I'm no expert in what country artists go through or how country audiences would react, but I'll say that the work I did to put myself in Will Lexington's shoes absolutely led me to believe that it would ruin his career. Meanwhile, I was getting lots of supportive messages saying, "Will Lexington should just come out! It's 2015 already, audiences are going to embrace it!"

Music kept me sane between acting jobs.

I've been writing songs on little pieces of paper since I was a little kid, and it's just always been something I've done.

A career like mine as an actor has a lot of ups and downs. Sometimes you wonder if you're not wasting your time trying to carve out a space for yourself in this crazy entertainment industry.

People really do identify with the characters they see on the show, but these days, social media allows you to interact with fans in a really interesting way. On my Twitter account, I'm Chris Carmack, not Will Lexington. I interact with fans and joke with them. I'll post pictures from my life. I think that helps drop the curtain of a character.

Success has a lot of different plateaus. But I first felt really proud of myself when I was doing an off-Broadway production in New York City.

I've run into more than anything is people who have a belief that they know who you are. Type-casting happens because people actually write you off. "You are in this box. That's all you are, that's everything you are." It's a very de-humanizing experience.