21 Queer Actors That Got Naked for Horror Roles

October is the perfect time to revisit scary favorites. From series to feature films, horror shines in time for Halloween. One of the most fun parts of scary stories is the inclusion of some cheeky nudity and many queer actors have used the genre to strip down and show off their bodies. This week's listicle highlights 21 out actors that got naked for horror roles. Leave a comment below if we missed any of your favorites. Warning: Spoilers (and Nudity) Ahead!
 

Stephen Geoffreys 
Mixing dark comedy and body horror, the campy 1985 classic Fright Night brought vampires into suburbia as teen Charley Brewster fears a vampire has moved in next door. Queer actor Stephen Geoffreys was already a Tony-nominated actor when he was cast as "Evil" Ed, Charley's best friend. After Ed is turned into a werewolf and staked through the heart, he reverts to his human form, naked for a partial nude scene.

 

Charlie Carver 
Out actor Charlie Carver joined the American Horror Story franchise in Season 11, starring as Adam, a reporter who gets drawn into the investigation into a series of murders of young gay men like him in NYC. After striking up a romance with photographer Theo (Isaac Powell), the two hit the sheets, leading to Carver's first nude scene alongside Powell in the fourth episode of the season, which Carver happened to write. 

 

Nico Greetham 
In 2021, bisexual actor Nico Greetham pulled double duty appearing in both Ryan Murphy's American Horror Story and his anthology series American Horror Stories. Greetham got his first nude scene when he returned for a second episode of the latter series, appearing in the third episode of the second season, titled "Drive," where his character Paul is spied through a window while undressing for a shower. 

 

Alejandro La Rosa  
Gay actor Alejandro La Rosa starred in the 2018 queer horror slasher Killer Unicorn. The film tells the story of Danny (La Rosa), a New York party boy who is attacked by a stranger. One year later, his circle of queer friends urge him to return to his social life, just as he makes a potential love connection. But, the biggest party of the year is soon plagued by a masked killer. La Rosa got two rear nude scenes in the film.

 

Neil Patrick Harris 
In his 37-year career, Neil Patrick Harris has never been known for horror. However, he would take on a two-episode stint on American Horror Story in 2015. Harris guest starred during Season 4 of the anthology series as Chester Creb. Harris played it straight for his one-time AHS role, which also got him naked. He showed partial rear nudity for the first time during Episode 11, as traveling salesman Chester had sex. 

 

Colton Tran 
Colton Tran directed and co-wrote the 2023 horror film Snow Falls, which centered on a quintet of friends who become stranded in a remote cabin during a winter storm power outage, slowly going insane as they start to believe the snow may be evil. Tran also starred as one of the friends, Kit. The out actor got to write and direct himself for a rear nude scene, when Kit is found dead and naked by his friends out in the snow. 

 

Matt Bomer 
Out actor Matt Bomer has been very generous with rear nudity when it comes to Ryan Murphy productions. In addition to nudity in the Murphy-produced dramas The Normal Heart and The Boys in the Band, Bomer wasted no time getting naked for his starring role on Season 5 of the series American Horror Story. The first episode, directed by Murphy, featured multiple rear nude scenes for Bomer in his role as Donovan.

 

Cheyenne Jackson 
Joining Bomer in getting naked for Season 5 of American Horror Story was Cheyenne Jackson. The out actor made his AHS debut that season as Will Drake, the new owner of the Hotel Cortez. Like Bomer, Jackson's character got to show off rear nudity alongside The Countess (Lady Gaga) when he stripped down in Episode 6. The season premiered the year after Jackson married his husband Jason Landau. 

 

Luke Evans 
Luke Evans' resume has few horror credits. While his character in the 2019 horror thriller Ma gets exposed, this only leads to a prosthetic frontal. It was the 2012 horror thriller No One Lives that put Evans' naked body on display. For his starring role, Evans played a victim of abduction who turns the tables on his gang of captors, revealing his past as a serial killer. He showed rear nudity for a brief scene walking in the dark.  

 

Russell Tovey 
Veteran out actor Russell Tovey dipped his toe into the horror genre with his starring role on Season 11 of the American Horror Story franchise. Focused on 1980's New York City, closeted police officer Patrick Read (Tovey) investigates a series of gay murders, alongside his boyfriend, newspaper editor Gino (Joe Mantello). Tovey got to show off his butt for a shower scene during the eighth episode of the season. 

