British actor Tom Payne, who plays Paul
“Jesus” Rovia on the AMC drama The Walking Dead, says he
feel “privileged” to play a gay character.
Jesus, who came out in March, is the
show's sixth gay character.
In an interview with UK gay glossy
Attitude, Payne, 34, said that his character's coming out
inspired a fan of the show to do the same.
“I had messages on Twitter the next
day from people; like this girl who said her brother came out to her
parents the day after that episode aired,” Payne
said.
“That’s why we do this job: To help
people through parts of their lives, emotional situations they might
be going through. If you can see yourself on screen, that can help
you to process whatever it is that you’re finding difficult in your
life.”
“And the other side of that is
helping people who are outside of the gay world and don't know anyone
[who is LGBT] and just a bit scared of it,” he added.