There is a particular kind of courage required to portray, publicly and convincingly, the very truth one cannot yet speak privately. Michael Johnston spent years doing exactly that — playing a gay teenager on Teen Wolf while quietly wrestling with his own identity in the shadow of a conservative Southern upbringing. By the time he came out in 2023, the role had already done its quiet work: not only for the thousands of LGBTQ+ viewers who wrote to tell him Corey Bryant had helped them find their own voices, but for Johnston himself, who discovered that representation, even when given unknowingl
Actor Michael Johnston: Playing gay Teen Wolf role while closeted helped thousands of LGBTQ+ fans
The character that frightened him became a lifeline for thousands
Mark
When you were playing Corey, did you know the character would matter to people in the way it did?
Mimi
No. I was too caught up in my own fear to imagine that. I was just trying to survive the role, honestly.
Mark
What changed between then and your coming out in 2023?
Mimi
The letters. The messages. People telling me that Corey had helped them feel less alone. That shifted something in me. It made me realize I couldn't keep living a lie while I was helping others live their truth.
Mark
Do you think you would have come out when you did if you hadn't played that character?
Mimi
I don't know. Maybe eventually. But the role accelerated it. It forced me to confront the contradiction I was living in every single day on set.
Mark
Now that you're out and choosing roles more intentionally, what are you looking for?
Mimi
Stories where queerness is part of the character but not the whole story. And I want to work with filmmakers who understand the difference between representation and tokenism.
Mark
Does playing Bear Bailey in Obsession feel like freedom?
Mimi
It feels like range. Like I'm not defined by one role or one part of myself. That's what I want for all queer actors—the space to be complicated and multidimensional.
O Pulso
- A closeted nineteen-year-old from North Carolina's Bible Belt was cast to play a gay teenager on national television — a collision of public performance and private fear that he carried silently through years of filming.
- Thousands of LGBTQ+ fans began flooding Johnston with messages, crediting his portrayal of Corey Bryant with giving them the courage to come out to their own families — an impact he had never anticipated and was not yet able to fully claim.
- The weight of that outpouring became impossible to separate from his own self-reckoning, as the character's meaning to others began to illuminate what Johnston had not yet allowed himself to see in himself.
- In early 2023, Johnston came out publicly, completing an arc that had begun in a casting room years earlier — a private journey made possible, in part, by the very role that had once terrified him.
- He now moves through his career with intention, seeking queer roles built with purpose while also expanding into complex straight characters, signaling that his identity is one dimension of his artistry, not its boundary.
There is a particular kind of courage required to portray, publicly and convincingly, the very truth one cannot yet speak privately. Michael Johnston spent years doing exactly that — playing a gay teenager on Teen Wolf while quietly wrestling with his own identity in the shadow of a conservative Southern upbringing. By the time he came out in 2023, the role had already done its quiet work: not only for the thousands of LGBTQ+ viewers who wrote to tell him Corey Bryant had helped them find their own voices, but for Johnston himself, who discovered that representation, even when given unknowingly, has a way of circling back to its source.
Michael Johnston was nineteen when he was cast as Corey Bryant, a gay teenager on Teen Wolf — a role that carried a secret the casting directors never knew. Johnston was closeted, still struggling to accept his own sexuality after growing up in Rutherfordton, North Carolina, a place he would later describe as the Bible Belt. Moving to Los Angeles to take the part, he brought that internal conflict with him onto every set.
Corey Bryant appeared beginning in Teen Wolf's fifth season in 2015, developing a relationship with Mason Hewitt that the show treated as an ordinary teenage romance — unremarkable in the best possible way. But what unfolded off screen was something Johnston hadn't prepared for. Thousands of LGBTQ+ viewers began writing to him. They told him that seeing Corey had sustained them through dark periods, that the character had given them courage to come out to their families. The role that frightened him was functioning as a mirror and a lifeline for others — and quietly, it was doing the same for him.
Johnston came out publicly in early 2023, sharing news of his relationship with filmmaker Anthony Sellitti. The arc had closed: the young actor who had portrayed a gay teenager while closeted had traveled his own road toward acceptance, and in doing so had helped countless others travel theirs.
Since then, he has approached his career with greater deliberateness — seeking roles with intentional queer representation while also demonstrating his range. His recent performance in the thriller Obsession casts him as Bear Bailey, a straight man whose dangerous obsession drives the film's narrative, introducing him to audiences beyond the Teen Wolf universe. Teen Wolf remains his most recognized work, but it is no longer the whole of his story.
Michael Johnston was nineteen years old when he landed the role of Corey Bryant on Teen Wolf, a character written as a gay teenager navigating high school life in the supernatural town of Beacon Hills. What the casting directors didn't know—what Johnston himself was still grappling with—was that he was closeted, struggling to accept his own sexuality while growing up in Rutherfordton, North Carolina, a place he would later describe as the Bible Belt. The irony was sharp and terrifying: he was about to portray on screen the very thing he couldn't yet acknowledge in his own life.
When Johnston moved to Los Angeles to take the role, he carried that internal conflict with him. He has spoken about the fear that gripped him during those early days on set, the discomfort of playing a character whose identity he had not yet claimed for himself. Corey Bryant appeared in the fifth season of Teen Wolf in 2015, a student at Beacon Hills High School who developed a relationship with Mason Hewitt, played by Khylin Rhambo. Their romance unfolded across the fifth and sixth seasons as an ordinary teenage love story, unremarkable except for the fact that it existed at all—a queer relationship treated with the same narrative weight as any other.
What happened next surprised everyone, perhaps most of all Johnston himself. Thousands of LGBTQ+ viewers began reaching out to him with messages and letters. They told him that seeing Corey on screen had sustained them through difficult periods in their own lives. Some credited the character with giving them the courage to come out to their families. The role that had frightened Johnston became, for these viewers, a mirror and a lifeline. He realized that the representation he was providing—almost despite his own internal struggle—was mattering in ways he hadn't anticipated. The character was helping him understand himself too.
Johnston's public coming out came in early 2023, when he shared news of his relationship with filmmaker and writer Anthony Sellitti. By then, the arc was complete: a young actor who had played a gay teenager while closeted had moved through his own journey toward acceptance, and in doing so had helped countless others move through theirs. In interviews, he has reflected on how the role and the response from viewers became intertwined with his own self-discovery, each reinforcing the other.
Since then, Johnston has become more deliberate about the work he takes on. He has expressed a desire to pursue roles with intentional queer representation, to play what he calls an "epic, powerful gay character" in stories designed with that representation in mind. He has also been clear that sexuality should be one dimension of a character, not its totality. His recent performance in the thriller Obsession, directed by Curry Barker, demonstrates this range: he plays Bear Bailey, a straight man whose dangerous fixation on a coworker named Nikki drives the film's increasingly disturbing narrative. The role is a departure from Corey Bryant, introducing Johnston to audiences who may not have followed his earlier work, which includes voice acting and appearances in projects like Slash and Endangered Species. Teen Wolf remains his most recognizable credit, but it is no longer the whole of his story.
Citações Notáveis
Johnston expressed a desire to play an 'epic, powerful gay character' in stories with intentional queer representation, emphasizing that sexuality should be one dimension of a character rather than its totality— Michael Johnston, in interview with Cosmopolitan
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