For 23 years, Juan Pablo Di Pace has worked in front of the camera. From Mamma Mia! to Fuller House to the queer Christmas rom-com Dashing in December, Di Pace has broken ground as a gay actor while also showing off incredible dance skills on reality TV in Dancing With the Stars. This year, Di Pace finally fulfilled his dream of directing a film, Before We Forget, which he also wrote, produced, and starred in. “I finally get to make a movie with a point of view that is completely mine, which is scary and also incredibly satisfying,” he says.
The personal project, which depicts the first love of an artistic teen at an Italian boarding school, was the last film executive-produced by Norman Lear. With his film, Di Pace aimed to “wake up a sense of hope and gentleness into where we are right now, because I think we're in a very extreme moment. And I think I love seeing things that are not about death and destruction.”
The creative advises LGBTQ+ young people “to follow your road, whatever that road is, [and] to listen to your heart.” @juanpablodipace
