This just in: Fuller House star and Dancing With The Stars contestant Juan Pablo Di Pace just came out as gay.
During an emotional TedX event, the 39-year old actor/singer opened up about the homophobic abuse he suffered growing up in Argentina.
“Acceptance was my fuel, and when that is the case, like an addict, you do whatever it takes to get a fix,” he said. “I figured, if I changed my f*cking self, I could be in.”
Di Pace, who was raised Catholic, struggled with his sexuality throughout adolescence and into adulthood. Ironically, it wasn’t until he was cast as Jesus Christ in the miniseries A.D. The Bible Continues that be began to accept himself.
“Many years later and still justifying my being gay with my critic, I get offered the role of a lifetime: Jesus Christ,” he recalled. “Of all the people in the world that could play this part, they gave it to me.”
Di Pace continued: “So there I am, hanging on the cross […] in Morocco […] and I look up at the sky, and I think, ‘You could still strike me down with lightning. Are you sure you want me to play your son?’ Instead, what I felt was an overwhelming feeling of love and acceptance and freedom that I could never even put into words.”
“A message from God? Maybe.”
He added: “Words are like universes and we are musicians who can create universes with them.”
