Julian Shaw Never Took A Cent For “It’s Time” And He’s Done Being Called Gay For Pay
Australian actor and filmmaker Julian Shaw has confirmed he was never paid for his role in It’s Time, the 2011 GetUp! marriage equality advertisement, as first reported by Michael James at Star Observer. After 15 years of staying quiet, Shaw addressed the “gay for pay” accusation head-on in a video posted online. He turned down the acting fee because he believed in the message.
Why He Stayed Quiet For 15 Years
“There’s something I’ve kept private for 15 years because I’ve always thought it’d be tacky to mention it,” Shaw said. “But with the renewed interest in my content, I’m seeing a familiar accusation again: that I am ‘gay for pay.'”
The criticism has followed him since the ad first landed. Shaw had never publicly discussed his sexuality, and some viewers took issue with a man who had not come out playing half of the couple at the centre of the campaign. Should an actor have to declare his own sexuality before he takes a role?
“I was an actor portraying a character I loved while supporting a message I believed in. And I didn’t do it for fame,” he said.
It’s Time was directed by Stephen McCallum, written by creative director Simon Duncan-Watt and produced by the late Peter Slee. Shaw also credited producer Michael Pontin. Shot entirely in first person, the film follows a romance from the first meeting through to the proposal, then reveals in its final seconds that the person behind the camera is a man.
GetUp! uploaded it to YouTube on 25 November 2011, timed for the ALP National Conference where Labor was voting on its marriage equality platform. It passed two million views in under five days and more than four million within weeks. Stephen Fry shared it. Shaw recalls Madonna doing the same.
“Be More Accurate”
Shaw called the ad “one of my favourite things that I’ve ever been a part of”.
“I’m incredibly proud that it may be the only piece of art I ever make that genuinely helped change the political conversation in a country,” he said. “Same-sex marriage was eventually legalised in Australia, and I do believe that work like ours just helped people imagine that future a bit more easily.”
Parliament passed that law in December 2017, six years after the ad went out.
Then came the line that gave his video its kick.
“So, was I ‘gay for pay’? No. Because I never accepted an acting fee for It’s Time. I didn’t want one. I wasn’t there for a paycheque. I was only there because I believed in the message.”
“But please do not call me ‘gay for pay,'” he said. “Be more accurate: I’m gay for free, and I am proud of it.”
At DNA, we’ll take that.
