Cheer star Jerry Harris has been named a gay icon and said in a recent interview that he wants to be seen as fearless.
In an interview on The Big Ticket on iHeartRadio, he said that he believes his later mother is watching down over him as his popularity continues to rise.
Jerry Harris’ rise in popularity
In the interview, Harris talked about how his mother died of lunch cancer when he was only 16, but that he believes she wants him to remain humble right now and not get a big head.
This might be tough because Harris is soaring in popularity right now thanks to his role in the six-episode docuseries Cheer.
The series is about the Navarro College Cheer Team of Corsicana, Texas. Harris shows his struggles to make it onto the floor to compete, and his overzealous talking and attitude captured fans’ hearts.
That show allowed him to attain a high level of popularity, and it resulted in him getting to cover the red carpet at the Oscars for Ellen DeGeneres.
He also picked up a bunch of endorsement deals with companies like American Eagle, Panera Bread, and Schmidt’s deodorant, and he has taken advantage of his popularity to join the ranks on Cameo for personalized recorded video messages.
He also said in the interview that the entire idea that he is a celebrity is surreal. He said that on the Oscars red carpet, he got to meet Billie Eilish and Brad Pitt, and they knew his name and treated him like he was one of them.
Jerry Harris on his status as a gay icon
Harris talked about how BET named him “the gay black icon we need in 2020.”
“Just hearing that from them makes me so happy because I love BET,” he said in the podcast. “I definitely feel like it is a lot of pressure to live up to, but I want to be that person that everyone knows that can handle it and doesn’t let it get the best of me or take me from who I am.”
He then went on to say that he wants people to see him as fearless and confident because he hopes that will help others gain the strength they need to believe in themselves.
“You can be who you want to be, and you can be who you are because you are perfect and you are enough for anyone,” Harris said.