‘Noah’s Arc’ Star Darryl Stephens on What Led Him to Finally Come Out

Darryl Stephens is known for portraying the role of Noah Nicholson in the show ‘Noah’s Arc’, which made history as “the first scripted television series to center on a group of Black gay men.”

In a recent interview with BuzzFeed, the 49-year-old gay actor and author opened up about the pressure of hiding his sexuality in the past for the sake of his acting career.

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“I’ve written a book where I talk about how, as a young actor, [I was] influenced by the people [I hired to] handle [my] career. I had an agent at the time, who was also gay, and he said, ‘We’re putting you up for soaps. If you’re [openly] gay, you’re not gonna [get booked for roles],'” he recalled.

Stephens added,

“When Noah’s Arc launched, [the show’s creator] Patrik[-Ian Polk] sat all the actors down and said, ‘None of us are gonna talk about our sexuality in public.'”

“[I think it was] because of what [he’d] seen with shows like Queer as Folk, in terms of how much press and attention the straight actors were getting for being [quote unquote] brave enough to play gay characters. There was always that fear of if they find out [I’ll] never work [again],” he continued, reflecting on having had the fear of losing his career if he ever came out.

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However, the exact opposite of what he used to worry about happened when he decided to publicly come out. According to the actor,

“What’s interesting is that once I came out, I was getting tons of work, and it was all good work.”

“Working in Hollywood, not talking about [my sexuality], and then not working, I thought, ‘Why am I not talking about it? If I’m not working anyway.’ As far as I could see, being open about it can only help,” he further shared about what led him to come out.

Stephens also noted how everything worked out for the better in his career when he publicly came out, stating:

“Q. Allan Brocka, who directed the film I did called Boy Culture in 2006, said to me, ‘If you ever wanted to come out publicly, I will do everything I can to make sure to navigate that in a way that is good for your career.’ 

Once Noah’s Arc wrapped that same year, I was approached to be part of Out magazine’s Out 100 list. I leaped at the opportunity. That’s when I embraced the opportunity to talk about it in ways that felt unfettered and uncontrolled. I’d been living [out loud in] my daily life for years, though.”

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_{Sources: buzzfeed.com, en.wikipedia.org}