Is Anthony Rapp Gay, Who Is He, What Is His Relationship With Kevin Spacey?

Quick Facts

Anthony Rapp is a U.S actor and singer who has been in the industry long enough to be known by anybody who love movies. The actor’s long career spanned from Broadway to movies and then TV. Rapp kicked off his career on Broadway in 1981 in the short-lived musical The Little Prince and the Aviator. He didn’t end his career with the cancellation of the musical after sixteen previews, rather he sought for other opportunities and soon began alternating between theatre roles, as well as roles in film and TV. 

He then found fame in 1996 after playing Mark Cohen in the Broadway production Rent.  The actor also reprised his role in the film adaption of the musicals and soon got several other opportunities to star in other musicals like You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown where he played Charlie Brown and as Lucas in If/Then. He is also renowned for playing Lieutenant Commander Paul Stamets in the TV series Star Trek: Discovery.

Who is Anthony Rapp?

The American actor Anthony Deane Rapp was born in Chicago, Illinois on the 26th of October 1971 to Mary Lee and Douglas Rapp. His parents separated in 1974 when Rapp was barely three years old, thus, he was raised in Joliet, Illinois by his mother – a trained nurse.

Rapp is not the only child of his parents, he has two older siblings (a brother and a sister). His older brother Adam Rapp is a novelist, a playwright, and a filmmaker. He began showing an interest in acting right from childhood. As a child, Anthony Rapp participated in community theatre productions and during his junior high school days and he also won several awards for singing.

For his high school education, he attended Joliet West High School and then theatre camp at Interlochen Arts Camp, Michigan, After high school, he moved to New York and enrolled at the New York University as a film student, but dropped out after a semester.

Career

Rapp kicked off his career in 1981 on Broadway as the Little Prince in the musical The Little Prince and the Aviator. His screen debut came six years later when he appeared as a member of the starring ensemble in Adventures in Babysitting – a 1987 film directed by Chris Columbus.

After that, he alternated between theatre roles, as well as roles in film and TV. Rapp had a major breakthrough in 1996 after he starred in the Broadway production Rent as Mark Cohen – a character he would later reprise in the film adaption of the musical. The production brought him other Broadway opportunities like his portrayal of Charlie Brown in You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown and as Lucas in If/Then.

In 2005, he played the doctor in the world premiere of Feeling Electric while in 2008, he worked as assistant director to Michael Greif, during Next to Normal’s Off-Broadway run and would also write the introduction to the published script

He appeared in an episode of the TV series Psych titled Psych: The Musical, which premiered in December 2013 on USA Network. He is also renowned for playing Lieutenant Commander Paul Stamets in the TV series Star Trek: Discovery. His other films include A Beautiful Mind, Dazed and Confused, Six Degrees of Separation (stage and film versions), School Ties, An American Family, Road Trip, Danny Roane: First Time Director among others.

Rapp is into other things as well asides acting. In 2000, he released a solo CD, entitled Look Around. Six years later he published a memoir called Without You: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and the Musical Rent, where he talked about his relationship with his mother. He would later do a one-man stage show on the memoir and later performed it on different locations. A recording of the show was released by PS Classics in December 2012.

Is Anthony Rapp Gay and What is His Relationship With Kevin Spacey?

The actor is not just first openly gay character in the Star Trek franchise, he refers to his sexual orientation as queer rather than gay. Rapp first used the word in 1997 in an interview with Oasis Magazine, saying he doesn’t want to get into labels and wouldn’t label himself except to simply say he is queer because he has been in loving relationships with both male and female.

He said he doesn’t think he is primarily a homosexual and also identifies himself as bisexual. So lets rather stick to how the actor has chosen to classify his sexual identity – Queer.

In October 2017, Anthony Rapp accused  in an interview with BuzzFeed of making an unwanted sexual advance toward him in 1986, when he was just fourteen years old. According to the actor, Spacey who was twenty-six years old at the time had invited him to a party at his home and at the end of the party, Kevin who was obviously drunk physically carried him to bed and attempted to initiate sex.

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Rapp had before then mentioned the assault in an interview with The Advocate in the year 2001 but avoided naming the offender. However, after the Harvey Weinstein sexual abuse allegations, he decided to open up.

In Spacey’s response to Rapp’s allegation, he denied remembering the incident which happened over three decades ago. He said he is horrified to hear about it and offered Rapp his “sincerest apology”. Sadly for Spacey, fourteen other people came forward after Rapp to accuse him of sexual misconducts. The accusations have cost the actor his role in House of Cards and in other projects

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