Journey Towards Self-Acceptance and Living Without Fear

"Prior to Hadestown, I played The Magical Negro. I have no regrets about that. But all the while...and this is going to sound corny, but it's true. All the while I was saying, 'Why doesn't someone cast me for my mind? For my intellect? Am I really just another pretty face?' And it came together in Hadestown."

André De Shields talks about the five decades he's spent working on Broadway, being a long-term survivor of HIV, and arriving in New York City during the sexual revolution of the 1970s.

André can be seen on Broadway this fall in the newest revival of Death of a Salesman. LGBTQ&A is hosted by Jeffrey Masters and produced by The Advocate magazine, in partnership with GLAAD. A condensed transcript of each week's interview is posted on The Advocate's website. Follow us on Twitter: @lgbtqpod