In New Interviews, Actor Connor Jessup Talks About Falling in Love with '13 Reasons Why' Star Miles Heizer

Actor Connor Jessup, who currently stars in Netflix's "Locke & Key" series, is opening up about his new relationship with "13 Reasons Why" actor Miles Heizer not long after the couple went Instagram official.

Speaking with Attitude magazine, Jessup, who has been dating Heizer for just over a year, said that falling in love with Heizer gave him the courage to publicly come out as gay last year.

"I'll spare you the boring story of how we met because it's truly unexciting, but I will say – not to get sappy – that the other factor that led to me deciding to come out, and I guess maybe one of the sparks at the beginning of the fuse, was that I fell in love," he said.

Jessup, who is the magazine's April cover story, added:

"When you're happy, you want to be happy publicly, and it made me think about the whole construction of my life in a way that I had been avoiding. I probably wouldn't have [come out] if that hadn't happened."

He said that he decided to come out on Toronto Pride Day (his hometown), because "the excuses that I'd been giving myself for years were dissolving," noting that his love life was on "pause" when he was working on shows like "Falling Skies" and "American Crime."

"The excuse was always that I was busy working and there was never the time to meet people – that's all true to an extent, but also I think I was afraid," Jessup told Attitude. "So, I had relationships, but nothing like the one I'm in right now. This is my first time being in love."

The "Closet Monster" star also spoke with The New York Times this week, revealing that he first took notice of Heizer on Instagram.

"I guess it could have been worse," Jessup said. "It could have been Grindr."

He also talked about his mother being his personal "gay icon" and discussed his new show "Locke and Key," explaining he drew connections between his character, Tyler, and his own struggles with accepting being gay.

"When I was a kid, I was profoundly unsporty and I didn't have hobbies, but I had energy to burn," Jessup told the NYT. "I loved fantasy books: Harry Potter and Narnia and His Dark Materials. When I was 10 and I had just started acting, this [Locke and Key role] is exactly the kind of job I dreamed about.

"The show is a beautiful, nuanced exploration of what it means to grow up, specifically growing up with trauma or grief," he added. "Tyler very much can't deal with what he's feeling and keeps it all inside. I understand that."

Click here to read Jessup's full interview with Attitude and here to read his full interview with the NYT.