TL;DR
- Adam Shankman survived conversion therapy at age 4.
- He turned to drugs and alcohol to cope with trauma.
- Shankman is now a successful director and storyteller.
- His new film, Stop! That! Train!, is his first overtly queer project.
- He emphasizes inclusivity in his work.
Hollywood director Adam Shankman has a story that’s as vibrant and complex as the films he creates. In a recent candid essay for GLAAD’s “GLAAD To Share” series, Shankman opened up about his journey through the dark shadows of conversion therapy, addiction, and ultimately, his triumph as a queer storyteller in Tinseltown.
Imagine being just four years old, full of energy, and suddenly thrust into a world that tells you being yourself is wrong. That was Shankman’s reality when his parents took him to see a doctor who, unbeknownst to them, was practicing conversion therapy. “Being queer was not an okay thing to be by any metric during my formative years,” he reflected, recalling how the doctor’s attempts to change his behavior left him feeling fearful and isolated.
“If you say you want to be a girl or if you demonstrate that, your parents will discard you,” the doctor told him. It’s a chilling reminder of the harmful practices that many LGBTQ+ individuals have faced. Thankfully, after confiding in his mother, the sessions stopped, but the scars ran deep. “I don’t know that they’ve recovered from it to this day,” Shankman wrote, highlighting the lasting impact of such trauma.
Shankman’s struggles didn’t end there. By the time he was 15, he turned to alcohol and drugs as a means to escape the pain. “I was grateful to them at that time because I was afraid of the world, and they gave me access to a social life,” he admitted. It was a tumultuous time, as he dated girls while grappling with his own identity.
But like any good Hollywood story, Shankman found his way back to himself through dance and performance, building a community that embraced his queerness. His career path was anything but traditional, transitioning from waiter to dancer, choreographer, and eventually, director. “At this point in my life, I’m just a storyteller. That’s what I feel most grateful for,” he expressed.
His accidental rise to directing came when he was invited to pitch for what would become his feature film debut, The Wedding Planner. “Ten minutes into the meeting, I was hired to direct the movie,” he recalled, a testament to the serendipity that often accompanies success in Hollywood.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Banr2Uq1CyE
Fast forward 25 years, and Shankman is now releasing Stop! That! Train!, which he proudly describes as his first overtly queer film. “This is my first kinda queer movie,” he stated, acknowledging that while many of his previous works were “queer-coded,” this one is unapologetically for the LGBTQ+ community. He’s worked with icons like RuPaul, who stars in the film, and emphasizes that his art is meant to be inclusive, stating, “I don’t believe in making things that exclude; that would be weird to me, because I know what it feels like to be excluded.”
Despite his success, Shankman continues to battle the internal narratives shaped by his traumatic past. “My internal narrative is still so negative,” he confessed. Yet, he remains determined to push forward, stating, “I’m going to die in the director’s chair. I never want to stop doing this. It’s my happy place.”
As Stop! That! Train! hits theaters, Shankman’s journey serves as a powerful reminder of resilience, creativity, and the importance of embracing one’s true self in a world that often tries to silence it. His story is not just about survival; it’s about thriving against all odds, and that’s something we can all celebrate.