The new Netflix series Boots brings to life the true story of a closeted gay teen who joined the United States Marine Corps in 1990. It’s a time before “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” but one where homosexuality is still illegal in the military. Meaning that young Cameron Cope (Miles Heizer) could be expelled from the military, or worse, if his secret is revealed.
Nevertheless, Cameron can’t help but want to be himself. It’s a tension that permeates all of Boots in both tense and comic ways. Early on in Boots’s first season, Cameron admits to his best friend Ray (Liam Oh) that he didn’t come to boot camp prepared for the USMC’s notoriously nightmarish initiation rituals because he watched The Golden Girls instead of Full Metal Jacket.
“I’m such a Rose,” Cameron admits, referring to Betty White‘s beloved sweet, daffy Golden Girls character.
When the stars of Boots dropped by DECIDER HQ this week, we asked Miles Heizer if he thinks that inner “Rose” is still there in Cameron at the end of his arduous Season 1 journey and he dropped a surprising detail about his own prep for boot camp.
“I think the Rose is in there and I think that’s sort of [Cameron] at his core,” Heizer said. “It’s funny, going into this, people keep asking like, ‘How did you train? How did you prepare, like before you went to film for boot camp?’ Like literally all I did was watch Golden Girls.”
“Cameron loves Golden Girls. He has no idea what boot camp is,” he explained. “So I’m like, ‘I’ll just watch Golden Girls.’ And that’s what I did.”
Cameron struggles throughout Boots to keep his queer status a secret. When new drill instructor Sullivan (Max Parker) arrives at the end of Episode 1, he seems to zero in on Cameron, referring to an “enemy within” that must be killed.
**Spoilers for Boots, now streaming on Netflix, ahead!**
Later in Boots, we learn that Sullivan is also in the closet. He is facing a potential court martial from NCIS because of rumors connecting him to another gay officer during his time in Guam. For Sullivan, this is devastating, and for Max Parker, it was part of the reason he gives Cameron such a hard time early in the season.
“I think Sullivan’s main goal in life is to be this perfect marine. He’s a recon marine and the whole sole purpose that he becomes a drill instructor is to run away from his past,” Parker said. “He’s carrying something really heavy and this is his moment to disappear. So I think when he sees Cameron for the first time, it’s almost a smack in the face that sort of reminds him what he’s running away from.”
Parker said he thought Sullivan does immediately “sense there’s something” in Cameron that he can relate to.
“Because he thinks he’s not going to make it, he doesn’t want him to go through what he’s going through.” Parker said. “So he uses all of his energy, and the other recruits as sort of pawns to basically get him to quit, He wants Cameron to leave, which is why he’s so tough on him.”
“He knew I was gay,” Heizer said, pointing at himself. “He saw the face.”
“Yeah, I smelled the ‘Rose,'” Parker quipped.
That said, there’s one Golden Girls-related distinction between himself and his Boots character that Heizer wanted to make clear.
“I’m a Dorothy,” he said. “Yeah, I’m not a Rose.”
Boots is now streaming on Netflix.