Zachary Quinto, who rose to fame playing Spock in the hit 2009 ‘Star Trek’ film, has revealed that he’s gay, the New York Daily News is reporting. The actor publicly opened up about his sexual orientation for the first time, saying his most recent role portraying a gay man in the off-Broadway play ‘Angels in America’ encouraged him to get in touch with himself.

Quinto, who can next be seen in the financial thriller ‘Margin Call,’ said the play was a challenging and rewarding experience. “As a gay man, it made me feel like there’s still so much work to be done, and there’s still so many things that need to be looked at and addressed,” he said during an interview with New York Magazine, during which he revealed his sexual orientation.

The ‘Heroes’ star has played gay characters before, but he has always declined to reveal that he’s gay. Even last year Quinto refused to confirm fan speculation during an interview with the New York Times.

Howeer, Quinto has spoken out against bullying. He has participated in a video for the “It Gets Better” campaign, which offers support to gay and lesbian teens who have been taunted by their peers. During the New York Magazine interview, he added “Why can’t we as a culture and society dig deeper to examine that?,” referring to how homosexuality is treated with different levels of acceptance.

Written by: Karen Benardello

Zachary Quinto