Michael Johnston was bringing gay characters to the screen while still trying to feel comfortable with his own sexuality. Looking back, he says those roles helped him change the way he saw himself.
The actor, now enjoying a breakthrough with the horror hit Obsession, reflects on that experience in a new Attitude cover interview, covered by Out on October 8.
Growing up in a Southern Baptist family in North Carolina, Johnston absorbed frightening messages about being gay. Accepting himself took time.
His acting work became part of that process.
He played Corey Bryant on Teen Wolf and appeared as Neil in the queer film Slash. Those characters offered a way to engage with experiences he was still learning to embrace in his own life.
Johnston now describes a shift from seeing his sexuality as a weakness to recognizing it as a strength. He connects that change with the empathy he has developed.
Then viewers began telling him what his visibility meant to them. He recalls receiving thousands of messages of thanks, including accounts from people who felt better about themselves and people who were able to come out to their parents.
That response gives the story a particularly moving connection. While an actor was working through his own feelings, someone watching could find reassurance in the character he played.
For many LGBTQ+ viewers, that recognition begins with a simple feeling: there is somebody else like me.
Johnston’s current chapter also includes people he loves. Accepting the Film Award at this week’s Attitude Awards, he mentioned that his mother and his partner were there with him.
His partner’s identity has not been confirmed in the reporting used here, but Johnston’s acknowledgement makes room for the relationship alongside the professional milestone.
He is now looking forward to more queer storytelling as his career opens new doors.
These reflections are not a new coming-out announcement. They are a chance to understand what came before his current success: the roles that helped him accept himself, and the viewers who found something of their own lives in his work.
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