If you dont live in Los Angeles, you might never have heard of the Mattachine Steps. In 2012, the outdoor staircase in Silver Lake was dedicated to the late Harry Hay, who co-founded the Mattachine Society an early gay rights organization in 1950.

In Andy Vallentines feature directorial debut The Mattachine Family, Thomas (Nico Tortorella) considers the steps, and later how his own group of friends, or more found family, connects to that history. The options and the lives available to queer people in 2023 are much more diverse and varied than they were in 1950, but finding the answers youre looking for can still be just as complex.

The film follows Thomas and his friends as they navigate their relationships, but specifically focuses on the issue of fertility and the paths to parenthood that exist for LGBTQ+ people. When Arthur, Thomas and his husband Oscars (Juan Pablo Di Pace) foster son, returns to his birth mother, Thomas decides he wants to give fatherhood another try. But, after watching how the loss of Arthur affected Thomas, Oscar isnt so sure.

Wow. Doing a chemistry read over Zoom must be surreal. I guess weve all gotten used to it at this point, but it still feels surreal.

Tortorella: There isnt that real energetic exchange. You can play it as an actor, right? But I cant feel your waves. I cant feel your heart over this. And thats so much of what being an actor is. It really sucks that weve gotten to this point. I cant remember the last time I auditioned in a room for anything. The last handful of things Ive gotten cast for have been over [Zoom]. You show up to work, and all of these people are cast off of a camera at the house, and you get to meet them for the first time in person. Its not just the actors meeting each other, its the directors meeting the actors for the first time. Its everybody meeting everybody together for the first time. It either works or it does not at all, and Ive been on sets where both of those things are true. Its weird. Its a weird time.

READ THE FULL INTERVIEW HERE

As reported by PEOPLE, Nico Tortorella is writing a new chapter.

The actor and LGBTQ advocate (who identifies as gender fluid and prefers he/him pronouns in writing) has revealed the cover of his debut picture book, Olivette Is You, exclusively with PEOPLE. The book, illustrated by Melissa Kashiwagi, is forthcoming next fall from Random House Books for Young Readers.

I’ve always imagined I would work in the kids’ space, Tortorella tells PEOPLE. Even as a kid, I knew I was going to do something in this space, and so much of this book is about giving something to my children.

Known for his roles in Paramount+s Younger and AMCs The Walking Dead, Tortorella, 35, is already an established author. He penned the poetry collection, all of it is you, in 2018, as well as the memoir Space Between in 2019, the latter of which details the actors exploration of gender identity and expression.

Olivette Is You deals with similar themes of self-acceptance, this time for young readers. The title, which is reminiscent of Tortorellas previous book and his drag persona, Olivette Isyou, who he performed as in season 1 of RuPauls Secret Celebrity Drag Race, is inspired by Tortorella’s own experiences, per the book’s description.

Tortorella had the first ideas for Olivette, the books spirited protagonist, while he and his spouse, entrepreneur Bethany C. Meyers, were in the beginning stages of growing their family.

As Beth and I were starting our fertility journey, I had a dream about this kid named Olivette that came to me, Tortorella says. It just kind of all hit and made a lot of sense and it represented all of these parts of myself and Bethany from the past, present, future.

Tortorella began writing while he and Meyers were trying to have a baby; a process that the actor says he thought would come so easily” and which “was not the case. (Tortorella spoke with PEOPLE about the experience earlier this year.) The couple welcomed their daughter, Kilmer Dove Meyers Tortorella, in March.

[This character] was an outlet to put everything that I was experiencing onto a page, Tortorella says. Olivette represented this hope, this light at the end of the tunnel that really contained the entire universe.

The book’s message of acceptance is especially important for Tortorella, who came out as gender fluid in 2018 and has become a staunch advocate for the LGBTQ community.

The world, in this country, feels extra divided right now. There’s no denying that, he says. The point of this book is to bring people together. It’s really about recognizing two ends of spectrums and exploring the space between.

In addition to his writerly endeavors, Tortorella recently appeared in the Apple TV+ series City on Fire, based on the bestselling novel by Garth Risk Hallberg. The show follows the aftermath of an NYU students death in 2003 New York; Tortorella plays a former rock singer not unlike the era’s indie heroes.

As for family matters, Tortorella is already reading Olivette Is You to his daughter. He hopes the book will not only inspire children, but also parents, and urge everyone to embrace all parts of who they are.

I unconditionally believe that anything and everything in this life is possible, Tortorella says. And nobody anywhere can tell me otherwise.

Olivette Is You will be published on April 20, 2024 by Random House Books for Young Readers.

The gallery has been updated with screencaptures from the eighth and last episode of City on Fire. Check them out now!

The gallery has been updated with episode stills & screencaptures from the seventh episode of City on Fire. Check them out now!

The gallery has been updated with episode stills & screencaptures from the sixth episode of City on Fire. Check them out now!

The gallery has been updated with episode stills & screencaptures from the fifth episode of City on Fire. Check them out now!

The gallery has been updated with episode stills & screencaptures from the fourth episode of City on Fire. Check them out now!

The gallery has been updated with episode stills & screencaptures from the third episode of City on Fire. Check them out now!