21-year old Adamo Ruggiero first became a gay icon at age 16. Too bad the Degrassi: The Next Generation actor hadn't yet come to terms with his own homosexuality. In fact, it wouldn't be until this year that Ruggiero - who has a long history of extracurricular activism - would come out to the public.

The part-time film student and full-time artist recently gabbed with our editor about the pros and cons of playing Marco Del Rossi, why Canadians don't care about celebrity and how his acting experience gave him a new view of the U.S.

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Newly out actor Adamo Ruggiero appears on Canadian fag rag Fab's February issue. We totally want to smooch the dashing 21-year old, but we've watched him grow up on Degrassi: The Next Generation. Is that wrong?

Those of you who don't watch Degrassi: The Next Generation are really missing out. Seriously, it's a great show - and just got even better.

Adamo Ruggiero, who plays gay student Marco, has finally come out of the closet. While one may think being gay and playing gay go hand-in-hand, Ruggiero says otherwise:

I was growing up at the exact same time that my character was growing up. He was questioning things that I was questioning and I was just a kid and I'm completely petrified and you don't really understand or know where you fit in or who you are, and my character's asking these exact same questions, but he moved along a little faster than I did - for TV time's sake.

I think it really scared me. I think I suddenly had this kind of third life. There was the composed life and the TV life, and then there was my personal life in a way. So it was a little overwhelming in the sense that everything that I was feeling…

And here we thought Ruggiero was just a great actor…