Though Canadian actor Evan Williams has been acting for more than a decade, most notably on the TV series DeGrassi: the Next Generation and MTV’s Awkward, he’s found his breakthrough role in Ovation’s period drama Versailles, set in 17th century France during the reign of Louis XIV.

On the show, which will begin shooting its third season in April, he plays the Chevalier de Lorraine, the real-life lover of the Duke of Orleans, King Louis XIV’s younger brother and confidante, who was known at court simply as "Monsieur."

While some actors still have reservations taking a gay role, especially one that depicts its character's sexuality unflinchingly, Williams embraced the part.

“If I start with the basic assumption that we are all the same, have the same drives and are motivated by similar fears, then already I feel I’m a cousin to this [character],” he says. “I can get into his head and heart, meld it with my own, and poetry can happen."

With his portrayal of the manipulative yet vulnerable courtier, Williams says it was important to offer "a human face to all sides of a male homosexual love story."

"[This role] has the freedom to be multi-layered," he explains. "It can celebrate the fact that it’s between two men because it’s love between two men. I also have a lot of fun, it’s a total blast!”

A large part of Versailles’ success can be attributed to the chemistry between Williams and his on-screen love interest, Alexander Vlahos. Both actors have attracted a dedicated following on social media, where the royal power couple they portray is shipped as #MonChevy.

“I’m super lucky to be working with Alex—we challenge each other as much as we adore each other,” Williams says. “I know he’s not going to let me get off easy, and I’m certainly not going to let him get off easy. From the beginning, both Alex and I have been excited to pay homage to these two people. The more dimensions we can explore, the more fun it is.”

Williams received a Canadian Screen Award nomination for Versailles, and will star in the upcoming thriller Escape Room), but he's equally committed to activism. Last year, he spent his downtime between shoots assisting in a refugee camp in Calais. He has also worked with BuildOn, a non-profit that organizes youth service programs in the U.S. and construct schools in developing countries. (Williams' Versailles fans helped raise funds for the organization and helped with the construction of schools in Nepal.)

While Versailles is set some 350 years ago, a show about an extravagant autocrat with a cult of personality is all-too-relevant in Trump's America. “I’m very emotional seeing what’s happening worldwide,” Williams says of the current political climate. “If a governmental or societal change is going to happen, it’s going to have to start in the hearts and the minds of the individual. The evidence that the world is in need of an awakening is abundantly clear."

He may play a French royal, but it sounds like Williams is advocating revolution.

"I think we’re starting to see a very true mobilization of artists because the stories we tell truly do shape our reality," he offers. "That’s why I think creative works are important. Totalitarian governments typically crack down on countercultural communities because stories are being told that they have don’t have control over. We live in an age where our stories can be told instantaneously and globally—I believe that truth has a currency that multiplies the more it’s told.”

Season One of Versailles is now streaming on Netflix. Season Two will air in the fall on Ovation.