"90210" Actors on Their Character Possibly Being Gay

Trevor Donovan, Michael Steger, Matt Lanter

The news that The CW's 90210 was going to have one of three characters — Navid (Michael Steger), Liam (Matt Lanter) or Teddy (Trevor Donovan) — come out as gay this season, set off a lot of speculation as to which character it would be and how the show would handle it.

But what about the three actors themselves? How did they feel about the news? AfterElton.com talked with all three men at The CW party at the Television Critics Association Summer Tour.

Trevor Donovan

How did you hear about the news?
How we found out was basically how you found out, via the internet. It was leaked and so now we're wondering who it's going to be, when it's going to come out.

Do you know if it's your character?
We don't know who it is yet. There is a 33.3% chance that it's going to be me. And I would be flattered if they did [make it Teddy]. What a great chance to prove your acting chops and dive into a different kind of character. That's why we do this.

Were you surprised by the news?
I knew they'd be doing something. There's always twists and turns, something dramatic in an episodic like [90210] so not not necessarily surprised.

What kind of storyline would you like to see if it is your character?
I think that the most important thing for the storyline would be to address the inner turmoil and inner difficulty of a high school senior — especially if it's my character — as a player and a ladies man, the son of an actor who has grown up in a certain spotlight. So addressing that in, not necessarily the shock value of it, but the challenge would be to come self-realization, self-acceptance, to peer-acceptance, to all of that that really goes into a long arc and the process of it.

And I have faith in the network that they are going to write it that way.