Scott is so new to being a star that this interview with AfterElton is actually his first ever! The whole thing is great, a must read for fans of Scott (and if you're not yet, you probably will be soon enough!).
I think my favorite part of the interview, other than finding out that Scott was single(!), was when they brought up the whole mess with Chris Engen breaking his contract with Y&R so he wouldn't have to play a gay character. Scott discusses his take on playing roles that are human first, no matter what their sexual orientations, and on being an out actor:
AE: There's another daytime actor who reportedly reacted poorly when he learned his character was going to be involved in a same-sex relationship. When the writers approached you with this plot twist, what was your reaction?
SE: This is a job, it's an acting job. No matter what happens, I'm telling the story of a person. It doesn't matter if he's gay, straight, man or woman. It doesn't matter. You're telling the person of a real human, a story they want to tell. No matter what you're portraying, you should take it as work and you wanting to get the story out there for people to see.
AE: That answer makes a lot of sense in a perfect world, but unfortunately, as we all know, it's not a perfect world. Presumably, the other actor was straight and had some concerns with playing a gay role. Flipping that on its head, as an out man, did you have any concerns about playing a gay role? I know some gay actors I talk to are worried about getting stereotyped with "the gay guy has to play the gay character." Do you worry about that?
SE: I don't worry about it. I've been playing a straight man on the show for so long and didn't have a problem with that, and now that I'm playing a gay man, I don't have a problem with that. As long as I keep telling Oliver's story and his adventures, that's my job and that's all I need to do.
AE: I'm sure you're aware that there are still gay actors in Hollywood who are so concerned about being gay hurting their careers, they remain closeted to some extent. What informed your decision to be an out actor? I've interviewed Chad Allen about this, and some other actors, everyone has a slightly different take, so I'm curious about your thought process.
SE: You know, I have to tell you, I don't think I ever really had a thought process about being an out actor. I came out when I was 19-years-old, and then I became an actor. I didn’t want to be one of those people who goes back into the closet and tries to hide because I knew it would come out. With the success of my brother, I didn't feel it was necessary to hide it once I'd come out. I'm an out person, as opposed to an out actor, I suppose.
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