‘Open to It’ Explores the Positive Side of Polyamory

The idea of polyamory may be considered taboo for some, but thanks to Frank Arthur Smith’s new comedy series Open to It, he is shining a positive light on the subject.

Centered on a loving gay couple who experiment with becoming a hot gay throuple, they quickly find out that threesome sex and open relationships come with more complications than just limbs. Featuring a diverse cast and crew, including RuPaul’s Drag Race superstar Laganja Estranja, Open to It premiered in April at Wicked Queer: Boston’s LGBTQ+ Film Festival.

The first two episodes will make their U.S. debut at Outfest on July 18.

In addition to writing, directing, and producing Open to It, Smith also stars in the series as Greg. He caught up with OFM to tell us more about it.

Let me begin by asking, what inspired you to create Open to It and explore the themes of throuples and open relationships?

I am a gay man who has watched many gay web series, and I saw the persistent threat of nonmonogamy portrayed as this very apocalyptic, angsty thing. Like, “Whoa, their relationship’s over.” I even showed the show to a good gay friend of mine, and he was like, “I love seeing this, a couple at the beginning of the end.” I was like, “No, no, no, no, no. That is not what this is supposed to be.” So, I just wanted to do something a little different— pursue the angle of, hey, polyamory can work out, and it can also be funny, sexy, and silly.

Nonmonogamy is common in the queer community compared to heterosexual couples. Why do you think this is?

I think we’re just cooler than anybody else (laughs). We get it! Honestly, stuff becomes gay culture before it becomes culture, Betty Who being a great example of this. I think we are used to not being accepted by heterosexual orthodoxy, so we kind of figure out what works for us. Then suddenly, the straights look at us, and they’re like, “Oh, that seems cool. Let’s try that!”

Personally, have you ever been in a throuple?

No, actually. With my boyfriend and I, we think the arrangement works for some people, but we always want to be each other’s emotional first. There are some couples who can split the focus. What you normally see, and I’m talking from my experience, you’ll have a couple who meets a third person. It’s not like three people come together in a triangle and are like, “Yeah, this works! This is great!” So much more power to you though because it’s hard to date one person, let alone two, and finding two partners at the same time.

Ultimately, what do you hope viewers take away from Open to It?

Where I see the future of the show going, I think we’ll see the main couple explore their boundaries and what the right arrangement for them is. We see that with the lesbian couple as well, and I even wanted to, believe it or not, include heterosexuals in the show. One of the main character’s parents read some sort of Fifty Shades of Grey analog and are like, “Wow, this is fun! Can we tie each other up and feel so naughty and embarrassed by it?” It’s a step for them, so I think the thesis of the show is, whether you’re going to those amazing cocaine orgies that they have in Congress or trying out a little thing with your very special monogamous partner, any permutation of relationship is fine. You just need some kind of consent communication going.

You also star in the show as Greg. How do you relate to your character?

I definitely feel like those neuroses are coming from some place real. Just my suspicion! I think because it’s a comedy, Greg is a very exaggerated version of me. I can get through most days without panicking, but one thing I wanted to come through clearly is that he is very concerned about his partner. He loves him and wants to do right by him.

It hasn’t had a wide release yet, but what I’ve been impressed by is that a lot of heterosexual friends have really responded to that character. One even said, “I’ve never seen a character like that on TV who, while exploring this kind of sexual openness, is also very concerned about his partner’s needs.” That’s not normally the direction it goes. When the straights like what you’re doing, you know you’re doing it right.

In what ways is this series helping to make the entertainment industry more diverse and representative?

I think there’s a few ways. With our cast and crew, we were 50% female, 50% people of color, and 67% queer. Obviously, we’re a tiny production, and we don’t have a budget like Netflix, Showtime, or HBO, but it wasn’t hard for us to find people who weren’t straight, cis, white men. Look at who you’re hiring and say, “Hey, I would like to have an accurate representation of America.”

Even in these next several episodes, we have several deaf cast and crew members, and I would really advocate for people to challenge themselves. If you don’t know a wide variety of people, meet more people. Everyone deserves these opportunities, and because we were such an inclusive group, everyone was just happy to be there. Maybe some people got these opportunities all the time while others didn’t, but there weren’t any ego battles, and everyone got along very well.

In addition to obviously advocating for open-mindedness when it comes to sexuality, I just wanted to show a variety of people living their lives because so many of the web series I’ve seen, frankly, are also full of white gay men having white gay problems. I’m trying to expand the lens a little bit.

