Marcos Luevanos is one of the writers and co-executive producers behind the hit series, “Love, Victor,” set in the same cinematic world as the groundbreaking 2018 teen romance movie, “Love, Simon.” Since this interview, Season 3 of “Love, Victor” has been officially announced. Marcos let us know a lot about his involvement in the show and where the series may be heading in the future:

“I saw the movie “Love, Simon” in theaters just like everyone else and thought it was so groundbreaking and refreshing,” Marcos shared. It is a gay teen love story that wasn’t about a gay teenager lusting after a straight guy. “Love, Simon” screenwriters Isaac Aptaker and Elizabeth Berger came up with this idea, centering around a Latinx teenager who was also gay but didn’t have a family as understanding as Simon had in the film. We’re taking the show season by season to go with what feels right and also see how the viewer response is.”

So what was the big takeaway from Season 1 and did anything major change with the chemistry going into Season 2? “A lot of gay teen characters we’ve seen as of late on television and film are already very self-realized. We wanted to show a different depiction. Now that [the character of Victor] is “out”, we want to see him come into his own, be less timid, and more active in his identity,” Marcos clarified.“

A lot of these stories come from the queer show writers personal lives, including my own personal life when I came out at 14 to my parents,” Marcos went on to reveal. “As writers, we have conversations with one another and share stories to construct the characters, particularly Victor’s character. Every scene in the show has been elevated by the actor’s performances, the director, and the crew.”

What’s it like in the writer’s room at Love, Victor? “It usually starts with us figuring out where we want the character’s story to start at the beginning of the season and where we want the character’s story to be by the end of the season,” Marcos explained. “From there, we outline the episodes in further detail. Typically, there are 6 stages of coming out and we addressed the first three in Season 1 (Identity Confusion, Comparison, and Tolerance) and the second three in Season 2 (Identity Acceptance, Pride, and Synthesis). Identity is something that’s constantly changing. We are all multi-dimensional. We wanted to tell a story about how in certain circles you can be seen as too gay and others seen as not gay enough.”

“Ultimately, at the end of the day, [Love, Victor] is a story about how you don’t have to compare yourself to other people or live up to anyone else’s standards. All you have to do is live up to your own standards and be yourself. Those are the most fulfilling stories I like to tell.”