Sage Sweetwater's Executive Producers cast professional ice figure skater Johnny Weir to be cast as the Russian ice skater in Sweetwater's Upcoming High-Energy, High-Dollar Hollywood Lesbian Drama/Action Adventure Film RoadKill Heart.
Weir is the 2008 World bronze medalist, a two-time Grand Prix Final bronze medalist, the 2001 World Junior Champion, and a three-time U.S. national champion (2004–2006). His former coach is Victor Petrenko, Ukrainian former competitive figure skater who represented the Soviet Union, the Unified Team, and Ukraine during his career. Petrenko is the 1992 Olympic Champion for the Unified Team. Weir's current coach and choreographer is Galina Zmievskaya, figure skating coach, formerly based in Odessa, Ukraine. Her students have included Olympic champions Viktor Petrenko and Oksana Baiul, World Junior champion Vladimir Petrenko, U.S. national champion Scott Davis, and Italian champion Silvia Fontana.
Weir was born in Coatesville, Pennsylvania, to John and Patti Weir. He is of Norwegian heritage. Weir was raised in Quarryville, Pennsylvania, a town in southern Lancaster County. As a child, he was a successful equestrian, competing with his pony, My Blue Shadow, an Arabian-Shetland cross.
Weir is a self-proclaimed Russophile who admires the skating style and culture of Russia and taught himself to speak and read the language. He also speaks some French. He has an interest in fashion design and, in addition to designing some of his own skating costumes, has designed ice dancing costumes for Melissa Gregory and Denis Petukhov, show costumes for Oksana Baiul, and Yuzuru Hanyu's costume for his free program of 2010-2011 season.
During the 2010 Olympics two Canadian broadcasters commented on Weir's flamboyant demeanor, made derogatory comments of his sexuality, and questioned his gender.
Weir's sexual orientation was long the subject of media speculation; however, when asked about his sexuality, Weir responded "...it's not part of my sport and it's private. I can sleep with whomever I choose and it doesn't affect what I'm doing on the ice." In his memoir Welcome to My World, published January 2011, Weir officially came out as gay, citing a string of gay youth suicides as one reason for his decision: "With people killing themselves and being scared into the closet, I hope that even just one person can gain strength from my story."
In 2010 a main-belt asteroid, discovered in 1995 by T. V. Kryachko, was officially named after the skater, at the suggestion of his Russian fans.
Unlike most figure skaters, Weir is a clockwise spinner and jumper. In addition to his skating career, Weir has also recorded a pop song produced by Lucian Piane titled "Dirty Love". It was recorded in April 2010, and released as a single worldwide on January 11, 2011.
Off the ice, Weir appeared in a fashion spread in BlackBook magazine (including a shot of him in a wrap-around mini skirt), Vanity fair, Vogue Japan and others. He also modeled in runway shows for the fashion label Heatherette. Weir is an advocate for the LGBT community representing the community at the GLAAD Media Awards. Weir will be designing Sweetwater's film's ice skating costumes and choreographing the ice scenes and music.
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