Clea DuVall Reflects on 25 Years of ‘But I’m a Cheerleader’: ‘It Gave People Courage to Come Out’

It’s been 25 years since But I’m a Cheer­leaderfirst explod­ed onto the indie film scene in a riot of bub­blegum pink, camp aes­thet­ics, and sur­pris­ing­ly raw emo­tion­al depth. To cel­e­brate the anniver­sary of the trail­blaz­ing LGBTQ+ cult clas­sic, star Clea DuVall is tak­ing a moment to reflect on the film’s lega­cy – and how its impact still res­onates with fans today. “It was very ahead of its time,” DuVall, now 47, told PEOPLE in a new inter­view. “There were not a lot of queer-cen­tered sto­ries at the time.”

Direct­ed by Jamie Bab­bit and writ­ten by Bab­bit and Bri­an Wayne Peter­son, But I’m a Cheer­leader fol­lows high school cheer­leader Megan (Natasha Lyonne), who is sent to a con­ver­sion ther­a­py camp called True Direc­tions after her con­ser­v­a­tive fam­i­ly sus­pects she’s a les­bian. There, she meets and even­tu­al­ly falls in love with the rebel­lious, leather-jack­et-wear­ing Gra­ham, played by DuVall.

The film sat­i­rized con­ver­sion ther­a­py while spot­light­ing the absur­di­ty of gen­der roles and soci­etal expec­ta­tions, all under the pas­tel-sat­u­rat­ed lens of ‘90s camp. The movie also fea­tured a now-icon­ic cast includ­ing RuPaul (as a faux-mas­cu­line coun­selor), Melanie Lynskey, Michelle Williams, Mink Stole, Cathy Mori­ar­ty, and Julie Delpy.

At the time of its release in 1999, queer rom-coms were almost non-exis­tent, let alone ones that dared to tack­le issues like forced con­ver­sion ther­a­py while still find­ing space for joy, romance, and queer self-dis­cov­ery. And while it received mixed reviews from crit­ics back then, But I’m a Cheer­leader has grown into a beloved LGBTQ+ touch­stone, cel­e­brat­ed for its fear­less sto­ry­telling and unapolo­getic queer lens. “It was approach­ing such seri­ous, real issues that we were deal­ing with then – and, in some ways, still now,” DuVall said. “It def­i­nite­ly was the most reward­ing thing I had ever done.”

And for many view­ers, it meant even more. In the decades since its release, DuVall says fans have often approached her to share deeply per­son­al sto­ries. “Peo­ple have said it gave them the courage to come out, and it made them feel com­fort­able, and it made them feel seen,” she shared. “That is so pow­er­ful, and it’s not true for every­thing you have the priv­i­lege of doing as an actor.”

Those emo­tion­al con­nec­tions reflect why But I’m a Cheer­leader has endured as a cul­tur­al land­mark. It’s a movie that doesn’t just enter­tain – it affirms.

Behind the Scenes: The Magic of Friendship and Chemistry

Beyond the film’s social com­men­tary, it was the on-screen chem­istry between DuVall and Lyonne that added emo­tion­al weight to the film’s whim­si­cal visu­als. Accord­ing to DuVall, that con­nec­tion start­ed off-screen

The two were already friends before film­ing began, and in a twist of fate, Lyonne only end­ed up star­ring in the movie because she saw a draft of the script in DuVall’s car.

She asked to read it, and then she want­ed to audi­tion,” DuVall recalled. The rest, of course, is queer cin­e­ma his­to­ry. “There were a lot of fun mem­o­ries – some things that I can­not share with PEOPLE mag­a­zine,” she joked, before turn­ing seri­ous. “But then I think of Natasha. She’s very spe­cial to me, and she’s such a spe­cial per­former.”

DuVall described one par­tic­u­lar scene – a qui­et moment where Megan and Gra­ham are wash­ing dish­es togeth­er – as one of her most cher­ished from set. “I remem­ber just feel­ing maybe the most ground­ed and the most present I had ever felt in a scene before, in that moment with her.” “Those kinds of moments are the gold as an actor,” she added. “What I’m always striv­ing for is just being able to exist in the scene… When you can just be present with some­one, it’s real­ly, real­ly spe­cial.”

Legacy and Reunion

Since their unfor­get­table roles in But I’m a Cheer­leader, DuVall and Lyonne have con­tin­ued to col­lab­o­rate. The pair reunit­ed in 2016 for The Inter­ven­tion, a com­e­dy-dra­ma writ­ten and direct­ed by DuVall, which also fea­tured Melanie Lynskey. More recent­ly, DuVall played Lyonne’s sis­ter in an episode of Pok­er Face, Lyonne’s hit mys­tery-com­e­dy series on Pea­cock.

Their cre­ative part­ner­ship – and deep friend­ship – con­tin­ues to evolve, root­ed in the chem­istry that helped But I’m a Cheer­leader become such a last­ing part of queer pop cul­ture.

A Cult Classic That Changed Lives

With But I’m a Cheer­leader cel­e­brat­ing its sil­ver anniver­sary on July 7, it’s not just fans who are reflect­ing on how much the movie meant – it’s the cast, too. The film’s mix of col­or­ful satire and emo­tion­al sin­cer­i­ty helped change the way LGBTQ+ sto­ries were told on screen, paving the way for the kinds of queer nar­ra­tives we now see on plat­forms from Net­flix to the big screen

The film has also received renewed atten­tion in recent years, espe­cial­ly as con­ver­sion ther­a­py remains a real threat in many parts of the world. Its mes­sage – deliv­ered with humor, heart, and a defi­ant queer spir­it – remains painful­ly rel­e­vant

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Watch the full inter­view with the cast below.