Peterborough actor Christian Rose has a credited role in the upcoming critically acclaimed Canadian film Fitting In, which is set to hit theatres on Friday, February 2nd.
Rose plays the character Greg in the coming-of-age comedy drama, which is written and directed by Molly McGlynn, whose feature directorial debut was 2017’s Mary Goes Round (which won her the Toronto Film Critics Association’s Jay Scott Prize for emerging filmmaker).
Fitting In tells the story of 16-year-old Lindy (Maddie Ziegler) who, concerned she hasn’t had her first period yet, is diagnosed with Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser (MRKH) syndrome — a condition that causes the vagina and uterus to be underdeveloped or absent, although external genitalia appear normal.
The diagnosis disrupts Lindy’s understanding of womanhood and sexual identity, and throws her relationships into disarray — including with her new boyfriend, her friends at her new high school, and her mother.
Shot in Sudbury, the film is semi-autobiographical, as McGlynn herself was diagnosed with MRKH syndrome as a teenager.
Fitting In premiered last March at the South By Southwest Film Festival in Austin, Texas under the title Bloody Hell — “Being 16 is just bloody hell, isn’t it?” one of the characters tells Lindy — and then last September under its current title at both the Toronto International Film Festival and the Vancouver International Film Festival, where it won the award for best Canadian film.
VIDEO: “Fitting In” trailer
Rose, whose character Greg appears at the end of the film’s trailer, says shooting the film was “a terrifying, amazing, and emotional experience.”
“I had just gotten out of a long-term relationship less than a week before I started filming,” he says in an email distributed by his talent agency Strutt Central.
“So my heart was in shambles, but the opportunity of filming a movie had a total whiplash effect on me. I went from depressed to euphoric. Everybody I met on the film was a complete gem and provided me with plenty of advice, kindness and love that picked me up in a time where I really needed it.”
The 23-year-old actor, who uses a wheelchair, will also be appearing in two other upcoming feature films: as Blaze in the zombie horror movie Festival of the Living Dead directed by the Soska sisters (Jen and Sylvia Soska), and as Paul the stage director in Out of My Mind, an American coming-of-age drama film based on the 2010 novel of the same name by Sharon M. Draper.
Previously, Rose played the character Dario Maddox in three episodes in the first and only seaoson of NBC’s 2021 sci-fi drama series Debris, from Fringe creator J.H. Wyman.
As for his role in Fitting In, Rose says he’s “honoured” to have his name in the credits.
“I can’t wait to see it in theatres, and I’m so excited to see Molly’s story being told in a really influential way,” he says.
