Keiynan Lonsdale to Star in Queer Rom-Com My Fake Boyfriend

Keiynan Lonsdale is set to star as a young man with a fake boyfriend and real love-life problems in an upcoming romantic comedy from Lionsgate and BuzzFeed.

The Love, Simon alum will be starring in the newly-announced romantic comedy My Fake Boyfriend alongside Dylan Sprouse and Sarah Hyland. The film is set to begin production this month in Canada, with BuzzFeed and Lionsgate are hoping to release it in time for Pride in June 2022.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the film follows "a young man in a tricky situation, who follows the advice of his unconventional best friend (Sprouse) and uses social media to create a fake boyfriend to keep his awful ex-lover out of his life. But everything backfires when he meets the real love of his life, and breaking up with his fake boyfriend proves hard to do."

The movie is being helmed by veteran TV director Rose Troche (The L Word, Snowpiercer, Shameless), and comes from a script from Luke Albright, Joe Wanjai Ross, and Greg Boaldin.

"There is no better person to tell this queer love story than Rose Troche, and we're delighted to partner with Lionsgate to share this story with millennial and Gen Z audiences around the world," said BuzzFeed's head of studio Richard Alan Reid. Last year, Lionsgate and BuzzFeed announced a partnership to create a slate of feature films aimed at millennials and Gen Z with "socially relevant" stories and characters.

Lauren Bixby, VP of co-productions and acquisitions at Lionsgate added, "My Fake Boyfriend has the heart, laughs, and talent behind the scenes and in front of the camera that make this film a genuine win. We couldn't be more thrilled to be partnering with our friends at BuzzFeed on this fun romantic comedy."

Lonsdale has starred in movies like the Divergent series and 2018's Love, Simon, for which he won an MTV Movie Award for Best Kiss, and TV shows like The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow, where he played superhero Kid Flash. Next up, he's set to star in the Starz TV reboot of the dance film franchise Step Up.

He's also a talented musician, releasing his first album, the GLAAD Award nominated Rainbow Boy in 2020. Lonsdale came out as bisexual in 2017.

RELATED | Hulu Has Another Queer Love Story for Us to Obsess Over