Actor Daniel Franzese, who played Lindsay Lohan’s character Cady’s friend Damian in 2004’s Mean Girls, has come out in a unique way.
Franzese wrote a letter to Damian, which was published on bent on Tuesday. He talked about the differences in their personalities and how Damian actually inspired him to come out as a gay man.
"You became an iconic character that people looked up to; I wished I’d had you as a role model when I was younger. I might've been easier to be gay growing up. You WERE beautiful in every single way and words couldn’t bring you down,” he wrote.
He went on to write that he was “pissed” at Damian because the role had stifled him as an actor – he was only getting considered for “flamboyant” types of characters.
When men started approaching him on the street, “telling me I gave them comfort not only being young and gay but also being a big dude. It was then that I realized how much of an impact YOU had made on them."
Today.com notes Mean Girls was written by Tina Fey and Mark Waters. Franzese mentioned them both various times throughout the letter.
"Looking back, it took YOU to teach me how to be proud of myself again,” he wrote.