Love, Victor is an American teen drama web television series created by Isaac Aptaker and Elizabeth Berger, inspired by and set in the same world as the 2018 film Love, Simon. The series premiered on June 17, 2020, on Hulu. It is produced by 20th Century Fox Television, with Aptaker and Berger serving as showrunners. Michael Cimino stars as Victor, a teen from a half Puerto Rican, half Colombian-American family living in Atlanta, alongside George Sear, Rachel Hilson, Bebe Wood, Anthony Turpel, Isabella Ferreira, Ana Ortiz, James Martinez, Mason Gooding, and Mateo Fernandez. Nick Robinson, who starred as the titular Simon in the original film, produces and narrates the series. Filming began in August 2019 in Los Angeles.
Premise
The series focuses on a new student at Creekwood High School, Victor. The series follows his journey of self-discovery: facing challenges at home and struggling with his sexual orientation. He reaches out to Simon when it seems too difficult for him to navigate through high school.
Cast and characters
Main
Michael Cimino as Victor Salazar: A new student at Creekwood High School, struggling with his identity surrounding his sexual orientation and adjusting to a new city
Rachel Hilson as Mia Brooks: Victor's smart friend who has a quick wit and an easy laugh
Anthony Turpel as Felix Westen: Victor's awkward new neighbor who seeks to befriend him
Bebe Wood as Lake Meriwether: Mia's social media-obsessed best friend
Mason Gooding as Andrew: Creekwood's cocky and popular basketball-loving jock
George Sear as Benji Campbell: Victor's openly gay, confident, and charming classmate who he takes a liking to
Isabella Ferreira as Pilar Salazar: Victor's anxious younger sister troubled with her new life
Mateo Fernandez as Adrian Salazar: Victor's little brother
James Martinez as Armando Salazar: Victor's father, a blue-collar man who works hard for his family
Ana Ortiz as Isabel Salazar: Victor's mother who is under a lot of pressure after a move to a new city
Nick Robinson as Simon Spier, reprising his role from Love, Simon. Robinson mostly appears via voice over, narrating Simon's messages to Victor. Simon appears in person in the eighth episode of the season.
Natasha Rothwell as Ms. Albright, vice principal at Creekwood, previously the school's drama teacher. This character was introduced in Love, Simon, played by the same actor.
Terri Hoyos as Natalia Salazar, Victor's grandmother
Juan Carlos Cantu as Tito Salazar, Victor's grandfather
Jason Collins as himself, playing basketball with a group of gay men
Episodes
Production
Development
In April 2019, Disney+ gave the 20th Century Fox Television–produced showbased on the film Love, Simona straight-to-series order, with the writers of the original movie, Isaac Aptaker and Elizabeth Berger, attached as showrunners. The show will focus on brand new characters and will be set in the same world as the movie. In February 2020, the series was retitled Love, Victor and moved to Hulu, with a scheduled premiere date in June 2020, making it the second seriesafter High Fidelityto move from Disney+ to Hulu. In April 2020, it was announced that the series was scheduled to premiere on June 19, 2020. On June 10, 2020, the premiere date was moved up to June 17, 2020, to avoid it conflicting with Juneteenth.
Casting
In June 2019, Ana Ortiz was cast as Isabel. In mid-August, the series' full cast was announced, with Michael Cimino as the lead, Victor. Also announced were James Martinez as Armando, Isabella Ferreira as Pilar, Mateo Fernandez as Adrian, Johnny Sequoyah as Mia, Bebe Wood as Lake, George Sear as Benji, Anthony Turpel as Felix, and Mason Gooding as Andrew. It was also announced that Nick Robinson, who starred in the film, would produce and narrate the series. Later that month, it was reported that Rachel Hilson had been cast as Mia, replacing Sequoyah. The recast was made in order to take the character in a new creative direction.
Filming
Filming began in August 2019, in Los Angeles, with Amy York Rubin directing the first episode.
Music
The soundtrack EP for the first season, featuring three new songs by LGBT artists and all co-written by Leland, was released on June 19, 2020, by Hollywood Records.
Reception
Audience viewership
According to Hulu, the series was the most-watched drama on the service during its premiere week between June 17 and 23, 2020. It was also the most-binged original drama series on Hulu in 2020 during its first week and the second-most binged original on Hulu after Solar Opposites.
Critical response
Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported an approval rating of 93% based on 45 reviews, with an average rating of 7.15/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "Michael Cimino charms in Love, Victor, a sincere and sweet—if safe—spin-off with a lot of heart." Metacritic gave the series a weighted average score of 68 out of 100, based on 20 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
