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Internet crush Dylan O’Brien’s been sporting a striking new look lately, and we were thrilled to hear it’s for an upcoming movie described as a “queer sex worker drama.”
The film’s called Ponyboi, adapted from a thriller 2019 short film of the same name, and it comes from writer/star/co-director River Gallo.
Per the official synopsis, intersex runaway Ponyboi (Gallo) is just trying to make ends meet in New Jersey, working at a laundromat while hustling on the side. But after a chance run-in from an enigmatic man he recognizes from his dreams, Ponyboi realizes that maybe there’s a life for him beyond the streets after all.
Little is known about who will be playing who, but the film boasts one heck of an exciting cast. Joining Gallo are Victoria Pedretti (You, The Haunting Of Hill House), Indya Moore (Pose, Escape Room: Tournament Of Champions), and Keith William Richards, an actor who made a memorable (and terrifying) first impression in his film debut, Uncut Gems.
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And then, of course, there’s O’Brien.
The star got his big break in MTV’s long-running supernatural series, Teen Wolf, and has since appeared in projects like The Internship, American Assassin, and The Maze Runner trilogy. While filming the final Maze Runner movie, O’Brien sustained a major injury that was said to have broken “most of the right side” of his face.
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But, after facial reconstruction surgery and a prolonged recovery process, he gradually got back to work. The past year or so has been an especially big one for him, with Hulu’s dark comedy Not Okay, the mob thriller The Outfit, and—who could forget—the music video short film for Taylor Swift’s newly expanded (and 10 minute long) opus, “All Too Well.”
Fans of Teen Wolf will probably always remember him as the charming, boyish “Stiles,” which makes his tatted transformation for Ponyboi all the more shocking. When set photos started making their way across the internet, people couldn’t help but gasp—especially at those arms:
i'm so ready for dylan o'brien in ponyboi pic.twitter.com/aUbdwR8Qj8
— lele (@moviedob826) November 28, 2022
Since wrapping in late November, the Ponyboi cast and crew has shared plenty of other photos from set, including a jarring one showing O’Brien’s face covered in blood. So, yeah, this movie probably isn’t going to be a lighthearted romp. But that’s got us even more excited to see what these talented young stars can do with such heavy material.
The original short film, Ponyboi, debuted at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2019 and was met with critical acclaim. Shortly thereafter, Gallo was named the recipient of the GLAAD Media Rising Star Award, further establishing them as one to look out for.
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In a 2020 interview with Subvrt magazine, Gallo—who identifies as interest and used they/them pronouns—shared what inspired them to make Ponyboi:
“It began with my passionate yet complicated relationship with my home state New Jersey,” they shared. “New Jersey has always been my biggest muse, in that much of my trauma growing up intersex is rooted there. Most of life I dreamed of running away from New Jersey and all the painful memories I experienced there. As I got older and discovered my intersex identity, I began to appreciate and be grateful for what those experiences taught me.”
Related: The 2023 Sundance lineup is going to be gay AF. Here’s what’s screening…
“I cultivated a reverence for that highway heaven and all the affliction and loneliness I had feeling like an outsider in my teen years,” Gallo continued. “However, being a misfit can be one’s greatest gift. If you survive and come to terms with your struggle, you realize that you had the power all along to change and to get what you want out of life.”
Ponyboi—co-directed by Esteban Arango (Blast Beast)—is awaiting an official release date announcement, but, given production has wrapped, could be hitting the festival circuit as soon as next fall. Stay tuned for more updates.
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thebaddestbabby
back in my day we just called em hustlers or prostitutes
Owen Blacker
And now we are more sensitive, better people.
thebaddestbabby
I dunno, hustler sounds way cooler than sex worker
cynthia_foxe
o lordy….them/they really????
Owen Blacker
Transphobia isn’t pretty, sweetie ??
Diplomat
Disrespect for the english language and calling it out is hardly transphobia.
Falling for pc doesn’t work in this case, except for lemmings.
wikidBSTN
Biceps?? Really? Anyone who has been to a gym once or twice or who has lifted several bags of sugar has them same “biceps”.
Why do we constantly seem to STRIVE to raise mediocrity to new heights?
Neoprene
“Intersex runaway Ponyboi (Gallo)…”
My, how progressive.
chris_clb614
I saw Uncut Gems. I’m conflicted about the thought of being that guy’s prison cellmate.
Pier
LOL… all the pearl clutchers here.. “those pronouns” ” the called them sex workers instead of whores and hookers” my my my… what judgmental assholes we have become in the queer world
thebaddestbabby
I didn’t say wh * res or ho okers, I said hustlers or prostitutes… do you know how to read?
Diplomat
They them rejection by 99 percent of society isn’t judgmental, it’s calling out the oblivious illiterate.
Owen Blacker
Thank you for calling them out. Such sad people, really, raging at “the dying of the light”. Fancy pretending that 99% of people are intolerant and hateful, rather than being happy to live and let live.
Kangol2
@Diplomat, pulling stats out of the air to support your prejudice–“They them rejection by 99 percent of society isn’t judgmental, it’s calling out the oblivious illiterate”–is not the sort of authoritative statement you think it is. Your conservative position ? nearly everyone else in this society, no matter how much you dream it does.
Diplomat
Owen Kangol,
Prejudice? Transphobia? Not in the least. This isn’t about sexual orientation. It’s about words/labels.
One can prance and pc around it all they like, pissing on the English language with the they/them as singular tripe was doa to the masses.
That will never change.
What’s really sad is how this type of disrespectful irrational behavior only causes the murder rate among LGBTQs to rise. It’s a liability to all of us.
Diplomat
Loved Dylan and Tyler Hochlin in Teen Wolf. Total power couple.
scotty
“ruff trade” pun VERY intended.
Diplomat
OK. You thinking porn title?
Man About Town
Gallo “who identifies as interest”? Is that yet another gender I’m unfamiliar with? I can’t keep up with all this!
Diplomat
I think it was meant to be intersex.
ddmtl
And there is a flag for that: The Gay Pride PONY flag! Yep that’s a thing…if you’re into horses
SDR94103
so this is what being gay is about.
charmin88
I always had a crush on him. I like silly guys and this new look make my legs go UP! like them Lambo doors.
Donston
The short film was solid. But I can’t pretend that I’m looking forward to another humorless “queer tragedy” movie. While Dylan’s casting feels a bit gimmick-y and “straight presenting”, cis worship-y. Queer filmmakers constantly talk about progress and representation, but they sure love to cast conventionally good-looking, white, cis, straight/straight-ish presenting actors in the lead roles of their movies. Anyways, if the reviews are good I’ll see it. As far as how “hot” Dylan is, he’s just another random cute white boy to me.
Kangol2
“Cute”? OK, each to his, her and their own. 😐
BrokebackBob
Hard (like a diamond) pass.
scotty
i’d run that maze…