13 Times Queer Actors Starred in Music Videos

A key component of most music releases is the accompanying music video. Over the years, artists have used the music video format to help promote their songs and bring a visual theme to their tracks. Queer actors are no strangers to popping up in notable music videos. This week's listicle highlights 13 times that out queer actors appeared in music videos across the wide spectrum of music genres. Leave a comment below if we missed any of your favorites. 
 

Cooper Koch - "Ordinary Girl" by Hannah Montana
One of Cooper Koch's very first roles came via cameo in the Hannah Montana music video "Ordinary Girl." Released in 2010, the music video sees Montana (Miley Cyrus) passing her camera to a teen at her concert. The video then follows the girl's return to school, where she shows interest in a classmate played by Koch as the song continues to play. The music video also featured a cameo from another future heartthrob, Ross Lynch.

 

Noah Schnapp - "LA Devotee" by Panic! At the Disco
Just after beginning his role on the Netflix hit Stranger Things, Noah Schnapp starred in the music video for "LA Devotee" from the rock band Panic! at the Disco. Schnapp played a boy kidnapped by cloaked figures that torture him while he lip syncs the song's lyrics. Schnapp would later appear among the large number of cameos in Drake's music video for his song "In My Feelings." The actor came out in 2023.

 

Kevin McHale - "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)" by Katy Perry
Katy Perry's chart-topping song "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)" also produced an award-winning music video. Glee star Kevin McHale was among the notable performers in the video inspired by Sixteen Candles and Ugly Betty. The out actor McHale played the dorky male counterpart to Katy's alter-ego Kathy Beth Terry, who gets a party makeover. The video also featured McHale's Glee co-star Darren Criss.

 

Andy Cohen - "G.U.Y." by Lady Gaga
Lady Gaga took inspiration from reality television for the music video for her 2014 single "G.U.Y.", tapping the cast of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills to appear in the video. Out Bravo television host Andy Cohen helped Gaga recruit the reality show cast and got to appear in the video himself as the personification of God. "G.U.Y." was the third music video from Gaga that the artist directed herself.

 

Terrell Carter - "Good Man" by Angie Stone
Out actor Terrell Carter played a central role in the 2023 music video for the song "Good Man" from popular singer Angie Stone. The star of Netflix's Beauty in Black, Carter appears as the object of Stone's desire in the R&B music video. The stripped down video makes good use of Carter's physique as he dances topless while Stone sings the romantic track. Carter himself is also a singer and songwriter.

 

Matt Rogers - "Not the End of the World" by Katy Perry
Out actor Matt Rogers starred in Katy Perry's music video for her 2020 release "Not the End of the World." The apocalyptic story saw Perry-obsessed aliens, played by Rogers and Mitra Jouhari, traveling to Earth to abduct her, only to capture lookalike actress Zooey Deschanel instead. The comedic video sees Deschanel team up with the aliens to save the planet. Rogers appeared in blue make-up for the music video.

 

Keiynan Lonsdale - "Liar" by Camila Cabello
The time-bending music video for the song "Liar" from Camila Cabello cast fellow singer/actor Keiynan Lonsdale. Cabello's unhappy character is shown cheating on her fiancé (Zak Steiner) with Lonsdale's busboy character. Things turn to chaos when her death leads her to relive the same day, encountering various grizzly ends until she is ultimately taken away by police, also played by Lonsdale and Steiner.

 

Nyle DiMarco - "Tequila" by Dan + Shay  
Nyle DiMarco starred in the 2018 Dan + Shay music video for their Grammy-winning country ballad "Tequila." The video gained notoriety upon its release as it was a rare music video to incorporate ASL through Nyle's hiker character who explores romance with a skier (Mica Von Turkovich). The sexually-fluid model/actor has also performed in ASL music videos for songs from Ariana Grande and Kelly Clarkson.

 

Jonathan Bennett & Troye Sivan - "Thank U, Next" by Ariana Grande
Pop superstar Ariana Grande channeled Mean Girls for her 2019 "Thank U, Next" music video, making it the perfect opportunity to include Jonathan Bennett. The out actor reprised his role as Aaron Samuels in the visual homage, allowing him to make eyes with Ariana. The video also included a cameo from Grande's friend and fellow musician Troye Sivan briefly playing another high school student.

 

Matt Dallas - "Thinking of You" by Katy Perry
One of Katy Perry's less popular tracks from her second album One of the Boys, was "Thinking of You." The 2009 music video cast Matt Dallas as a soldier love interest for Perry's character in the 1940s, as she laments losing love during World War II. Dallas and his husband Blue Hamilton would later reveal on their YouTube channel that they first met while attending a Katy Perry performance, years before their romance.

 

Brandon Flynn - "Lockjaw" by Cook Thugless
Out actor Brandon Flynn took center stage for the Cook Thugless music video for their song "Lockjaw," featuring Shyrley. The music video for the New Jersey group's 2018 break out hit song featured Flynn playing an actor who grows increasingly more frustrated with his life in Los Angeles. At the time, Flynn was at the height of his popularity thanks to his starring role on the Netflix drama 13 Reasons Why.

 

Colton Haynes - "Trouble" by Leona Lewis
Prior to his coming out, Colton Haynes played the love interest for Leona Lewis in the 2012 music video for her song "Trouble." In a track inspired by Lewis' real-life break-up, Haynes played the boyfriend role in scenes showing the couple's happy life together mixed with scenes of the altercation that ends their romance. Haynes also appeared as the love interest in Victoria Justice's "Gold" music video the following year.

 

Wentworth Miller - "It's Like That" and "We Belong Together" by Mariah Carey
2005 was a big year for Wentworth Miller. He began his starring role on the drama Prison Break and was also cast as Mariah Carey's love interest in two of her music videos. The two videos were filmed simultaneously, with "It's Like That" ending on a cliffhanger that is resolved in "We Belong Together," as Mariah meets Miller's mystery man and later ditches her wedding to run off with him. Miller would come out as gay in 2013.