"I'm rolling with the punches here. I was asked if I was comfortable doing gay press. I said 'Of course.' I didn't think I'd be coming out. But why not now? I think it's the right time to say something," Iacono explains. "It's not about me, it's about change and the work."
Kenzie's Scale will "give young gays characters to look up to," Iacono promises. "It's great that we have Chris Colfer, but we need more characters. . .I didn't have much to look up to as a kid. I had to search to find like-minded images. I'm happy to be that person so kids won't have to grow up and be afraid of their sexuality and this won't be an issue."
Growing up in "a really old-school Italian traditional family in New Jersey," Iacono struggled to come to terms with his sexuality. "I tried coming out a couple of times as a kid, from 13-14 on, and was always squashed on."
When his father discovered an email about a date with another male student, "I had to deny it," Iacono recalls. "I was just coming to terms with the fact that I was bisexual, which culturally I do identify with as a gay man -- I am attracted to girls, I'm just attracted to guys much more. My father quickly stomped that. He wanted to pull me from the school. I had to feign heterosexuality for a couple of years. It messed with my head. It took me a longer time to be OK with it."
Discussing his latest project, Kenzie's Scale, Paul Iacono was asked directly if he is now openly gay. "I didn't think I'd be coming out," he replied, making a spur of the moment decision to go public with his private life. "But why not now? I think it's the right time to say something. It's not about me; it's about change and the work."
"I grew up in a really old-school Italian traditional family in New Jersey," the 23-year-old went on to say. "I tried coming out a couple of times as a kid, from 13-14 on, and was always squashed on."Speaking of trying to come out to his parents, Paul Iacono shared, "I was just coming to terms with the fact that I was bisexual, which culturally I do identify with as a gay man -- I am attracted to girls -- I'm just attracted to guys much more. My father quickly stomped that."
"I had to feign heterosexuality for a couple of years. It messed with my head. It took me a longer time to be OK with it. It was not until I was 18 that I came out with my mom and 20 with my dad. I was older and able to address it from a different perspective."Of his role in Kenzie's Scale, another MTV production, Iacono said, "I play Cole, Kenzie's boyfriend. It's about a high school sweetheart couple who move to New York for college. He has this gay awakening when they get there. So they continue living together more as friends than lovers. It's like a radical young Will & Grace."
"It explores the sexual spectrum from a millennial, ambiguous generation [point of view]. I believe that in 100 years, none of us will be having to identify ourselves as gay, straight, bi, or otherwise. Sexuality will be a more fluid thing. The show is a progressive outlet of that idea."
Borrowing a page from Dan Savage's It Gets Better campaign, Paul Iacono concluded, "All these little homos need to stop killing themselves because it does get better!"
The lead actor in MTV's The Hard Times of R.J. Berger has come out of the closet. Paul Iacono, 23, recently addressed his sexuality in a interview with the Village Voice.
When Michael Musto, the Voice's interviewer, asked Iacono was openly gay, the actor responded, "Yes. I'm rolling with the punches here. I was asked if I was comfortable doing gay press. I said, 'Of course.' I didn't think I'd be coming out. But why not now? I think it's the right time to say something."
Iacono's The Hard Times of RJ Berger was cancelled after one season, he will soon be seen in another MTV series called Kenzie's Scale, which he described as "a radical young Will & Grace."
Iacono elaborated on how far openly gay people have come and where things may be headed as a society, saying, "I believe that in 100 years, none of us will be having to identify ourselves as gay, straight, bi, or otherwise. Sexuality will be a more fluid thing."
