Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman

“I feel like people are so eager and willing to accept the concept of females being bisexual and having it be a very natural thing, but as soon as a male proclaims himself as bisexual, we automatically dismiss it and say, 'No, he's just gay.'”

“I just never wanted to be in a position where I wouldn't be able to walk down the street holding my partner's hand.”

“When you're surrounded by a world of constant lies, manipulation, and deceit, that dark energy is bound to seep into you eventually.”

“I had examples from a very young age of gay actors or personalities coming out in late '90s and early 2000s who faced a lot of backlash and didn't have a lot of support and risked ruining their careers.”

“My father is from Jamaica, my mother is from the U.K., but I was adopted as an infant by a really wonderful family in Alberta, Canada. What we refer to as 'Texas of the North.'”

“Coming of age as a young queer man of color, it was a rarity to see any reflections of myself portrayed in mainstream media. Turning on the television or going to the movies was an escape into the imagination, yet it did not allow me a place of true connection to what I was viewing on the screen in front of me.”

“I am an 'other.' As a queer, biracial man who occupies and embodies many different intersections of 'otherness,' I've spent my entire life seeking reflections of myself in the world around me to connect and relate to.”

“People are scared of the unknown.”

“I watched some shows like 'The Simple Life' and 'The Anna Nicole Smith Show,' but I hadn't really watched 'The Bachelor' until I was cast on 'UnReal.'”

“People often ask me why I choose to primarily play queer characters, and my answer is that as a queer man, I choose to align myself with projects in which I can be of service for a purpose greater than myself: to be for an audience of queer people of color, something I didn't have the privilege of seeing as a young man.”

“It really is systematic oppression that is so deeply ingrained into the very fabric of American society... Shedding a light on it, in whatever way possible, is the only way to create change.”

“As an actor, it was important to me to play gay characters because, growing up, it was something I never really saw done on television and in film, and I was questioning why there weren't more people like me.”

“At 21 years old, I found myself in Vancouver, and that's where I got the part for my first movie. I was sitting in a restaurant, and the director came up to me and asked me to read for his film. I really took it with a grain of salt. It was the creepiest casting situation, probably. It turned out that it wasn't.”

“I knew that I wanted to primarily play queer characters.”

“Every fan interaction I have when someone tells me they can look to their television screens and see themselves reflected in me is a dream come true.”

“I think that Linda Perry is such a beautiful example of strong female representation in the industry.”

“You know, in this industry, being an openly queer actor or entertainer, you can play the game your way, or you can play it the industry's way. And I decided to play it my way. I played it the industry's way far too long.”

“The very nature of 'UnREAL' is that we are provocative, uncensored, and brutally tactless.”

“I'm the type of person who far prefers a vacation filled with trips to museums and art galleries, shopping and exploring vintage flea markets, people-watching at cafes, and discovering delicious restaurants as opposed to lounging on a beach for days on end.”

“I'm grateful to the creative allies behind 'UnReal' who are willing to stand behind disenfranchised communities of people worldwide and help to tell their stories.”