Author and actor Raegan Revord knows the power of representation.
Revord, who portrays Missy Cooper in the “Big Bang Theory” prequel spinoffs “Young Sheldon” and “Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage,” confirmed they are nonbinary in a recent interview with “Entertainment Tonight” and said it has been “so cool” to think that being their authentic self could help other kids like them.
“Growing up, whenever I would see a celebrity or whoever come out as nonbinary or queer or anything, I was like ‘Oh, my God, this is so cool, I see myself in you,’” Revord said in their first interview addressing their gender identity. “It’s so crazy to have that experience where I’m now that person and there might be a kid somewhere who’s like ‘Oh, my God, I see myself you.’ That’s such an insane thing to think because I was in that kid’s shoes at some point in my life.”
The 17-year-old also addressed the importance of queer representation in media while discussing their new book, “Rules for Fake Girlfriends.” The young adult rom-com follows Avery Blackwell, a rising college freshman who postpones her plans to attend Columbia after a note from her late mother sends her on a scavenger hunt in England. En route to her mother’s seaside alma mater, Avery encounters Charlie, a charming local in need of a fake girlfriend fast. Avery ends up agreeing to the faux-romance in exchange for help on the scavenger hunt.
“When I was getting more into reading and broadening my horizons and reading stories and watching TV and stuff, there wasn’t a lot of queer representation,” said Revord, noting that a lot has changed in 10 years.
Revord has addressed the topic in numerous interviews while promoting “Rules for Fake Girlfriends,” which she wrote in part while filming the final season of “Young Sheldon.”
“I always wanted to write something where people could see themselves because I didn’t have that in books,” Revord told Publisher’s Weekly.
“One of my favorite shows and graphic novels is ‘Heartstopper.’ I love that series so much, and the way they show queer love as such an innocent thing is so beautiful. I wanted to do something like that. In my book, it’s very much a found family kind of trope, and like in ‘Heartstopper,’ everyone in the friend group is a little queer.”
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