Playing 'Gossip Girl's' Pansexual Max is 'Incredibly Liberating,' Says Actor Thomas Doherty

By far the most talked-about relationship on HBO Max's "Gossip Girl" is the one between pansexual student Max Wolfe, played by Thomas Doherty, and his teacher Rafa Caparros (Jason Gotay) at the prestigious Upper East Side private school Constance Billard. Max aggressively pursues Rafa, first at adjacent urinals in a men's room; then at a sauna on gay night and in the school shower, and finally – when Rafa succumbs to his student's advances, in Rafa's apartment when Max turns up after a week-long bender. But this being "Gossip Girl," there is more to Rafa than meets the eye.

The mischievous and randy Max appears out to seduce everyone, male and female, at Constance Billard, but his relationship with Rafa is controversial, with some condemning the inclusion of a teacher/student sexual relationship on a popular television series.

"Fans took issue enough with this and were unhappy Rafa eventually let Max know he was even attracted to him, by saying they wouldn't hook up until Max graduated from school, despite the student trying to convince him by saying he's legal," reported the Sun.

What may be the mitigating factor in the depiction of this inappropriate relationship is that the Scottish born Doherty is 26-years-old, nine years older than the character he plays, while Gotay is 30, (reported Teen Vogue) which makes the optics less toxic.

EDGE reported last month that little is really known about Gotay, a New York City native who has appeared on Broadway (in "Spider-Man....") and on television ("Peter Pan Live" and on the Anna Kendrix's HBO Max series "Love Life"). And, like his character on "Gossip Girl," he is out and has been in a relationship with his fiance,�Michael Hartung,�for over six years, with whom he shares numerous pics on Instagram.

Doherty opened up about playing the pansexual Max to Variety this week. "I have always seen sexuality as a spectrum," he says. "But playing Max, a pansexual character, was incredibly liberating. It was very educational, and it definitely made me challenge my own preconceived notions, my indoctrination, of 'This is who you love, this is what you do, everything else is wrong.'"

Asked how he identifies himself, Doherty said "that he wouldn't use a label to describe himself. "It's just been girls," he says of his romantic relationships. "That's a preference. But 26, living in New York ..." He trails off as he gives a devilish smile," writes Variety.

He adds that he "doesn't believe in labels". Thomas explains: "I think it is very limiting, and I think as I get older and experience life a little bit more, you constantly evolve and you're constantly growing. I feel like labels limit you. They're almost walls to your growth."

And about appearing nude on the show, Doherty said, "I knew I was going to be naked," Doherty says. "So I was like, 'Do 17-year-olds have hairy chests?' I can't remember if I ever did."

He also recalled a late-night shoot that made the real-life gossip pages. While filming last fall, the paparazzi caught him "flashing his abs and Tom Ford briefs. Only when it was too late did he see a row of paparazzi camped on the sidewalk outside. 'I was like, 'Oh fuck!' Doherty says. 'And they were like, you're going to be famous tonight.'"