Brian Michael Smith Is First Trans Actor In ‘Sexiest Men Alive’ List
Image: Brian Michael Smith. Image: Instagram
“I’ve been called many things, this is a first,” said Brian Michael Smith on Instagram when he found out he was named by People as one of the “25 sexiest men on TV”. The nod for Smith is historic as the actor is the first transgender man to make it into People’s annual ‘Sexiest Man Alive’ issue.
“Incredibly honoured to be included in this list with so many actors I admire. Big love to @people for the historic shout out,” Smith posted.
The actor received praise from many on Instagram, including model Laith Ashley who said, “Sexy man, OWN THAT.”
Smith, who stars as firefighter Paul Strickland on FOX’s 9-1-1 Lone Star, was also included in ‘People’s One’s to Watch 2021,’ in October.
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A Trans Hero
Smith told People “I’ve never seen a trans hero in this way, shown as a hero, not struggling with his identity. People have emailed me that it gives them courage. One guy is going through firefighter training and didn’t think he would ever be able to because of his trans experience.”
Smith first burst into stardom in his role as Antoine “Toine” Wilkins, a transgender police officer in Queen Sugar, executive produced by Ava Duvernay and Oprah Winfrey. When he was cast on 9-1-1 Lone Star, Smith became the first transgender man to be cast as a series regular in a network television series.
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“That’s something I really like about Lone Star, is that they allow my character to just be who he is, while also at other times exploring his trans experience and giving room for that as well,” Smith said in a LGBTQ&A podcast in February.
“There aren’t many acting roles about trans people, let alone trans men in TV and films. And I’ve found that often when things are written by people outside of the trans experience, they tend to focus on these common tropes: the painful disclosure, or the physical aspects of transition itself. The characters tend to be pre-transition or early in transition, and the storylines they are involved in are mainly focused on their transition and them seeking other people’s acceptance or their non-trans love interest or family members’ reaction,” Smith told GLAAD in an interview.
‘There’s A Future For Me’
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”But there is so much more to trans people’s experiences than those moments. There’s so much life after transition that has gone unexplored in TV and films, and as an artist, this is the part of my life and experience that I had been looking to explore in my work,” Smith said.
“I also had concerns that disclosing my gender history, without establishing myself as a strong actor first, would exclude me from being considered for non-trans roles,” Smith told GLAAD. “I feel that because I began my career post-transition and am not ‘visibly trans,’ I had the privilege of choosing to disclose or not and I was able to go in for any role that fit my type.”
“If nothing else happens for the rest of my life I’m happy because I was able to use all of stuff that was negative…difficult all the struggles in my life to help other people. There’s someone who can turn on the TV and see I’m not the only one, it’s not just me and there’s a future for me,” Smith said in an Instagram post in October.
Several other Queer stars also made the pages of the annual thirst trap issue, including Smith’s 9-1-1 Lone Star co-star Ronen Rubinstein, Pose star Dyllón Burnside and Lil Nas X.
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