Let's start by saying that I loved watching Zachary Quinto as the super villain, Sylar, in Heroes. I think this is when we still had to wait for new episodes to appear and couldn't get them on demand, but I clearly remember it was worth waiting for. 

His darker side struck a chord with me again when he played the super creepy Doctor Thredson in American Horror Story: Asylum. Loved it! 

And although I am fully aware of the Star Trek Cult of STANS, it was only because Zachary Quinto was playing Spock that made the 2009 version mandatory watching for me. 

I met Zachary on September 16th, 2017, during a VIP meet and greet prior to his "in discussion with" appearance at the Castro theater in San Francisco. 

Zachary is tall, well put together, composed and politely interactive.  The VIP meet and greet was at a very small bakery / Wine Bar (?) literally around the corner from the theater and there was perhaps a couple of dozen people there.  (It was a nice treat to strike up a new friendship with another San Francisco collector, Hao A.- he's a dedicated collector with great perseverance and patience.)

It was easy to be patient and wait my turn to introduce myself to Zachary, who seems to show genuine interest in other people. We had a good conversation and I really told him how much I loved his villainous dark characters. I explained to him that I had been collecting autographs since 1979 and reassured him that I was not a reseller - especially now that he had Spock under his belt. I asked him to inscribe the photos for me so that he knew that they were from my own personal collection and he took great care to sign beautifully, inscribe them and keep up a friendly banter as he was signing. And then he was super pleasant and agreeable when I asked if we could take a selfie together. 

Following the meet and greet, I sat in my VIP seat to hear him in discussion on stage talking about “Angels in America”, his career in general, and about being gay in Hollywood.  I believe somebody asked a question (or maybe he brought it up himself), about being out as a homosexual did not and has not hindered him getting any roles and that he does not feel any strong discrimination.  This caused me to raise my hand and ask a burning question. When they passed the microphone to me and I said “Hey Zachary, it’s Bobby”, he remembered me and greeted me back. 

(paraphrasing here what I asked) " Zachary thank you so much for being here today, being so forthright with everything you have shared with us about your career and about being out in in the entertainment industry, but I do have a serious question about how being gay doesn’t affect your casting.  You are a super talented character and lead actor, but do you honestly think that you could be cast as a romantic lead opposite a female now that your homosexuality is a known fact? I mean isn't it true that there are gay romantic Leading Men playing across women, but the men are still closeted because if they are known as gay the audience and studios would no longer be interested?" 

The audience was very quiet. You must remember this was 2017, before casting complaints were the daily norm and before the internet would blow up if a non-whatever was to play an actual-whatever.   The entertainment world wasn’t fully woke yet. 

Prior to this question all of Zachary's responses had been very composed, articulate and well thought out. I feel a little badly that this caught him a bit off guard, and I feel that his answer about the entertainment industry having “come a long way and changes are still happening” was broad strokes enough and quick on his feet to avoid the larger question that of whether an actor who was publicly known as a straight romantic lead would have his career ended if he came out as gay. 

I still think that this is a legitimate question. Because I think it is happening with both men and women who are representing other than who they are on screen. After all it is the world of Make Believe.  Even though the Internet wants every character on screen to be represented by a person who IS literally is that representation.  Imagine how many Academy Awards would have to be returned – you know, for “acting” a part. 

My apologies for putting Zachary Quinto on the spot, but I knew he could handle it. He's a great actor, an intelligent and strong-minded man and strong enough to navigate the constantly changing landscape and high swells in the entertainment ocean. 

5 minutes of Zachary's AHS scenes: