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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
Entertainment
Dee Jefferson

John Cameron Mitchell: ‘It’s punk to turn off your phone – you’re walking away from the herd’

Actor and performer John Cameron Mitchell
John Cameron Mitchell: ‘One career regret that I cannot live down is that Bowie asked me to consider Ziggy Stardust for the stage, and I said no.’ Photograph: Festival of Dangerous Ideas

The film adaptation of Hedwig and the Angry Inch has such a cult following. What’s been your most memorable interaction with a fan?

It’s interesting, Hedwig wasn’t famous, it was a film that so many people found because a friend told them about it. So people don’t come up to you because you’re famous, it’s because they were touched. The most intense interaction was when I was on the subway platform and a kid gave me a tiny piece of paper and hopped on a train. I opened it and it said, “Thank you. Hedwig saved my life”. I don’t know what happened – maybe they felt lonely and then the film made them feel like “There’s other people for me out there”.

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