Masking for It (A Queer Memoir)

Actor and comedian Theo Walker has spent his life wearing masks to be seen—by boys, casting directors, and anyone with eyes.

Growing up in rural England, Theo learned how to act straight to avoid being bullied in school. At home, during his parents’ divorce, he mastered the art of seeming fine when he wasn’t. As an actor, he became whoever other people needed him to be. And as he began to build a following on social media, he created an online persona that always knew what to say—and how to look. For years, these masks helped Theo survive. But what happens when the version of yourself you’ve been performing for so long becomes a prison?

When Theo’s growing audience finally gives him the visibility he’s always craved, an obsessive follower breaches the boundary between online admiration and real life. As the fallout escalates, a late ADHD diagnosis reframes a lifetime of masking, forcing Theo to confront the roles he’s played for others—and the person he’s been hiding from himself.

Hilarious, heartbreaking, and painfully honest, Masking for It is a coming-of-age memoir about queerness, neurodivergence, ambition, passing, people-pleasing, and the price of fame.