I decided to research Julian Hilliard based on this photo on the teen idol site. He asks "Who is Craig?" and answers: "really goofy, friendly, funny." Obviously his boyfriend.
As of this writing, Julian is only 14. Few guys have figured out that they're gay by that age, and even fewer have the guts to post about it openly in their social media.
But maybe his coming out process was facilitated by playing a gay character: Billy Maximoff.
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In the Marvel comics tv series Wandavision (2021), Wanda Maximoff, the Scarlet Witch, is memory-erased and trapped in a series of sitcoms, along with her husband Vision (Wanda-Vision, get it?) and various residents of Westview, New Jersey. Vision is dead in the real world, and their two sons, Billy (Julian) and Tommy (Jett Klyne), were created to maintain the illusion, so when Wanda learns the truth and releases the town from its curse, her husband and sons cease to exist.
In Agatha All Along (2024), the witch Agatha Harkness takes on a sort of apprentice, whom everyone calls Teen because he can't reveal his real name due to a sigil. In a big reveal, we learn that he is Billy Maximoff, memory-wiped and moved into the body of Billy Kaplan, who died in an auto accident just as Wanda was releasing the town from its curse..jpg)
Did the producers know that Julian was gay when they cast him as Billy in 2021? Was he already out at age ten? Or did he figure it out during his research into the role?.jpg)
His first starring role was in The Haunting of Hill House (2018): A family moves into Hill House in 1992, and is forced to leave due to the haunting. 26 years later, the grown-up children must return. Gulp.
The adult Luke (Oliver Jackson-Cohen) is a struggling heroin addict, and the adult Steven (Michael Huisman, left) a writer whose book about the haunting became a best-seller, alienating his family. Both are heterosexual, but their sister Theodora is a lesbian. So some gay representation in Julian's first major acting gig.
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In the Marvel comics tv series Wandavision (2021), Wanda Maximoff, the Scarlet Witch, is memory-erased and trapped in a series of sitcoms, along with her husband Vision (Wanda-Vision, get it?) and various residents of Westview, New Jersey. Vision is dead in the real world, and their two sons, Billy (Julian) and Tommy (Jett Klyne), were created to maintain the illusion, so when Wanda learns the truth and releases the town from its curse, her husband and sons cease to exist.
Or do they?
In Agatha All Along (2024), the witch Agatha Harkness takes on a sort of apprentice, whom everyone calls Teen because he can't reveal his real name due to a sigil. In a big reveal, we learn that he is Billy Maximoff, memory-wiped and moved into the body of Billy Kaplan, who died in an auto accident just as Wanda was releasing the town from its curse.
Teen (Joe Locke) is gay, with a boyfriend who appears in two episodes.
In the comics, Billy came out in 2013, and joined the Young Avengers as the superhero Wiccan, Marvel's first gay Jewish superhero. He dated and eventually married Hulking (no relation to the Incredible Hulk).
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Did the producers know that Julian was gay when they cast him as Billy in 2021? Was he already out at age ten? Or did he figure it out during his research into the role?
To determine the answer, I'll check his other acting roles and social media. Julian was born in Dallas in 2011, into a show biz family: Mom is an actress, Dad a producer/director. I didn't find anything of immediate gay interest in their works.
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His first starring role was in The Haunting of Hill House (2018): A family moves into Hill House in 1992, and is forced to leave due to the haunting. 26 years later, the grown-up children must return. Gulp.
Julian plays Young Luke, seen here with Young Steven (Paxton Singleton).
The adult Luke (Oliver Jackson-Cohen) is a struggling heroin addict, and the adult Steven (Michael Huisman, left) a writer whose book about the haunting became a best-seller, alienating his family. Both are heterosexual, but their sister Theodora is a lesbian. So some gay representation in Julian's first major acting gig.
More after the break