Image Source: Celebrity-Rehab
American actor and model Colton Lee Hayes have opened up about how the industry has treated him since he came out as gay, which was followed by a detailed description of the homophobia, sexual harassment, and exploitation involved in the industry. Colton also details how young actors faced the same in the late 2000s.
In a recent interview with Vulture, Colton Hayes, who is known for his role in shows such as "Teen Wolf," "Arrow," and "American Horror Story: Cult," shared in a recent interview with Vulture that when he came to Los Angeles after graduating in 2007, he got his first real meeting with a management company. Before getting finalized with a management company, Colton worked as a phone-sex operator for a year. Colton shared that the prospective manager told him when met him, "Why are you using your hands so much when you talk? And your posture is too... loose. We’re definitely going to have to change your mannerisms. They’re a little too... theater. " The actor shared that the manager meant "too gay."
Talking about his sexual harassment encounter, Colton Hayes shared that, young actors are sexually objectified when they start fresh, the actor went on to detail a "sexy-scene night" his management company would do. During the "sexy scene night" conducted in his acting class, the young actors were forced to strip naked and perform sex scenes together, simulating real sex.
Colton shared that when it was his first "sexy scene night", he met his scene partner, who was a veteran of the class. He made sure that Colton did not have to have sex, but according to the script, he would be "mounting" and "thrusting in and out" of him and the two would be making out. Colton added, "The actor said to me, ‘So why don’t we get it out of the way and make out now? So we’re both comfortable. I’m straight, just so you know." The two kissed more than expected, which made Colton wonder whether it was acting or something more.
The actor further detailed in the interview that "sexy scene night" was much more difficult for young actresses as they were expected to pretend, "to be penetrated in front of a class of actors for the sake of impressing her manager." Colton also mentioned that he had a "humiliating sexy scene night" because he was told his acting was too gay in a scene that involved gay sex. Digging deeper, Colton Hayes added that he was once asked to deliver paperwork to an agent wearing a "cowboy hat and an unbuttoned western shirt" in order to impress him but unfortunately he wasn't impressed. Colton added that the management eventually dropped him because of his voice and mannerisms, which were described as "too gay."
After being dropped by the management company, Colton Hayes asked his manager what he should do next, the manager encouraged him to sign up for RentBoy.com, a sex worker site. Colton Hayes shared, "To be a gay actor in Hollywood, even in 2021, is to be inundated with mixed messages: Consumers are mostly straight, so don’t alienate them. But lots of the decision-makers are gay, so play that game! Now that I’m older and sober, I’m trying to square who I am with the inauthentic version of myself I invested in for years. I often wonder how different things would’ve been if I were allowed to be who I was when I moved to town: a hopeful kid, confident in his sexuality. "
The 'Teen Wolf', actor was asked about his decision to come out, which he spoke to Entertainment Weekly in 2016 and said, "It took me so long to get to this point, but I’m doing so well. I’m happier than I’ve ever been, and healthier than I’ve ever been, and that’s what I care about. "
Further, in his Vulture interview, he shared that being in the closet affected his mental health, which eventually deteriorated, and he started to depend on alcohol and pills. "When a doctor suggested my secret was making me sick, I knew he was right. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly in 2016, I came out of the closet. I hoped it would set me free, and in some ways, it did. The work has mostly dried up. When I was closeted, I beat out straight guys to play straight roles, and I played them well. Now, the only auditions I get are for gay characters, which remains sparse. Is that because I’m not very good? Maybe. But that didn’t stop me from booking roles before", Colton shared.
The actor added that after being dropped by the management, only with his hard work and desire to be someone, he worked on himself and then booked his first role in an episode of "CSI: Miami," after which the companies started calling him up wanting to represent him. The actor also shared that when he was pictured once getting cozy with Lauren Conrad and rumors about his sexuality started to float, he was asked to deny their relationship. Colton Hayes took a moment during the interview to share that he feels extremely grateful for the shows he has been a part of and thankful to those actors that made a way for other gay actors to shine, which included Jeff Davis, Greg Berlanti, and Ryan Murphy.
A few years later, the manager from his first company sat across the table from him at an industry event, where Colton explained that he came up to him later in the night and quietly said, "Dropping you was a mistake." Colton lastly added, "It should have validated me. Maybe at that time it did. Now, I am not so sure. On some level, he had been right; I was too gay. He’d understood something I hadn’t at that time, which was that all of this, everything in Hollywood, was about selling a fantasy. You just had to know who was buying. " Colton is all set to appear in upcoming 'Teen Wolf: The Movie'.
