American actor and director, J. August Richards has took to Instagram this week to officially come out as a gay man. Richards, who is best known for his roles in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the horror series, Angel stated in a conversation with his fellow co-star, Sarah Wayne Callies via Instagram Live that he felt a “pressure and a responsibility” to be upfront and honest with those impacted by his work.
It’s on the new series, Council of Dads that Richards portrays a gay married man by the name of Dr. Oliver Post who is a father to a 13 year old daughter. In his discussion with Callies he touches upon the fact that this type of role has never before been seen on network television and therefore he wanted that image to be raw and sincere.
“I knew that I could not portray this gay man honestly without telling you all that I was a gay man myself,” Richards said.
It was only a month ago that Richards had done an interview with The Knockturnal and was asked, “Can you relate to the role of Dr. Oliver Post at all?” in which he responded, “at first, I was like ‘oh gosh I’m so similar, I am this person.’ But then as I got to know him more and moreover the ten episodes, I was like ‘oh no, this is the person I want to be but I’m not quite yet."
Nonetheless, it seems Richards is holding himself to that and has decided to be his true authentic self.
Since coming out, Richards has received a wave of support and expressed his appreciation on Instagram for everyone's kind words.
“Thank you feels like cheap words to describe the depths of the gratitude I feel for your support and the crushing avalanche of LOVE I felt aimed at me yesterday. Who knew that something I once thought of as terrifying had within it something so beautiful…”
James Carpinello writes, “Love you J!!!!!!” via Twitter.
Robert C. Riley also hops on Twitter to say, “Much love to you my brother!”
The news continues to break the internet as his video has now been viewed more than 19,000 times. Callies beautifully writes in the comments, “sharing this moment with you was one of the most meaningful things in my life. love you friend.”
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