asked me what I would like to do with my character – so now I am singing. To be asked is a really beautiful thing in this business.
Afraid of being type-cast?
EDGE:: Bernadette Peters plays Miss Freesia on the show. Tell me about working with her.
Jonny Beauchamp:: I have – it was kind of amazing. I don't say much in the scene. As a fan, I am really just soaking in what she is doing. Gosh, it is really a special thing when you get to meet one of your heroes. She is so kind and generous. I just love her.
EDGE:: Will a "Riverdale" and "Chilling Adventures of Sabrina" crossover ever happen?
Jonny Beauchamp:: I think there will be. I don't know really for sure. I can say that we have an amazing team of writers and these shows are their babies. So, we are all kind of cousins, and cousins always seem to have a reunion.
EDGE:: As an actor, how important is it for you to continue to choose roles that bring more visibility to the LGBTQ community?
Jonny Beauchamp:: Speaking for myself, I think it is important. When I was growing up, there was no visibility in my demographic. It's important for people to see themselves. In the past five years in the entertainment industry, there has been a big boom of visibility.
EDGE:: Given the roles you have already done, are you worry about getting type casted?
Jonny Beauchamp:: I like to think of myself as a very versatile actor, but yes, it is a very real thing that could happen. If that is true, and I do get type cast at playing very fleshed out queer characters, I think I am okay with that. I would not be upset at that. If that is my lane then I am a happy camper.
"Katy Keene" airs Tuesdays at 8pm on the CW. For more information on the show visit, the CW website.
Watch Jonny Beauchamp in high school performing "Wig in the Box" from "Hedwig and the Angry Inch."
