Monique Vescia - Zachary Quinto: An Actor Reaching for the Stars

Published in 2015 by The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc. 29 East 21st Street, New York, NY 10010

Copyright 2015 by The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc. First Edition

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Vescia, Monique. Zachary Quinto: an actor reaching for the stars/ Monique Vescia.First edition. pages cm.(Remarkable LGBTQ lives) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-4777-7893-7 (library bound) 1. Quinto, ZacharyJuvenile literature. 2. Actors United StatesBiographyJuvenile literature. I. Title. PN2287.Q56V47 2015 791.43028092dc23 [B]

2014007272

Manufactured in the United States of America

A achary Quinto might have the most distinctive pair of eyebrows in show business. Black, bushy, and highly expressive, those trademark brows have been used to great effect in Quintos portrayal of deeply disturbing television villains such as Sylar in Heroes and Dr. Oliver Thredson on season two of American Horror Story. Though he excels at playing bad guys, the thirty-six-year-old Pittsburgh native has managed to avoid the pitfalls of typecasting, something he proved when he won the role of Mr. Spock in J. J. Abramss Star Trek films. Having played one of the most iconic characters in the universe in a series of blockbuster movies, Quinto might have been tempted to believe hed fulfilled all his career goals. Nonetheless, he used that big-screen success as a springboard and returned to his roots in live theater. He earned raves as Louis Ironson in Angels in America and made his Broadway debut as Tom Wingfield in Tennessee Williamss classic play The Glass Menagerie.

Zach, as his friends call him, became interested in theater from an early age. It offered him a safe refuge and a place to dream. With plenty of hard work and persistence, Quinto has become a well-respected actor with a multitude of credits in television and film. He also helped form a media production company, which has released acclaimed films such as Margin Call, All Is Lost, and Banshee Chapter. Quintos success in so many ventures seems to prove one of his core beliefs, that the universe will support you if youre specific about what you want.

A talented actor as well as a successful film producer Zachary Quinto has also made headlines as an outspoken supporter of gay rights.

This highly talented and versatile actor, praised by critics and fellow cast members alike, is also an eloquent spokesman for the causes in which he believes. A longtime supporter of gay rights, Quinto always knew that his coming out as a gay man would be in his own time, on his own terms. His decision to finally speak frankly about his sexual orientation was triggered by a tragic event: the suicide of Jamey Rodemeyer, an openly gay teenager, who took his own life after being relentlessly bullied by his classmates.

Gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender teens are five times more likely to commit suicide than their heterosexual peers, according to one Columbia University study. Quinto, who was bullied in high school for being gay, has turned his despair at these losses into positive energy and action. He channeled it into political activism on behalf of gay rights. The actor and producer donates his time and star power to anti-gay-bullying campaigns and the fight for marriage equality.

Celebrities have a lot of influence in contemporary culture, and Quinto has consistently used his fame to send a message of tolerance and love. In interviews, at science fiction and comic book conventions, and on Twitter, Reddit, and Instagram, he stays upbeat, and reminds his fans to stay focused on what is truly important: finding a way to bring people together in mutual respect. Quinto is very specific about what he wants, as quoted in a New York Times article: I would love to be a voice in this maelstrom of chaos and obsessive celebrity infatuation that says, Lets talk about something that matters.

O n June 2, 1977, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Joseph Joe and Margaret Margo Quinto welcomed their second son, Zachary, into the world. Another son, named Joe, had been born six years earlier. The boys Italian-Irish heritage came from their fathers Italian background and their mothers Irish ancestors. In Pennsylvania and other U.S. cities, members of these immigrant groups often intermarry, since many among these two populations share a Catholic faith.

Zachary and his family lived in Green Tree, a borough of Pittsburgh. Joe Quinto Sr., a Pennsylvania native and U.S. Navy veteran, worked as a barber. The Quintos regularly attended church services, and Zachary sang in the church choir and served as an altar boy. When they werent in school, the brothers enjoyed running around in the woods and riding their bikes.

Once home to both the Pittsburgh Pirates baseball team and the Steelers football team, Three Rivers Stadium was imploded in 2001, when the Steel Citys sports teams moved to newly built arenas.

Pittsburgh is strategically located at the juncture of three rivers, where the Allegheny and the Monongahela meet to form the mighty Ohio River. First known as the Iron City and then as the Steel City, Pittsburgh flourished as the United States demanded steel for the construction of buildings, bridges, ships, and railroads.

World War II created more jobs for workers in steel mills and factories. During the war, the Pittsburgh region produced more steel than Japan and Germany combined. However, by 1977the year Zachary was bornPittsburgh had become a city in crisis. The once-powerful steel industry had collapsed as a result of foreign competition and its failure to modernize. Today, Pittsburghs population has shrunk to less than half of what it was in 1950.

Despite its economic woes, the city still benefited from many important cultural institutions established during boom times. Sometimes called the Paris of Appalachia, Pittsburgh boasted institutions such as the Carnegie Museums and the Pittsburgh Symphony and Opera. Zacharys parents made sure that he and his brother attended plays and shows. Zachary loved going to the theater and was especially struck by a production of the musical Sweeney Todd.As it would turn out, being exposed to live theater from an early age helped Zachary to discover his lifes purpose.