I love that Drag Race superstar Laganja Estranja is in the show as well. How much fun was it to work with her?

Oh my God, she’s amazing! So sweet, she cracks everybody up, and she has been very supportive. A total pro. We weren’t exactly sure what her dance number was going to look like, but after saying, “Here’s what we’re thinking,” she’s like, “Got it! Give me a second.” Then she immediately bangs it out. You always hope that the people who you respect and admire will be great people.

Before I even met her, I was watching the “Physical” lip sync on a loop while writing this show, and it just got me in the right headspace. For her to be everything you wanted her to be—kind, wonderful, talented, and a great advocate for the trans community—I feel very lucky. We have a few new queens in this next series of episodes. We’re going to have Pandora Boxx and Honey Davenport. I just love my drag family.

Before moving to California, you managed an organic chemistry lab and planned to attend medical school. How did you fall into the crazy world of Hollywood?

“Fall” is a great word. It’s almost like an open hole in ground. I’ve always had creative ambitions, and when I was a kid, I would love rewriting Beauty and the Beast in preschool to the point where my teacher was like, okay, maybe write something else. Then I was a huge nerd who wrote fanfiction in high school. My Power Rangers fanfiction won fanfic of the year and month on two different Power Rangers message boards, so I think that kind of creativity was always with me.

After college, it was like, OK, I should maybe write non-Power Rangers related content. Even while I was applying to medical school, I was very on top of my applications, so I had some time to wait while I was hearing back on interviews, and writing was one of the things that gave me joy and kept me going.

More and more, I was like, “Oh, I think I made a mistake,” and where that really became clear was during my medical school interview for Jefferson in Philadelphia. The interviewer asked what I was interested in besides medicine, and I went on a bit too long about TV. She goes, “Can I just ask, are you sure you don’t want to be a TV writer and not a doctor?” I was like, “No! But here I am!”

If Season One of Open to It is successful, can we expect a Season Two and Three?

We shot a few more episodes a couple weeks ago, which will sort of comprise the first season, episodes one through six. We’ve started talking to streaming networks and mainstream networks, and we’re definitely hoping to produce it at a more reasonable budget. I would say High Maintenance is for sure one of our inspirations because they went from being a web series to being an HBO show. That would be the absolute dream to keep it going and get more eyes on it.

What are some future goals you hope to accomplish in your career?

Great question! For one, I definitely want to keep exploring queer identity. What I often say about this show is normalize gay joy because we see so many downtrodden narratives, and people are used to seeing us in a very specific way, often tragedy. Even with a show like Heartstopper, which I really enjoyed, I sometimes get the sneaking suspicion that people are happy to see chased gay stories, and that’s the end of it.

I am very grateful that stuff like Love, Simon can be mainstream, and that just shows how far we’ve come. However, I want to keep going further and be like, “What if we try this? What if we try that?” It is my fondest dream for Open to It 10 years from now to be completely passé. Like, that was groundbreaking at one point? Whatever, that’s so normal.

Then generally, my ultimate goal would be to be a producer like Ryan Murphy, who could empower younger creators to tell their stories. Right now, one of my side things is trying to finance a feature I wrote about an Indian American family. I’m not Indian, but our director is Bengali and Filipina. Together, we’re able to work on this story, and we want to share it with the South Asian/Southeast Asian communities. Then, more broadly, the world.

I know what perspective I bring that’s unique, but I also want to solicit perspectives, and especially younger creators who haven’t been showcased in the industry because there’s just a lot of interesting, wonderful, and revelatory material out there. I want to find my allies and be an ally!

Before we wrap up, are there any other upcoming projects or anything else you’d like to mention or plug?

All I want to say is follow me because my boyfriend is also a wonderful writer and producer. He was at the screenwriting labs last year and is going to shoot a short film this summer where I get to be a producer and momager. He has been an absolutely wonderful ally to me, and I’m looking forward to sort of flipping the roles and getting to do that. If you still can’t get enough of the two of us, we are in episode five of Tidying Up with Marie Kondo on Netflix. You can see our angelic, pre-pandemic faces there!

Connect with Smith by following him on Twitter @FAS4US and Instagram @frank.arthur.smith, and visit opentoitseries.com for more information and to stay up-to-date with the show.

Photos courtesy of Frank Arthur Smith/Open to It