Black, Gay, and Visible: J. August Richards

Since actor J. August Richards began his Hollywood career in the late 80s, he portrayed several significant roles, including vampire hunter Charles Gunn in Angel and super cyborg Mike Peterson in Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., but it’s his recent role as Dr. Oliver Post in NBC’s new hit drama Council of Dads that challenged him to take one of the biggest leaps in his life. At age 46, Richards revealed in April that he is gay during an Instagram Live video with co-star Sarah Wayne Callies.

Richards says he got into acting to combat oppression, and Council of Dads required him to show up fully as his authentic self. He knew that he could not honestly portray Post, a married, black, gay man and father, without letting everyone know that he is a gay man himself. There were other factors that led to this decision, but Richards knew how important it is to see a role model like Post on television. Since coming out, Richards received love, support, and encouragement.

OUT FRONT caught up with Richards to talk more about Council of Dads, why we should check it out, and what more he would like to accomplish with his platform as an openly gay, black actor.

Hi, J! Thank you so much for taking the time to chat with me about your new NBC show, Council of Dads. Can you tell us more about it?
Council of Dads is about a man who gets diagnosed with a terminal form of cancer, and in the event of his death, he asks three men to stand in for him as surrogate fathers. So, he chooses his childhood best friend, the man he sponsors in Alcoholics Anonymous, and me, his oncologist. At the end of the pilot, he does die, and we end up becoming his stand-in fathers.

Can you tell us more about your character, Dr. Oliver Post? What is he all about?
Oliver is Scott’s oncologist, as well as his wife’s best friend from medical school. He had a troubled family life as a child, and it was always his dream to be a father, but he never thought it was possible because he is a gay man, and he was not accepted by his family. So, over the course of his life, he builds a family. He meets his husband; they have been together for 15 years; they got married before it was legal; he is best friends with this girl named Robin and her kids.

He found this family, and so for him, when he is asked to be on the council of dads, he knows what he missed from his father. What he wants to provide for the children in his life, he wants to build a fence around them and create a space where they can naturally thrive as themselves because he loves them. So, that is who Oliver is. He is a protector, and he wants to give you the freedom to be you, whoever that is.

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We are only a couple episodes in; how has Council of Dads been received by audiences so far?
So far, so good! I have never seen such 100 percent approval rating from people who watched the entire first episode. I have never stood in front of so many people crying before, either. Everyone was telling me about how much the first episode, and the second episode as well, made them cry. So, the reception has been great. I am just happy that people are moved by it.

Why did you want to be involved with Council of Dads?
Firstly, I loved the character, and I loved the script. I think that my work as an actor is all about a dialogue, about the humanity of black men, and I felt like this role furthers that conversation. The humanity and the perception of black men in American and in the world. That is what all my work is about as an actor, and this felt like a very natural progression to that conversation. Also, the message is really tied into one that is very personal and important to me, which is about equality—not just diversity, but equality. Everyone on this show sits at the table equally. There’s not just one of this, and one of that;There is multiple of each, and that’s empowering. So, that is why I wanted to be a part of this show.

And what have you learned from this experience?
Wow, that’s a really big question because I have learned so much. Prior to getting this job, I wrote down what I wanted from my next job. I wrote down that I wanted a character that I could sink my teeth into that felt like a hand in a glove but was also a challenge in a fun way. I wanted to be around people who inspire me as a human being and as an artist, and I did not want to be on a procedural. This show presented all of those things. To describe all of the things that I learned, it would be a book [laughs].

Your acting career began when you were spotted by a casting director. Has this always been your passion?
Always. I wasn’t so much spotted by a casting director as I crashed his office in the city of New York when I was a kid in Maryland. I crashed, I mean I disrupted the life of the casting director of The Cosby Show when I was 14 or 15, and I haven’t looked back since. Ever since I was sat in front of the television, I tried to crawl directly in it. I was just so clear about who I was and what I wanted to do with my life. So, yes, I have always known that I wanted to be an actor.

Many people know you as Charles Gunn in Angel and Michael Peterson/Deathlok in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. What is your dream role?
I always say the next one is my dream role because it’s my job to make sure that every character that I get is a dream role. I have to figure out why it’s my dream role, and that’s the work that I do.

You recently decided to open about your sexuality. Why did you feel like this was the right time to let the world know that you are gay?
This was sort of the last step of my coming out process. Everyone in my life who needed to know knew, and I moved through the world doing exactly what I wanted to do when I wanted to do it, but there was a layer, a wall that I have always had between my career and my personal life. I don’t think I’m telling anybody new information by saying that. People have a tendency to limit what you can do as a gay person in this world, more deeply as a gay actor, and they also have a tendency to limit what you can do as a black actor. So, at a young age, I was ill-equipped and ill-prepared to move through this town both black and gay. I’m 46 years old now, and I can do it. I finally have the confidence and the knowledge to be able to do it. If I would have done it a day before I did, it would have been the wrong time.

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What more do you hope to accomplish with your platform as an openly gay, black actor?
Honestly, I just hope to thrive. I just want other gay men out there, other black, gay men, other actors, other people, just to be inspired by the fact that one can be openly gay and still survive. That is all I really want. I also want to open the dialogue in communities about allowing people to be themselves and not stereotyping or limiting the possibilities in the world. More importantly, by coming out publicly, my true mission was revealed to me, which is, I want equality for all. I am talking about groups that I belong to and groups that I don’t. That is really what I come here to do. That is my mission, and I feel like every time someone liberates themselves, you give other people permission to liberate themselves as well. I hope to make this world a little bit more of an equal place for everyone.

What’s next for you? Any other upcoming projects we should be on the lookout for?
Man, I am just trying to wait out this quarantine [laughs]. I literally have no plans because I can’t plan anything. We’re just all doing a part, and bringing it back to the show for second, I really think that’s the theme of Council of Dads. It’s like, how do you show up for one another in a time of crisis, but also, how do you show up in the mundane moments as well? I think as a planet, we are all being asked to show up for one another. Whether that means stay at home, or being a frontline healthcare worker or grocery store attendant or police officer, whatever your position is, we are all showing up for each other, and that is ultimately what our show is about.

Photos by Benjo Arwas