 

Zachary Quinto  
Zachary Quinto's one and only nude scene in his career, so far, came during his starring role in the second season of American Horror Story. Taking viewers into a hellish asylum, full of dark terrors, the season starred Quinto as the unsettling Dr. Oliver Thredson. Among his various crimes was having sex with one of the asylum's wrongfully admitted patients, leading lady Lana Winters, leading to rear nudity from the actor in Episode 7. 

 

Michael Johnston 
Obsession was one of the most popular films of 2025. The horror drama cast leading man Michael Johnston as the problematic Bear, determined to win the heart of his crush Nikki, even making a demonic wish that leaves her possessed and obsessed. The straight role got the queer actor his first nude scene, with him showing off his butt for an unsettling sex scene. Johnston's nudity debut would be the hit film's only nudity. 

 

Joey Pollari 
In 2026, Joey Pollari's career has been dominated by credits in Ryan Murphy productions. Pollari is currently starring in Season 13 of American Horror Story, a follow-up to his five-episode stint in Season 4 of Monster. Prior to that, Pollari guest starred on The Beauty, appearing in two episodes as Mike, a man who partakes in the series' dangerous beauty drug. He admires himself naked during Episode 6 of the series. 

 

Leonardo Nam 
Out actor Leonardo Nam is best known for his voice work and roles in Westworld and The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. Sandwiched between his appearances in the two latest Disney's Descendants films, Nam starred in the folk horror thriller Love Is the Monster, centered on trouble couples who attend a retreat that leaves them fighting for their lives. The straight role of Justin featured two nude scenes for Nam.

 

Jeremy Pope 
Though he's been acting since 2018, out actor Jeremy Pope managed to avoid nude scenes until his most recent project, the Ryan Murphy series The Beauty, which cast Pope as the beautified version of the character Jeremy (Jaquel Spivey), an outsider who gets drawn into the chaos of the beauty drug revealed to have fatal consequences. Pope got multiple nude scenes during the first season of the horror drama. 

 

Lukas Gage 
Augustus Prew wasn't the only cast member to get a nude scene in the Into the Dark anthology film Midnight Kiss. His co-star Lukas Gage also stripped down for his role as Logan. He goes skinny-dipping in the pool, removing all of his clothes before hitting the water. Gage showed off his butt both in and out of the water, as he exited the pool. Though he is all alone in a creepy scenario, it would turn out to be a misdirect.

 

Rupert Everett 
Based on a novel, the award-winning horror film Cemetery Man is a dark comedy that cast popular gay actor Rupert Everett as Francesco Dellamorte, a straight cemetery caretaker in Italy who finds himself in a seemingly never-ending cycle of fending off the undead corpses rising from the ground around him. Everett got a sex scene during the film and the role managed to feature both rear and frontal nudity from the actor. 

 

Augustus Prew 
The Into the Dark anthology film Midnight Kiss presented a murder mystery among a group of queer friends who gather for a fun weekend, only to be stalked, one by one. Leading man Augustus Prew got two scenes showing rear nudity as his character Cameron headed off for a shower. While the second scene finds him getting distracted before getting wet, he still managed to get out of his clothes a second time. 

 

Isaac Powell 
Like several actors on this list, Isaac Powell's horror nudity came in Ryan Murphy productions. For Season 11 of American Horror Story, Powell starred as photographer Theo who is drawn into the investigation of queer murders in New York City. He got a brief rear nude scene alongside his co-star Charlie Carver. For 2026's The Beauty, Powell got an extended rear nude scene as Manny, after his beauty transformation.

 

Ronen Rubinstein
Bisexual actor Ronen Rubinstein has never been shy about showing off his body, whether on social media or on film. After a flash of frontal nudity in the 2013 film It Felt Like Love, Rubinstein showed some brief rear nudity for the teen horror film Some Kind of Hate. He got a more extended opportunity to get naked for the 2020 horror thriller Smiley Face Killers, where Rubinstein played Jake, soccer player stalked by serial killers.

 

Cooper Koch 
Prior to his Emmy-nominated performance in the first season of Monster, Cooper Koch made his mark in the horror genre with two releases in 2022 that both got him naked. Cooper starred in the body horror Swallowed as Benjamin, showing rear and frontal nudity. He also showed rear nudity in the slasher They/Them, as Stu, one of a group of young people sent to a conversion camp that becomes the setting for a series of murders.