Tyler Blackburn is speaking his truth.
In a new interview with the Advocate, the Pretty Little Liars star is opening up about how his new role in the show Roswell, New Mexico has helped him to be comfortable in his own skin. By playing his character Sgt. Alex Manes, who is a gay war veteran, Tyler says he is starting to "feel powerful in my own skin, and my own mind, and in my own heart."
"I knew this guy in and out," the actor says of bringing Sgt. Manes to life. "I understood feeling oppressed. I understood having issues with my father [wanting to feel] accepted by him. I understood wanting something but being afraid to have it. I understood self-doubt."
These feelings of "self-doubt" seemed to be heightened during Blackburn's youth, when he grew up in Los Angeles, Calif. The 32-year-old shares, "I got bullied a lot by other boys, and I just felt like my soul was slowly being taken from me."
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