Gay Asian Actors in Hollywood. After we wrote our earlier post on gay black actors, our friend Kevin suggested that we should also do a similar post on Hollywood Gaysians. We thought his suggestion is a pretty good idea so we made this list for him and for you fellow Famewatchers.
George Takei. We begin the list with George Takei who’s arguably the most visible and the most inspiring gay Asian actor in Hollywood. Has any gay man done more work than George to increase the visibility of LGBT’s in Hollywood? George and husband Brad Altman during their wedding.
Anthony Brandon Wong. Anthony is an Australian actor but he has done several Hollywood projects such as two Matrix movies and guest appearances in TV shows such as Glee and NCIS. Want more Asian celebrities? Go check out our post on Asian Hockey Players.
B.D. Wong. He is one of the first Hollywood actors to come out back in 2003 when coming out was a very risky business for actors. You can argue but it is still risky now but you can’t deny that Tinseltown is now more open and more welcoming because of the likes of B.D. who opened the door for others. Quote from B.D. on his coming out: “I’m perfectly happy going on TV now and saying I’m a gay man. I’m happy and proud to say that.”
Conrad Ricamora. He currently stars as the love interest of Connor Walsh (played by Jack Falahee) in the ABC ratings hit How to Get Away With Murder.
HTGAWM is Conrad’s biggest break to date. Here’s what he says about being a part of a successful TV show (via ew.com): “I’ve been pounding the pavement so hard, so long, that I’m enjoying spreading my wings a little bit,” the actor says, proudly holding up a bag of new purchases for the apartment. “I remember, when the show first premiered, these women recognized me at a bar and even paid for my meal. I was grateful, but I’m also like, ‘Hey, I can actually pay for things now.’ I needed this a long time ago, when I was starving!”
Alec Mapa. Wasn’t he fabulous in Ugly Betty? Since Hollywood is fond of remakes, the TV suits should produce a remake of Ugly Betty and cast Alec again because we want him on our TV screen.
So what’s Alec Mapa doing these days? He released a comedy film last year and is busy being a family man. Here’s Alec and husband Jamison ‘Jamie’ Hebert and their son Zion. Jamison kinda looks like Zachary Quinto, no?
Telly Leung. Holy canoly, how hawt hawt hawt is Telly Leung. Did you know he was gay while he was on Glee? We didn’t know either.
Quotable quote from Telly about being a gay Asian actor: “My parents are pretty much the opposite of Mama Rose,” jokes Broadway veteran Telly Leung — who plays Feinstein’s at the Nikko in San Francisco this weekend — “They have no relationship to showbiz whatsoever. It was harder for me to come out to them as an actor than as a gay man.”
You’ve got understanding parents, Telly!
Parvesh Cheena. Parvesh is probably the first Indian gay actor to star on a TV show when he was cast in 2010 as the fabulous Gupta in Outsourced.
Parvesh talks about being an out actor in this interview with Out Magazine: “I haven’t always been out because in a sense it wasn’t always a priority. For the work I do as a character Indian actor, Indian-American actor, it hasn’t been at the forefront. This is the character actor’s …not lament, but an aspect of it. I’m never gonna be a guy who’s gonna be the love interest. In typical Hollywood fare, I’m not gonna be that guy.”
He adds, “And I like playing the clown. I like being that guy who is quirky and everything. It’s a lot more fun to play, and I can eat more and not worry about the gym. My gym is The Improv. That’s my comedy gym. So, it’s been a non-issue. No one’s ever asked me before.”
Maulik Pancholy. Maulik broke our friend Deena’s heart when he came out as a gay man. Our friend Kevin, on the other hand, went “Ohhh, Myyyy!”
Maulik and husband Ryan Corvaia. You can read more about them in a post we wrote earlier, Maulik Pancholy Wedding.
If you know of some gay Asian actors who should be included here, please ID them in the comments so we will include them in an update. Thanks.
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2020 Update. Oops, we missed Vincent Rodriguez III who was Rachel Bloom’s object of affection on their The CW show, Crazy Ex Girlfriend. He tied the knot back in 2015 to marketing technologist Greg Wright.
Gay Asian Actors in Hollywood: Open and Out Gaysian Stars. Posted 7 November 2015. Last updated: April 26, 2020 at 1:04 am.