In a new interview with LGBT glossy The Advocate, actor J. August Richards discussed his recent coming out.

The 46-year-old Richards is best known for playing vampire hunter Charles Gunn on the WB's Angel and Mike Peterson on ABC's Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.

In NBC's Council of Dads, Richards plays Dr. Oliver Post, a gay man who is raising a daughter with his husband. Oliver is one of three dads picked by a dying father to help raise his son in his absence. The drama is based on a book by the same name by Bruce Feiler.

Richards came out while speaking with actress Sarah Wayne Callies, who also appears on Council of Dads. He shared a clip of the interview on social media.

“I knew that I could not portray this gay man honestly without letting you know that I was a gay man myself,” Richards told Callies. “I've never done that with the people that I worked with. I knew how important it is to other people out there like me, who would need to see that role model.”

Speaking with The Advocate, Richards said that the role gave him the opportunity he needed to come out.

“And so this show gave me the right opportunity and the right timing and the right reason, because the reason was not just about me. It was about others,” Richards said. “I really feel like the universe conspired to get me right at that moment where I was with my castmate and I felt comfortable enough to share. I'm so happy, dude.”

He said that response was overwhelmingly positive. “I could have never predicted the response that I got, which was so much love and so much support,” Richards said.

Richards added that he waited to come out because he worried it would hurt his career.

“When I first started in the business, there were just so few opportunities for Black actors that I felt like if people knew that I was gay, I would be exing myself out of those very few opportunities. That was the Hollywood that I arrived in,” he said. “Prior to this, I kind of had the fear of a 19-year-old here in Hollywood, and I just had to realize that I'm now 46. The world has changed. The industry has changed. And, more importantly, I have an opportunity with this role to make things better for someone else. So it just seemed like the perfect time and I'm so glad that I took it.”