Zachary Quinto sounded off on the likes of male stars like James Franco and Nick Jonas, who have been criticized for "queerbaiting" their gay fans with steamy photo shoots and same-sex love scenes in movies even though they identify as straight in their offscreen lives.
Quinto, who stars opposite Franco in 2015's "I Am Michael," told HuffPost Live host Josh Zepps that he didn't have an issue with the phenomenon, saying, "These guys who are, in many ways, considered very conventionally desirable, attractive leading men... lending themselves to these kinds of stories is a valuable thing for our culture."
He went on to note that A-list Hollywood stars "a generation or two ago, wouldn't have gone near" a queer narrative onscreen.
The 37-year-old actor, who came out in 2011, shrugged when Zepps asked him why so few gay and lesbian celebrities had addressed their sexuality publicly in 2015.
"I think times are changing rapidly, and I guess it's just a matter of what people are willing to sacrifice for what they consider to be success or what they consider to be the accomplishments they set out to achieve," he said. "We're all on our own journeys."
The star of "The Slap" also opened up about the controversy that ensued when he urged caution over the use of the HIV/AIDS prevention drug Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis, or PrEP.
"I certainly like to be a part of conversations in our culture, and I'm not particularly afraid to articulate my position or my opinion on things, and if people don't agree with it, that's great," he said. "That fact that the backlash initiated a conversation about [PrEP] on some level -- an issue that people are really uncomfortable talking about -- I feel like that was my contribution."
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