Photo credits: (from top left) True Blood, Princess Cyd, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Were the World Mine
Happy Pride! In honor of Pride Month, we’ve put together a watchlist of queer-centered works that feature some of your favorite Steppenwolf ensemble members. With this eclectic mix of guilty pleasures and ground-breaking award winners, you’ll be ready to share the love and join us in celebrating our LGBTQ+ communities.
Henry Gamble's Birthday Party (2015)
Featuring ensemble member Francis Guinan
Unfolding over the course of one very eventful day in his life, at 17-year-old preacher’s kid Henry’s afternoon birthday pool party, the guests include an assortment of grown-ups from the family church, as well as Henry’s secular and religious teen friends — including the closeted young Logan, who clearly has eyes for Henry.
David Makes Man (TV series, 2019–2021)
Created by ensemble member Tarell Alvin McCraney, featuring ensemble member Alana Arenas
Set in South Florida, this lyrical coming-of-age story centers on a teenage prodigy named David who lives in the projects but attends a magnet school for academically gifted youngsters. The series explores the intersection of Blackness and queerness, featuring a strong and vibrant found-family who nurture David as he navigates adolescence.
The Hunting Wives (2025)
Featuring ensemble member Karen Rodriguez
This Netflix series is a steamy, pulpy thriller about a restless Boston PR executive who relocates to East Texas with her family. She becomes dangerously obsessed with an elite, gun-toting clique of socialites that ultimately entangles her in a web of seduction, secrets and murder. Strap in—this is a wild ride!
Moonlight (2016)
Story by ensemble member Tarell Alvin McCraney
A look at three defining chapters in the life of Chiron, a young Black man growing up in Miami. His epic journey to manhood is guided by the kindness, support and love of the community that helps raise him. Ensemble member Tarell Alvin McCraney won an Academy Award for this celebrated addition to the contemporary queer canon.
My So-Called Life (TV series, 1994–1995)
Featuring ensemble members Tom Irwin and Jeff Perry
We're always down for a rewatch of this groundbreaking '90s teen drama. The show stars Claire Danes as Angela Chase, an introspective high school sophomore. Seeking her own identity, Angela dyes her hair red, distances herself from her wholesome childhood best friend, Sharon, and enters a complex new friend group. The inclusion of Rickie Vasquez, an openly gay teen played by Wilson Cruz, was a pivotal moment in queer representation on mainstream television.
True Blood (2008–2014)
Featuring ensemble members Gary Cole and Lois Smith
The series revolves around Sookie Stackhouse, a telepathic waitress living in the fictional rural town of Bon Temps, Louisiana. It is set two years after the invention of a synthetic blood product that has allowed vampires to "come out of the coffin" and let their presence be known to mankind. Famous for using vampires as a direct allegory for the gay rights movement and the fight for LGBTQ+ equality, the show was celebrated for its unapologetic exploration of sexuality, gender fluidity, prejudice and more.
Alex Strangelove (2018)
Featuring ensemble member Kathryn Erbe
A high school senior plans on losing his virginity to his girlfriend. Things get complicated when he meets a handsome and charming gay kid from the other side of town who unwittingly sends him on a roller-coaster journey of sexual identity.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997–2003)
Featuring ensemble member K. Todd Freeman
Buffy is a Slayer, one in a long line of young women chosen for a specific mission: to seek out and destroy vampires, demons and other forces of darkness. Unlike her predecessors, Buffy establishes a group of supportive friends who aids her in her battles with evil. In addition to pioneering queer representation on telvesion, this cult-classic show used its supernatural premise to create powerful allegories for experiences relevant to the community.
Were the World Mine (2008)
Featuring ensemble member Ora Jones
If you had a love-potion, who would you make fall madly in love with you? Timothy, prone to escaping his dismal high school reality through dazzling musical daydreams, gets to answer that question in a very real way. After his eccentric teacher casts him as Puck in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, he stumbles upon a recipe hidden within the script to create the play’s magical, purple love-pansy.
Saint Frances (2019)
Featuring ensemble members Francis Guinan and Jim True-Frost
Thirty-four-year-old aimless server Bridget hasn't yet achieved her goal of becoming a respected writer. When casual relations with a younger "nice guy" lead to an unexpected confrontation with potential motherhood, she manifests a job nannying a pint-sized spirit guide disguised as an obstinate six-year-old.
Princess Cyd (2017)
Featuring ensemble member James Vincent Meredith
High school athlete Cyd Loughlin lives alone with her depressive father in South Carolina, perpetually longing to get away from it all. When her aunt, famous novelist Miranda Ruth, agrees to host her for a few weeks during the summer, Cyd jumps at the opportunity. While there, she falls for a girl in the neighborhood, even as she and her aunt gently challenge each other in the realms of sex and spirit.
Lady Bird (2017)
Featuring ensemble members Tracy Letts, Laurie Metcalf and Lois Smith
An intrepid high schooler in Sacramento undergoes the trials of love, family and self-discovery as she dreams of escaping to college on the East Coast.
Knives and Skin (2019)
Featuring ensemble members Kate Arrington, Audrey Francis, Tim Hopper and James Vincent Meredith
In the wake of a high school student's mysterious disappearance, a collective awakening seems to overcome the town's teenage girls—gathering in force until it can no longer be contained.