Breaking Bad actress comes out as gay
Breaking Bad actress Emily Rios has come out as gay.
Rios, who played Jesse’s recovering addict girlfriend Andrea on the show, currently stars as gay character Adriana Mendez on FX drama series The Bridge.
According to AfterEllen, she told reporters: “I’m gay, personally, so being Mexican and a lesbian – this is why I love the character because I deal with the same type of things with my own family.
“Mexican-Americans especially — because this generation, we come into America and your family wants to be proud.
“You want to come to this country and say ‘This is what I have to show for it. I brought my family and we’re living our better life.’
“For my family, my mum didn’t want me to live a difficult life. She brought me here for a better one so she’s like ‘Your coming out… I don’t want this to be this. I want you to be comfortable’.”
“Adrianna’s story on The Bridge is a little different because her mom is ashamed and embarrassed, but I dealt with that as well.
“It just took a year for ‘Hey it’s not a phase, this is really happening.’ And then they get comfortable with it. So it was a little bit more extreme, but the Mexicans are very family-oriented. It’s all about the love so they’re very supportive.
“Mostly what I find in the community I grew up in, which is highly populated with Hispanics, my family and a lot of my friends who are gay and lesbian, they have a backlash but it’s an initial backlash. An initial ‘Oh no, this is not happening.’
“But for any parent, I’m sure, it’s a big slap in the face, especially for our heritage. But more than ever I want to say 90 percent of them have big support systems.”
