British actor Alexander Lincoln said that he related a lot to his character in the 2022 Netflix rugby film ‘In From the Side’.
‘In From the Side’ tells the story of two equally attached men from a cash-strapped and divided gay rugby club who, following a drunken encounter, unwittingly sleepwalk into an adulterous affair. However, they must conceal their growing feelings or risk destroying the club they love.
Lincoln plays the role of Mark Newton, the new and relatively inexperienced player of a London rugby club for gay men, who falls in love with Warrant Hunt (played by Adam Silver), another seasoned rugby player.
In an interview with Attitude, Lincoln said that “[Rugby] was a very tough sport, for sure. But I never felt it was a particularly masculine thing. It was what I enjoyed doing – and I was big, so it worked. That was one of the main draws for me, I guess I saw a lot of myself in it.”
He also added that at school, he has always been the “sexually ambiguous one,” and while he had made jokes about it, he never felt “the clown of the club.” He was grateful though that he was accepted for who he was, something he described as “beautiful.”
On the issue of toxic masculinity, one that is almost always associated with rugby, Lincoln said that the sport “is bigger than masculinity.”
He noted how Matt Carter, the director and co-writer of the film, disregarded toxic masculinity in the film. “As much as rugby can be lad culture — drinking, eating live goldfish, whatever; not that I’ve done that! — my experience of rugby, and of the film, has been inclusivity,” he said.
‘In From the Side’ has seen great success since its release. It gained a slot at the BFI FLARE: London LGBTQI+ Film Festival and a release across UK cinemas.
