Trevor Donovan talks to Soap Opera Weekly; His Teddy character kisses Ian tonight on “90210″

We’ve come a long way from the days when straight actors who took on gay roles would go on and on about how they had to go through some kind of process to play the part and blah, blah, blah.

It was just tedious.

But Trevor Donovan is not one of those actors. He’s a thoughtful man who really gets the significance of his storyline on The CW’s 90210 that has his character of Teddy, a popular tennis playing high school student, coming to terms with being gay.

Trevor recently talked to Soap Opera Weekly about Teddy’s journey. Here is some of what he had to say:

“I thought it was a really great story to tell, that really hasn’t been told on TV as far as the ‘coming to terms with it’ aspect of the story,” he tells the magazine. “And it eerily coincides with what’s going on [with real-life gay teens committing suicide] so that’s another reason why I think it’s so important to tell it truthfully and honestly. It is being written quite tactfully, very smartly, very true to life so I’ve definitely jumped into the role. As far as Teddy jumping in himself, that takes a little while. But it’s going in a great direction. … Teddy needs to com to terms with himself before he can even begin to think how his peers or his family are going to respond and accept him. So he definitely still goes through a lot of self-denial and self-hatred to an extent, and a bit more lashing out. But you will see him fully come to terms with it.”

As an actor, Trevor has found playing a gay Teddy to be far more fulfilling as an actor: “It’s been so much fun because last year my storyline was very superficial and, ‘Everything’s okay,’ and ‘I’ll hook up with girls; it’ll be fun!’ In this, there’s a bit more substance, more layers so it has been a blast. It was just a matter of time that things would unfold and all these secrets would start surfacing. It’s interesting to see how Teddy really became who he is and how he’s going to get to where he’s going!”

If you have not been following Teddy’s story on 90210, tonight might be a good time to start. AfterElton.com reports: Teddy gets jealous when he sees Ian with another guy and that, at some point, they kiss.