Lukas Gage has described his new self-penned gay comedy movie Down Low as "insane".

In the film, Gage plays young gay masseuse Cameron, who is called upon to give one of his clients, a sexually repressed man named Gary (Zachary Quinto), a happy ending. Their encounter sparks a wild chain of events that unfolds over the course of the following day and night.

The White Lotus actor, 27, came up with the idea with friend Phoebe Fisher after learning about the original, much darker script for Pretty Woman.

"We had an idea - what if we made [our script] queer?" Gage told Variety. "What if we made it a little bit more insane?"

He continued: "This is not to bash Love, Simon or any of those coming-of-age gay movies, but I want to see queer people and characters and situations where it's not just about how being gay is okay.

"I wanted to situate LGBTQ people in a different genre. I wanted to have queer characters and not just have it be a queer story of 'it's okay to be gay and love ourselves.'"

Quinto, known for Star Trek and Heroes, added: "I like the unabashed gayness of it. It didn't apologise for itself. It was the first thing I've done since the pandemic, and it was exciting to come do something unique and singular."

Down Low premiered at SXSW last weekend and will be released worldwide later this year.