Zachary Quinto: I'm Gay

The latest Spock to grace the big screen in Star Trek, Zachary Quinto, 34, recently spoke openly about his own sexuality as "a gay man."

Quinto recently wrapped eight months on Broadway's Angels in America, where he played Louis Ironson, a man who leaves his HIV-positive boyfriend. "As a gay man, it made me feel like there's still so much work to be done," he told New York Magazine.

Quinto's decision to reveal his sexuality was also partly motivated by Jamey Rodmeyer, a teenager in the New York who committed suicide after being bullied. "As a gay man I look at that and say there's a hopelessness surrounding it," he said. "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," he said.

On Sunday the Heroes actor explained his decision on his website's blog, writing that he "felt deeply troubled" when Rodemeyer killed himself, but he "felt indescribably despair" when he discovered that the teen had made an "it gets better" video only months before. "In light of Jamey's death," Quinto wrote," it became clear to me in an instant that living a gay life without publicly acknowledging it — is simply not enough to make any significant contribution to the immense work that lies ahead on the road to complete equality."

Quinto is in the works to reprise his role as Spock in a sequel to the J.J. Abrams-directed Star Trek, which is in pre-production.