In a cover interview with LGBT glossy
The Advocate, actor Colton Haynes talks about coming out gay
and how it has affected his Hollywood career.
The 30-year-old Haynes is best known
for his starring role as Jackson Whittemore in MTV's Teen Wolf
and Roy Harper /Arsenal in the CW's Arrow.
Haynes came out in 2016. The following
year, he married celebrity florist Jeff Leatham in Palm Springs,
California. The couple started divorce proceedings in 2018.
“While he 'doesn't encourage' young
actors to remain closeted, he understands that Hollywood's system is
constructed in such a way that many queer performers feel like they
don't have a choice,” The Advocate wrote.
“In order to be seen as being able to
play a leading man or being able to play the roles that I’ve played
thus far, I really did need to create this persona,” Haynes
explained. “Unfortunately, Hollywood can be very limiting with
their choices. Since I’ve come out, all I’m getting auditions for
are gay roles, which is interesting because it is acting, but I think
[the limited perspective] is still there. I think Hollywood still has
a long way to go, but things are changing.”
“A hero, I think, is someone who can
just be true and authentic, and someone who can really stand for
something they believe in,” he said later in the interview. “I do
think it’s in all of us. I didn’t know that I was going to grow
up in a town of 600 people and eventually be able to do what I do
now. It’s totally in all of us, and it’s really special. Everyone
just needs to tap into it.”