‘Severance’ Star Tramell Tillman on Being Cast in ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ and His Message to LGBTQ Community Amid Political Attacks: ‘We Will Survive Because We Always Do’

Tramell Tillman has a message for the LGBTQ community.

“We’re being silenced and pushed apart,” the “Severance” star told me Wednesday at the Golden Globes luncheon for first-time nominees at the Maybourne Beverly Hills hotel. “We need more voices, we need more stories, we need more appearances, more presence across the board and not just in this country but around the world. I’m glad to be a part of that movement and do whatever I can to support our community and uplift us, especially the trans community, because we need it.”

He continued, “We have each other. We’ll get through it. We will push past this, and we will survive because we always do, and we always have.”

Tillman previously told Variety‘s Clayton Davis that he first came out to his mother as bisexual when he was in his 20s. Years later, he told her he was gay. “I don’t want this to ruin your career,” she told him. “I don’t want you to be blackballed. I don’t want you to be pigeonholed.”

She had nothing to worry about. Tillman not only became first openly gay Black man to be nominated for an Emmy in the supporting actor drama category for his work in “Severance,” but he was crowned the winner on the big night.

Coming up for Tillman is a role in “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” opposite Tom Holland. He can’t say much about his part but said he had always hoped to land a superhero movie, but “not this soon,” Tillman said. “I always wanted to be in that world. I used to watch DC Comics and Marvel all the time. To be a part of it is such a gift. I was treated lovely. Everyone was wonderful.”

Tillman’s dream project is a movie musical. “I’m not sure in what capacity, but to be able to stretch that muscle would be really fantastic,” he said.

He names “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” as one of his favorite musicals: “I love the darkness of it. I keep doing projects that are kind of dark and edgy.”

The 83rd Annual Golden Globes will air on CBS and stream on Paramount+ in the United States on Sunday, Jan. 11.