OWNING HIS STORY
RYAN O’CONNELL | 32
By Lena DunhamRyan O’Connell is a lot of things: He’s
a writer. He’s an actor. He’s a fashion
plate, a provocateur and part of the rare
Hollywood couple that seems to genu-
inely like each other. He’s a wellspring
of cultural commentary (a recent Twit-
ter favorite: “feel lucky to be alive in a
time where ppl can b psycho on so many
different mediums”). He also has a dis-
ability, a fact that he writes about in a
way that is both mundane and revolu-
tionary. It’s a fact of life, one that pops
up often in his book I’m Special: And
Other Lies We Tell Ourselves, but it
doesn’t keep him from living a modern
young adulthood filled with sexual ob-
session, toxic friendships and the ter-
rible roller coaster of searching for re-
quited affection. Nobody writes about
love and sex with more self-awareness
or LOLs. Through his book and now
his Emmy-nominated series Special, in
which he stars as a loose version of him-
self, he joins a pantheon of creator/ac-
tors (from Ellen DeGeneres to Donald
Glover) who deftly explore traditionally
marginalized identities. Ryan’s activism
is hilarious, seductive and totally origi-
nal in that he’s hell-bent on showing us
that cerebral palsy defines him, but only
as much as anxiety, loneliness, horni-
ness and ambition. “Perhaps the best
lesson I could have ever taught myself,”
he writes in I’m Special, “would even-
tually be the one thing that released
me from my neuroses and let me be
truly happy.”Dunham is a director, writer and actorGENUINE SOUL
D.J. “SHANGELA” PIERCE | 38
By Jenifer LewisMy favorite memory of D.J. Pierce (also
known as his drag-queen persona,
Shangela) encompasses everything
I can say about his heart and soul.
One morning, I took the dog out and
I saw him counting his tips from that
night’s drag show. We always speak
in movie quotes, so I delivered a line
from What’s Love Got to Do With It:
“Anna Mae, what you plannin’ on doin’
with all that money?” I thought he
would say something funny, but instead
he looked up at me with one of the
sweetest faces I had ever seen and
said, “I’m saving up to get my grandma
some carpet, Jen.”
I’m always encouraging him
because he’s so sincere. He loves what
he does, and he does it well. When he
puts that face on, he’s ready. Every
time. That’s how you want to be. You
can see it in film—he won raves for
his performance in A Star Is Born—
and onstage. His performance of a
Beyoncé medley at the GLAAD Media
Awards was electrifying. I felt like a
proud peacock—I just hid in the back
of the room because I didn’t want to
hit anybody with my feathers. And the
joy on his face when Beyoncé herself
stood up and clapped for him? That
was everything.
Lewis is an actor and the author of the
memoir The Mother of Black HollywoodSUBTLE STRENGTH
BEANIE FELDSTEIN | 26
By Olivia WildeSingular. That word
comes up a lot when
describing Beanie
Feldstein, whom I had
the pleasure of directing
in Booksmart. There’s
truly no one else like her.
A flurry of dichotomies.
Who else is that earnest
and irreverent? So
prepared and yet so
present? Such a strong
physical comedian and
a subtle dramatic actor?
As Beanie herself would
undoubtedly say, “Who
gave her permission?!”
It gives you hope to
meet someone so funny
and yet completely
vulnerable. She is the
kind of person who holds
both your shoulders and
looks deep into your
eyes when she asks you
how you are. At first, it
terrified me. She can see
my soul! Better than I
can! She’s intimidating
in the way a kid can
be, because they have
a nose for truth and a
powerful aversion to
bullsh-t. Beanie is allergic
to inauthenticity. And
cats. Both will end your
relationship with her,
which would be a real
shame because she is
singularly lovely.Wilde is an actor and the
director of BooksmartPORTRAIT-ILLUSTRATION BY GLUEKIT FOR TIME; GETTY IMAGES (2)