'Fuller House' Star Juan Pablo Di Pace on How His Co-Stars Reacted After He Came Out as Gay (Exclusive)
It's been quite a journey for Juan Pablo Di Pace.
The Fuller House actor recently opened up about his sexuality, revealing that he was gay during a TEDx Talk in March titled "The Story of Your Life."
"I came out 20 years ago," the Argentinian actor told ET's Nischelle Turner during an intimate sit-down, but adding that "the people that matter in my life knew a long time ago."
However, at the beginning of the year, Di Pace was asked to speak to the students of United World College and decided it was time to share his story with the world.
"When you are asked by a group of teenagers, that they want you to talk to them, I felt it was my duty to be honest and vulnerable," he expressed. But as an up-and-coming actor, he faced some uncertainty about coming out.
"I was told don’t do it. We don’t wanna know," he admitted. "And I had to put that aside and just kind of live. Weirdly, you learn to compartmentalize your life. You know, this part I will talk about, this part I won't. I never lied about anything because I couldn’t live with myself if I lied, but I was omitting information only to protect [myself]…It’s a survival mechanism because of a voice that you have in your head. So you sort of make it work."
Thankfully, Di Pace has received a slew of support from his friends and family, including from his Fuller House family.
"The best, the best," Di Pace said of the love that his co-stars have given him. "There is so much support that we don't even need to talk about it. I mean, we talk about it at some point. We've talked about it at some point a few years back, but it's a non-issue."
"I'm very lucky to be part of a cast that really is like my second family," he continued. "We are there for each other all the time and we support each other like any family. There are things that go wrong or things to celebrate and we really are there for each other."
While he may be fortunate to be on a "happy set" where everyone is "very tight," he does acknowledge that there is a lot of work to be done for the LGBTQ community.
"Now we see everyone being so supportive of pride and waving the flag and the brands are putting the flag everywhere, but it's not the case everywhere," Di Pace stated. "There's still work to do. There's still a lot of people, lot of families, cultures, countries, religions that do not support it. And those kids and adults who are introverts, they'll be ready whenever they'll be ready. This is not something that it's just like (snaps fingers) 'By the way.'"
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