X

Join or Sign In

Sign in to customize your TV listings

Continue with Facebook Continue with email

By joining TV Guide, you agree to our Terms of Use and acknowledge the data practices in our Privacy Policy.

The Real O'Neal's Noah Galvin Isn't Holding Back About Being Gay in Hollywood

He's dropping truth bombs

kaitlin-photo1.jpg
Kaitlin Thomas

If you don't know the name Noah Galvin, you're about to.

As the star of the low-key great ABC comedy The Real O'Neals, Galvin has his first high-profile job--he's been acting in the theater scene for a while, but this is his first major TV show--and that means he's doing press in the lead-up to the Emmys later this year. In his recent interview with New York Magazine, the actor got surprisingly--and refreshingly--candid about what it means to be gay, both on-screen and off.

Here are the highlights in which he drops some harsh truth bombs (through the eyes of a 22-year-old) about Hollywood:

On being told he was "too gay" to play a straight character: "It was horrible. It made me feel so sh---y. I was like, Well, how did I get so far in the process if I was "too gay"? Obviously that's one person's opinion. Somebody who watches our show is maybe blinded by the fact that I play gay on this television show -- I'm sure there are a thousand contributing factors. And maybe I was, like, "too gay" in that audition. I don't know. I don't get to watch the audition tape, you know? So it's an interesting thing I'm learning to navigate and having to deal with for the first time."

On whether or not he considered staying in the closet: "It's important to me that with this slightly revolutionary thing we're doing on network television that I should go full force and follow through as completely as possible. And it's paid off in ways. In terms of, like, the kids who watch my show and say thank you for being open about who you are, and playing this character, and bringing a level of authenticity that maybe somebody else wouldn't have. I like to think it makes it that much more relatable. And older people who watch the show are like, damn, I wish I had something like this on TV when I was younger to normalize my situation and make me not so self-hating."

Add new fall shows to your Watchlist now!

On being a role model: "[Executive producer Dan Savage] has been a source of advice in terms of kids who want to reach out to me or want to share their coming-out experiences. I got a slew of tweets like, 'I don't feel safe at home. I don't know how to talk to my parents.' And I was like, f--k. How do I deal with this s--t? So I screenshot it and sent it to Dan and was like, What do I do with this? ... I'm still figuring out my own bullsh--t. I've got struggles of my own. I don't have time to be your f--king soothsayer."

On dating in Los Angeles: "Half of the men are closeted and the other half are just dumb. But also gay boys my age are either club kids or they're in college and they haven't come out yet and they're still DL on Grindr. So I tend to date people that are slightly older, but then I get into this situation where they're just, like, twink hunters. I'm like, 'No, I don't want to date you, you 45-year-old man.'"

On being gay in Los Angeles: "I think there are enough boys in L.A. that are questionably homosexual who are willing to do things with the right person who can get them in the door. In New York there is a healthy gay community, and that doesn't exist in L.A."

You can read Galvin's full interview, which dives deep into gay stereotypes on TV and the process of coming out, at Vulture. And you really don't miss it, because it's possible he'll never be this outspoken again after his publicist sees this.