Out Of The Closet: 'Heroes'/'Star Trek's' Zachary Quinto

In an interview with New York magazine, Heroes actor Zachary Quinto came out of the closet, casually citing his sexuality amid a discussion of his recent eight-month stint in Angels in America, playing Louis Ironson, a man who abandons his AIDS-stricken boyfriend.

Quinto called his role in the revival of the Pulitizer Prize-winning play "the most challenging I've ever done as an actor and the most rewarding," adding that it opened his eyes. "As a gay man, it made me feel there's still so much work to be done, and so many things that need to be looked at and addressed."

He again refers to himself as gay later in the story, when asked about the bullying and suicide of gay teen Jamey Rodemeyer: "Again, as a gay man, I look at that and say there's a hopelessness that surrounds it, but as a human being I look at it and say, Why? Where's this disparity coming from, and why can't we as a culture and society dig deeper to examine that? We're terrified of facing ourselves."

Apparently, speculation about Quinto's sexuality has been rampant since the 34-year-old actor rose to fame on Heroes. In in interview in The New York Times last year, he avoided the topic, saying he "prefers not to feed the rumor mill with either substantiation or dismissal."

Quinto, also known playing for Spock in the millennial Star Trek franchise, has played a gay on Tori Spelling’s TV comedy So NoTORIous and in FX's current American Horror Story. His next movie is financial thriller Margin Call, opening Friday.