Miles Heizer, the 31-year-old actor currently starring in Boots—the 1990-set Netflix series that follows a young gay man who enlists in the Marines before the corps permitted homosexuality—is walking through the 1 Hotel West Hollywood. He’s wearing a cocooning leather jacket and arced-inseam jeans. Dappled sunlight spills into the lobby, and trendy music thuds overhead.

If you’ve seen Boots, it’s a little dissonant to imagine Heizer’s character, Cameron Cope—an initially lonely, aimless teenager searching for purpose and direction in a life he cannot live as his full self—in such a stylish, contemporary scene. But moments after the actor introduces himself, it becomes evident that he and Cope aren’t so different after all: their shared mannerisms, denim-blue eyes, and quiet, innate kindness are clear.

“There’s so much about Cameron that is directly taken from my life,” says Heizer, who was born in Kentucky but moved to Los Angeles when he was a kid. “It was not a huge stretch to play this role, honestly. The real difference between him and I is that he has this nervous high energy, and my reaction to anxiety and stress is the polar opposite. I just completely shut down. He doesn’t. He keeps going.”

Boots, which is based on the book The Pink Marine by Greg Cope White, and which also stars Max Parker, Liam Oh, and Dominic Goodman, among others, premiered on Netflix on October 9. A number of its cast are out and proud gay men—Heizer included—and the series’ arrival was relatively inconspicuous at first. Then the Pentagon decided to trash talk it.

After that bureau’s press secretary Kingsley Wilson called the show “woke garbage,” it flourished into a pop culture talking point.

Photographed by Nick Remsen at the 1 Hotel West Hollywood

In LA, Heizer sat down down with Vogue to talk about what the series means to him, his Depop and vintage Old Navy obsession—and all the ’fits he took from set.

Vogue: It has been a few weeks since the show premiered, and there’s been this growing conversation around it. What’s your read on things now, about a month in?

Miles Heizer: I’ve done TV shows most of my career [Parenthood, 13 Reasons Why] and I sort of went into this trying not to expect much, but this was also a rare instance in which I’d seen the show before it came out. Usually I am horrified by everything that I’m a part of, but with this, I was like, this show is good. I’m really proud of it, and I’m not humiliated for people to watch it. I’ve also had this curiosity of, like, who is going to watch it? The reception has so far exceeded my expectations, especially for a show that’s, at least initially, about two gay people. But as the show progresses, you realize it’s about an entire group. It’s about everyone.

That’s true. I think a lot of people can relate to the idea of grinding their way through a challenge and making the process work for themselves. That’s what I got from the show… that it’s about finding a way forward, overall, and less of a “gay story.”

You realize the journey’s really not about Cameron’s sexuality. It’s more about self-discovery, and finding that everyone sort of has something that they’re hiding because they’re afraid of how they’ll be perceived by others. It becomes about partially letting those walls down and coming together… it really is just about human connection.

Have you had any fan interactions since Boots aired that have felt particularly poignant?

I mean, definitely a couple. I’ve had a few military service members say things to me that have been meaningful, along the lines of, “You got it right,” just because we really tried to be very accurate to the time period and to the Marines boot camp experience.

That’s validating.

And also just… from gay people. I mean, yeah, for lack of a better way to say it, it’s been nice to hear other gay people say, you know, that they really connected with the show, or that they found it exciting, or that they thought it wasn’t really like any other gay content out there.

Liam Oh as Ray McAffey and Heizer in Boots.

Photo: Patti Perret/Netflix

It’s fairly niche…

For sure. And what I love is, like, the gay characters in the show are all very different from one another. I think it shows a couple of different approaches to queerness in this particular world.

That’s important right now. Were there any memorable reactions in your group chats or from friends when that “woke garbage” line came out?

There was nothing too funny in the group chat, I don’t think. I know my reaction is that I don’t view the show as woke garbage. But in some sick way, it’s kind of cool that it made enough of an impact to even garner a statement from them at all. The show is really heartfelt and uplifting, so I think people who read that, and who believe it, might be surprised at what they see in the end.

Many training scenes Boots are intense: jarheads screaming, tough guys roasting each other. When you find yourself in a real-life setting that’s traditionally, let’s say, very masculine, how do you respond? Do you feel nervous? Do you feel comfortable? I know I still get nerves…

Honestly, I do too. I tend to sort of shut down in those scenarios. And, you know, I recognize how that might be the result of putting my preconceived ideas about that type of person or people ahead of anything else. Going into this show, I did have a fear like that. I’d never worked with, really, predominantly men before. But I ended up being comically surprised by how lovely everyone was. When you have enough time with someone, you’re able to get past all these ideas you have about each other, and your differences, and I think there’s always something you can bond over.

The show is also super visceral. Constant shouting, messy situations, blood, sweat, and tears… Is there a smell, a sound, a sense that will always bring you back to Boots?

Oh yes: the New Orleans summer heat. We filmed there and it’s going to be with me forever. I had never been somewhere that hot. And it was wet. Soaking wet, and we were in our fatigues and backpacks and helmets and it was just relentless. I think it made the cast’s bond stronger.

What about physically? Did you keep a memento from set as a reminder?

Hilariously enough, I took everything.

You did?

I have every costume I wore.

You’re like Sarah Jessica Parker. I think she kept every outfit she ever wore on Sex and the City. Or that may be urban legend—gay urban legend.

Yeah. Very, very gay urban legend. [Laughs.] I mean, what I kept wasn’t fashionable, but I have it all. I took my PT outfits, my camo, my pajamas, my boots, even my underwear. Like, I took everything.

Tell me about your personal style. How would you describe it? What do you lean into?

My personal style is really important to me, which I think is a little embarrassing to admit, but I genuinely value self-expression. Clothes feel like the most baseline form of that for everyone. When I put something on that I like, it makes me feel like myself. It’s important to me to go out into the world feeling that way.

That’s not embarrassing.

I pretty much exclusively wear vintage. I love Depop—I’m constantly scrolling and buying random things. I have a few go-to search terms I always use: “Paco Jeans” and “Mac Gear.” Those are my favorites for pants. They always bring up that late ’90s, early-2000s baggy silhouette, which I love. I’m also into what I’d call “vintage-adjacent” pieces—early-2000s skate brands like Quiksilver and Billabong. Even Old Navy, honestly. If you dig long enough, you find great stuff. Same with Oakley. In the early 2000s, they had this sub-label called Oakley Software, and it’s amazing. The clothes look like things Prada is making now, but they’re these relics from back then.

Writing this down: look up Oakley Software.

I love clothes. I love searching for them. Sitting there scrolling and discovering random things has become one of my favorite hobbies. I also love furniture. I love Chairish.

Anything in particular?

Memphis Group! [Ettore] Sottsass—the bookcases, the lamps. I’m obsessed.

What else are you into, away from the camera?

I became completely obsessed with ceramics after we wrapped shooting on Boots. I did it eight, 10 hours a day when I got back to LA.

Are you still doing it?

Yeah! I have, like, 50 things now and counting.

What’s next for Cope and the gang? Can you speak about what’s happening? Will we get a Boots season 2? In the final scene, we see you watching TV news reports of the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait…

All I have to say is that I will do whatever it takes to continue. I would literally do anything. I’m patiently waiting and hoping for it—and I think we would all love for it to continue. Hopefully, enough people are watching.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.