Just like her character, Spencer Hastings, on Pretty Little Liars, Troian Bellisario is always up for a challenge.
The actress has taken on one of the most iconic roles in history — with a major twist!
In the short film Still a Rose, Troian plays Juliet, the star-crossed lover of Romeo, but she’s not the only one. This Shakespeare-inspired film is told through the eyes of four couples, and yes, two of them are same-sexed couples!
“Refocusing literature’s most iconic young lovers, ’Still A Rose’ weaves through couplings of mixed-race and same-gender within the arc of the famous balcony scene (Act II, Scene II) from ‘Romeo and Juliet,'” reads the trailer’s YouTube description.
That means the star-crossed lovers will be played out as: male Romeo/female Juliet, male Romeo/male Juliet, female Romeo/male Juliet and female Romeo/female Juliet.
Brandon Crowder (Romeo), Tinuke Oyefule (Romeo) and Will Branske (Juliet) will star alongside Troian as they prove that true love can overcome anything, including race, gender and even sexual orientation.
“Love, by any other name, is still love,” the description reads.
Those few words give new meaning to Shakespeare’s treasured words and truly represent modern day equality and love. It’s about time something like this came along!
New York’s LGBT Film Festival, NewFest, screened the short film on Sunday, October 25th and we can’t wait to read the reviews!
Photos: Hazart Films, YouTube