Closet door bustdown

Actor Billy Dee Williams comes out as gender fluid… at 82 years old

Actor Billy Dee Williams is living proof that gender fluidity isn’t just something invented or embraced by younger generations, as some naysayers like to claim.

In an interview with Esquire, the 82-year-old, who is currently promoting his new film Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, said he uses both masculine and feminine pronouns to describe himself.

“I say ‘himself’ and ‘herself,’ because I also see myself as feminine as well as masculine,” Williams explained. “I’m a very soft person. I’m not afraid to show that side of myself.”

Williams first played Lando Calrissian 1980’s Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. He is reprising the role in the Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, which will be released later this month.

In 2018, Donald Glover portrayed a young Landon in Solo: A Star Wars Story and caused a stir when he talked about the character being pansexual.

Williams also spoke to Esquire about breaking other sorts of barriers.

Recalling his performance as Gale Sayers in the 1971 TV movie Brian’s Song, for which was received an Emmy nomination, he explained, “It was a love story, really. Between two guys. Without sex. It ended up being a kind of breakthrough in terms of racial division.”

He also discussed attending Disney’s D23 Expo last summer, where he spent time with the Rock and Jamie Foxx, both of whom said they owed their careers, in part, to the character of Lando.

“The Rock calls me the OG,” Williams said. “What I presented on that screen people didn’t expect to see. And I deliberately presented something that nobody had experienced before: a romantic brown-skinned boy.”

The response to Williams’ coming out as gender fluid has been overwhelmingly positive. Here’s what people are saying…

Related: Star Wars officially has its first gay couple

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