“Kingdom” star Frank Grillo hopes show’s gay storyline with Nick Jonas will help move progress forward

Frank Grillo is mighty impressed with how the show Kingdom, a drama set in the fight world, has handled the portrayal of a gay fighter played by Nick Jonas.

Frank Grillo is impressed with how the show Kingdom, a drama set in the fight world, has handled the portrayal of a gay fighter played by Nick Jonas.

‘I don’t remember ever seeing a gay character really being portrayed in such an honest way in a world like this, in an athletic world,’ says Grillo who plays Alvey Kulina, the father of Jonas’ extremely closeted character.

Grillo says the show, set in the mixed martial arts gym that his character owns, is a ‘great opportunity’ to address the subject of gays in sports.

‘The sports world in general is still way behind with this subject,’ he tells Huffington Post. ‘I think we have a great responsibility as a show to really portray this – the struggle of it and the prejudice of it and the reality in 2015.’

Grillo laments what happened when University of Missouri star Michael Sam came out as gay ahead of the 2014 NFL draft.

‘It was such a big deal, so much pressure was put on that kid,’ he says of Sam who was cut from two NFL teams then later quit a Canadian Football League team.

‘It shouldn’t be that much for one person to deal with,’ Grillo says.

The actor looks forward to the day when it’s not such a big deal.

‘This shouldn’t be a conversation. It should not be a conversation. It’s that simple,’ he says. ‘The fact that we’re having a conversation that it’s a big deal that this kid (in Kingdom) is struggling in this world is a testament to how much work we need to do.’

Grillo thinks those involved in sports as well as fans need perspective: ‘We live in a time where we can’t walk down the streets of Paris at the moment. It’s like, we’re worried about sexuality?’