Falduto played sassy costume-designer Billy in the 2003 movie, which became a box office hit still adored by many.
Coming out and the long term impact of becoming a child star: neither are particularly easy obstacles to face and Brian Falduto can speak from experience on both.
Brian revealed in a heartfelt interview that he didn’t feel able to come out until his senior year of college because of his role in SOR and the characters assumed sexuality, which followed him well into adult life.
“I was in so much denial [about my sexuality],” he said on the Cooper and Anthony Show.
“Think about it: I was in the fifth grade when this movie came out and I was called gay, and then someone told me that’s not cool, so I was just like, ‘Oh, ok, then I’m not gay’.”
Brian went on to say that the same message about his sexuality came to such an extent that “my denial had to come so often.”
“So I was denying it before I even had a notion of what [being gay] was,” he told radio hosts Cooper Lawrence and Anthony Michaels.
He went on to say: “In college I met a ton of gay people, and I was like, ‘This is awesome, and they’re great.’ But it still wasn’t an option for me.
“I was so far in denial, which I think that’s one of the reasons I got into life coaching in my older age a little bit too – because it’s just so fascinating to me how the mind works and how it locks into these different conditioning and behaviour patterns just because of one thing you told yourself 14 years ago. It’s really crazy.”
Brian seems to be thriving now however, continuing to work as an actor, a musician and a certified life coach, along with, most importantly, being a proud gay man!
Brian went on to praise Jack Black, who played lead role in the movie, mentioning that the Hollywood star is still in touch with him and other former child actors from the cast.
“I want to give him a shout out for being an awesome, awesome human,” Falduto said.