Q. Heroes, American Horror Story, Hitman: You like being bad, don’t you?

The Name Is Quinto… Zachary Quinto

| Sep 02, 2015 |

Zachary Quinto stars as the mysterious and deadly John Smith in HITMAN: AGENT 47. Photo: Reiner Bajo

Zachary Quinto calls upon LGBT actors to ‘be who they are,’ talks marriage, James Franco and lack of gay action stars

By: Chris Azzopardi*/Special to TRT—

“Oh, Jesus.”

Zachary Quinto is aptly responding to the fact that, yes, despite establishing himself as an Emmy-nominated actor with versatility, out-of-this-world talent and some of the best eyebrows in the biz, he once starred on an episode of Touched by an Angel.

He isn’t reacting to being on the show, per se—he just can’t believe it’s been nearly 15 years.

Since then, Quinto has made major shifts beyond his transformation to leading man. After matter-of-factly coming out to the masses in 2011, he became an outspoken advocate for the LGBT community and has notably taken on subjects such as PrEP and gay teen suicide.

The 38-year-old’s sexuality is a non-issue when it comes to his meandering career on TV, in film and on Broadway, as his varied typecast-defying roles demonstrate: Sylar on NBC’s Heroes, Quinto’s breakout role; the infamous American Horror Story killer Bloody Face; James Franco’s lover in I Am Michael; and, of course, Spock, the Star Trek icon he brought back to the big screen, ears and all. (He’s currently shooting Star Trek Beyond, the reboot franchise’s third installment.)

Quinto’s latest big-screen endeavor is the video game-inspired Hitman: Agent 47, wherein he dials up the badassery as a CIA agent you definitely do not want to cross. A major studio-produced action movie featuring… an out gay actor? You better believe it.

As he swings open the door on a traditionally gay-less genre by breaking down Hollywood stereotypes, Quinto spoke to us about recognizing his unique place as the go-to gay when it comes to action flicks and how he “definitely” thinks the world is ready for a gay James Bond. Plus, why he believes, despite the recent Supreme Court ruling on marriage, our fight for equality is far from over.

Q. Hitman centers on an assassin who’s genetically engineered as the perfect killing machine. If you could be engineered to do anything you wanted, what would that be?

A. If I could just travel anywhere at any time and somehow my genetic modification allowed me to transport somewhere, I imagine that would be a pretty useful genetic modification that I would get a lot of pleasure out of. No jet lag!

Q. Heroes, American Horror Story, Hitman: You like being bad, don’t you?

A. Well, it’s just sort of the way it falls out sometimes. It was never something I set out to accomplish specifically, but I think Heroes set a certain tone, and that was the first time that people on a wider platform became aware of my work. Because of that association, other opportunities in that vein have presented themselves.

I’m playing an antagonist again in this film. I think, for me, I really consider it a really nice bookend actually, because I’m very interested in cultivating other experiences for myself creatively, so I feel maybe like I can actively hang up the villain hat for a little while and do some other stuff. I really am open to things as they present themselves. It’s a balance, you know? Making decisions every time an opportunity arises—I’m grateful and fortunate to be in a position to be able to do that.