There are movies that make you feel at ease. touch me. From the moment I sat down with Jordan Gavaris, it was clear that the chaotic, intimate energy of this film was directly reflected in the way he talked about it. Thoughtful and unfiltered, Gavaris wasn’t shy about what made this project such a hit.
“I love genre movies, I always have,” he told me, reflecting on what first attracted him to the role of Craig. “I was excited to find myself in a world similar to the movies I knew so well but had always watched from afar.”
With that excitement came pressure. Gavaris joined the project late due to limited preparation time and director Addison Heyman’s strong desire to contribute. “I don’t want to disappoint Addison because I really respect him as a director,” he said.
“We all know that feeling.”
what makes it so touch me “linger” isn’t just about its genre-defying premise, it’s about how personal it feels beneath the surface. When I asked Gavaris about delving into Craig’s deeply self-deprecating humor and insecurities, he didn’t hesitate.
“Oh yeah…all my life,” he said with a laugh, then thought about it some more.
As we dug deeper, he put into words what many queer people understand but rarely express so clearly.
“If you feel like you’re a second-class citizen…and the message from your culture is that you were mostly right but just a little bit wrong, it’s going to take a lifetime to undo that voice in your head,” he explained.
That inner tension drives Craig throughout the film. Gavaris described the character as someone who is desperate to feel good, but who is convinced that he may be inherently flawed.
“He’s fundamentally at fault because he’s so worried,” he said. “I don’t necessarily relate to it exactly that way…but I deal with it differently. I’m a total A-type perfectionist. It’s all about trying to polish the surface.”
That honesty is reflected on screen. Rather than being played as a caricature, Craig feels vivid and achingly recognizable.
Desire, competition, and messy power relations
at the center of touch me It depicts the volatile relationship between Craig, Joey, and Brian, a mysterious figure whose touch temporarily erases emotional pain. I pointed out the tension and competition smoldering beneath their power relations, especially in moments tied to desire and recognition.
Gavaris’ eyes lit up when he heard that.
“Even if you’re not with other gay men, there can be an element of competition for men’s affection and attention,” he says. “It’s also part of the root of self-hatred.”
Despite the heavy subject matter, he emphasized how much fun he had exploring that tension through his performance, especially with co-star Olivia Taylor Dudley.
“It’s so much fun when you can do it behind the veil of a character and not yourself,” he said. “It would be difficult if it were you.”
Find the balance between horror and humor
One of the biggest surprises about this movie is how many times it makes you laugh. Sometimes it makes me laugh when I least expect it. I talked about a particular moment that caught me off guard, and it somehow had a nice blend of absurdity and discomfort.
Gavaris credits Hyman with directing the tonal balance.
“They walked a very fine line and found just the right balance, just like landing a plane,” he said. “That moment could have gone so wrong.”
that control is maintained touch me Stay away from spiraling, even if it leans towards physical horror or surreal imagery.
“Wet, sticky and cold”…and I love it
Of course there is no conversation about it touch me Complete without having to deal with physical extremes. The film focuses on practical effects, something Gavaris hasn’t fully experienced before.
“The practical effects, the prosthetics, the fake blood covered stuff was all very new to me,” he said.
And he summed it up with a laugh in a way that perfectly captured the film’s quirky tone.
“Anything that would get wet and sticky and cold on a concrete floor was fine.”
It’s not glamorous, but it looks like a lot of fun.
He later added, “It was so wet inside that prosthetic leg… so sweaty. It’s not cute.”
A performance that cuts deeper than the chaos
What stuck with me after our conversation wasn’t just the film’s outlandish settings and visual audacity, but how dynamic Gavaris’ approach is. Beneath the alien touch, horror elements and satire, touch me The point is to try to silence the voices that tell you you’re not good enough.
And in Gavaris’s hands, Craig becomes not just a part of the madness, but a central figure in it.
Source: Gayety – gayety.com
