Actor Zachary Quinto, known for portraying Spock in the 2009 blockbuster film Star Trek, has publicly come out as a gay man.

In an interview with New York Magazine published yesterday, Quinto recalled a stage play he performed in last year, Angels in America, which was set against the backdrop of the AIDS epidemic and the toll it took on him personally.

Zachary Quinto has revealed he is gay. Credit:Reuters

"[A]s a gay man, it made me feel like there's still so many things that need to be looked at and addressed," he told the magazine.

Quinto, who rose to fame playing the evil killer Sylar on the television series Heroes, also mused to the magazine about gay marriage and young gay teens who have committed suicide after being bullied.