Actress Emily Rios Talks About Coming Out to Her Mexican Family

By Jamilah King Jul 24, 2014

Emily Rios, the 25-year-old actress who stars in FX’s "The Bridge" and had a role on AMC’s "Breaking Bad," recently opened up about coming out to her family. Rios was born in Los Angeles and raised as a Jehovah’s Witness in nearby El Monte. In an interview with AfterEllen, she said that she’s proud to take on queer roles.

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," she said. "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 mom 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.

I want it to be an incidental thing, which is what happens in our everyday life," Rios said. "I wanted to make sure the whole lesbian aspect wasn’t this whole coming out story and the character wasn’t going to be made more flamboyant in any sort of way.

Read more at AfterEllen