J August Richards: Marvel’s ‘Agents of Shield’ and ‘Angel’ actor comes out as gay

Marvel Agents of Shield star J August Richards has come out as gay in what he’s called a “beautiful” experience thanks to the support from his fans.

The actor, who played Michael Peterson/Deathlok on the Marvel show, said: “Everyone said it would be, but nothing could have prepared me. Yesterday was one of the best days of my life.”

“’Thank you’ feel 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,” he continued.

”Who knew that something I once thought of as terrifying had within it something so beautiful... For every comment, like, emoji, repost, phone call, text message, everything. I felt it ALL... Thank you!!! #PRIDE #LGBTQ #BlackLGBTQ #ComingOut #SelfLove #SelfAcceptance“.

The actor first spoke about his sexuality during an Instagram Live conversation with his Council of Dads co-star Sarah Wayne Callies.

The new NBC drama sees Richards play Dr Oliver Post, a married gay man with a daughter who has a ‘council of dads’ with his friendship group, and Richards said it was taking on the role that made him want to be open about his experiences.

Saying that he felt a “pressure and responsibility” in playing Oliver, he explained: ”You have an opportunity to put an image into millions of homes and I wanted that image to be honest and correct. It required me to show up in a way that I haven’t always when I was working.”

“I knew that I could not portray this gay man honestly without letting you all know that I am a gay man myself,” he continued.

“I’ve never done that with the people that I’ve worked with. That responsibility carried me to do that, because I knew how important it is to other people out there like me, who would need to see that role model.”

Richards played Gunn in Angel, the popular Buffy the Vampire Slayer spin-off, opposite David Boreanaz, Charisma Carpenter and Alexis Denisof.

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