Happy birthday to Brandon Flynn, the 32-year-old actor who’s been unapologetically gay since he came out at 14 (!) – and he’s made it everyone else’s problem in the best way possible.

You know him as Justin Foley from “13 Reasons Why”, but Flynn’s real story is even better than fiction. This Miami kid grew up too sensitive for the playground, got bullied for loving theater, and responded by becoming one of the first openly gay actors to land a major Netflix role.

His Instagram bio? Just two words in quotes: “Straight Acting.” If you don’t get the joke, you’re part of it.

Now he’s about to play James Dean in a biopic exploring the Hollywood icon’s hidden gay college romance – and he’s not holding back about why it matters. “The whole world is just so f***ing homophobic,” Flynn said about Dean’s queerness being buried for decades, “It’s important that we reveal these stories.”

Behind the sharp wit and smoldering Calvin Klein campaigns is a couple who celebrated their love with true bohemian flair. Brandon Flynn and playwright Jordan Tannahill married on October 12, 2024, the day after Brandon’s 31st birthday, in a stylish ceremony held at St. Mark’s Church-in-the-Bowery in New York City.

Brandon Flynn turns visibility into rebellion, and he makes it look sexy doing it. That’s worth celebrating.

Brandon Flynn is redefining what it means to be an out and proud actor in Hollywood, one role at a time.

Since Netflix’s 13 Reasons Why catapulted him to superstardom, the 31-year-old has built a career on unconventional, unexpected, and often adorable parts. Occasionally, that means playing a humorous but misguided gay man trying to impress his boyfriend’s family, like in Max’s recent horror comedy, The Parenting.

Other times, the work calls for summoning silver-screen greats, such as this year’s Kowalski, an Off-Broadway play that required him to portray a young Marlon Brando.

As Flynn told Vogue Philippines in February, “My career, I’m assuming, looks a certain way because I’m an out actor … There’s still a lot more that I want to do. I don’t always feel like I’m in the room for those conversations. But I’m very optimistic that there’s plenty of time.”

But if working alongside Brian Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Edie Falco, and earning the best reviews of his career in the same calendar year wasn’t enough, Flynn also found time to get married. (According to Vogue, he and writer husband Jordan Tannahill’s fall wedding was “avant garde,” “intimate and fun,” and featured custom looks by Ludovic de Saint Sernin.)

Acting has been a guiding light in Flynn’s life since his first big role as Mr. Smee in Peter Pan at age 10. Born and raised in Miami, he attended high school at New World School of the Arts before earning his bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts at Rutgers University and studying theatre at London’s Globe Theatre.

In 2017, Flynn’s breakout moment came in 13 Reasons Why as Justin Foley, a troubled jock who goes through an emotionally intense arc throughout the show’s four seasons. “I knew it was going to be special, but back then, Netflix wasn’t what it is today,” he told X Mag UK. “I remember the day after the first season premiered, I was recognized on the street … It’s a beautiful double-edged sword where recognition helps me do what I love, but it’s also quite intense and something I don’t think I’ll ever get used to.”

One of the things that he loves is theatre: His off-Broadway debut was in John Kander and George Pierce’s Kid Victory, and he even met his husband at a workshop of Tannahill’s play, Prince F*ggot, where Flynn told Vogue their “rehearsal hall romance” bloomed.

The other thing is advocacy, especially for the LGBTQ+ community. At the 2018 Queerties, he won Closet Door Bustdown, and as Flynn told Cero, he thinks as artists, “we have a job to be outspoken. There’s something with social media that has really shaped how artists are able to point to specific directions for people and uplift voices that have years and peers behind them.”

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Flynn’s next big project is writing an adaptation of Gary Indiana’s Rent Boy, which he hopes to direct. “I connected to it deeply, what it feels like sometimes as an actor to sort of be a rent boy and sort of be a hustler,” he told Cero.

After a busy personal and professional year, Flynn is optimistic about his career and the potential of art. And as he continues to redefine what it means to be a LGBTQ+ actor in Hollywood with every project, we can’t wait to see what comes next.

“When I watched The Parenting, I was like, ‘Hmm, is this the kind of actor I want to be?” Flynn explained.

“This question is interesting because the last couple days, I’ve been figuring out what’s the next manifestation. I think the short answer is, I want to continue to do it all. I believe in myself that I can do it all.”