Actor Zachary Quinto has said that he feared coming out gay would hurt his career.

Quinto is currently promoting Ryan Murphy's film adaptation of The Boys in the Band. The gay drama is currently streaming on Netflix.

(Related: Netflix releases first trailer for gay drama Boys in the Band.)

Speaking with Variety, Quinto, 43, said that he was compelled to come out in 2011 by a spate of teen suicides.

“That was at a time when a lot of young gay kids were killing themselves around the country because of bullying,” Quinto said. “There was a huge spate of teen suicides that were happening.”

“I just felt like I had an obligation at this point. Having enjoyed a certain level of success, I felt like the hypocrisy was too much to bear for me to be enjoying this life that I had created for myself and not acknowledging my identity as a gay man.”

"I felt like it was actively harming a group of young people who the choice to come out could benefit.”

“I did feel like me coming out would have potentially had an impact on my career and it wouldn't have been a good one,” he added.

Quinto is best known for playing Spock in three Star Trek films and Sylar in NBC's Heroes.