Lukas Gage Is Having a Moment, but Says 'Authenticity Is Expensive'

Gage appears on the cover of the British queer magazine Attitude this month and said that his role on "The White Lotus" is his favorite to date, adding that he would work again with the series creator Mike White in a second. "I'd do anything with Mike White, or 'The White Lotus.' It's probably my favourite thing I've ever done," he says in an excerpt from the interview. He adds he would jump at the opportunity to appear in an All-Stars "White Lotus" season, which, he says is something "they could totally do it. It hasn't been done before [with a scripted show]. And I think it would make sense, because Mike White did 'Survivor'and 'The Amazing Race,' which I believe both had 'all-star' seasons."

Because of the scene, Gage went on to become the poster boy of the sexual act – at least for five minutes – on an appearance with Andy Cohen on "Watch What Happens Live." He also got push back on social media about that sex scene, with many calling it "disgusting." Such judgments pissed him because "because I don't want to yuck anyone's yum. But a lot of people can have a hard time separating the actor from the character, and then, suddenly, people are coming up to me at Starbucks asking [if the scene was real]. People forget it's make-believe."

Gage grew up in a San Diego suburb, the youngest of four boys raised by a single mother. He told the New York Times two years ago that he moved to Los Angeles when he was 18 to pursue an acting career "acting after a brief stint at the University of Oregon, where he got in a gruesome fight trying to protect a friend. '"'I have all these scars from where I had to get my face put back together," he said. "Maybe, selfishly, I needed a reason to get out.'"

But he found auditioning for some roles, such as for commercials, to be triggering. "I remember, at 17 years old, people saying out loud what was wrong with my face and that I wasn't in shape enough," he told the Times. "As a teenager, that really makes you crazy. I had to stop commercial auditioning when I was younger because it was making me dysmorphic."