THE REAL O’NEALS – ABC’s “The Real O’Neals” stars Noah Galvin as Kenny. (ABC/Bob D’Amico)

Noah Galvin might be new on your television screen, but he’s no stranger to the entertainment business. Starting out as a child stage actor in New York, Galvin worked his way from Broadway to circus to eventually landing the lead role as Kenny on “The Real O’Neals.”

Kenny, loosely based on Dan Savage’s teen years, comes out to his conservative Catholic family in Chicago. After his big admission, he must learn how to navigate his sexuality and high school at the same time. The show, which airs Wednesdays at 8:30 p.m. on ABC, shows his family is far from perfect themselves. His parents (Martha Plimpton and Jay Ferguson) are getting divorced, his older jock brother (Matt Shively) is anorexic and his little sister (Bebe Wood) has a case of sticky fingers while starting to question her own faith. A Blade interview with the show’s producer is here.

Galvin says although he came out around high school like Kenny does, their experiences were hardly the same. The out actor spoke with the Blade about how shaving the side of his head was an integral part of his coming out and how Savage became a mentor for him in work and his personal life.

WASHINGTON BLADE: Kenny’s high school experience is kind of chaotic after he comes out. Was your high school experience similar to Kenny’s? When did you come out?

NOAH GALVIN: I came out when I was 14. I had been working for Cirque du Soleil the year before and had been homeschooling, and then decided I didn’t want to homeschool any more because it was so isolating. So I held myself back a year and went to this regular public school in Westchester, N.Y., that I had friends at. Before I went back to school I had my friends shave the side of my head and pierce my right ear in the bathroom so I could really just walk into the school a completely new, out, gay person. The chaos came from people around me, people who had to deal with this. Kenny’s struggles are different. They’re sort of internal. They’re sort of self-imposed. He’s creating this problem himself, and no one really has an issue with it at school. It’s just him freaking out about it and not wanting to face these things.

BLADE: What’s been the biggest challenge bringing Kenny to life?

GALVIN: I don’t know if I would call this a challenge, but Kenny’s very comfortable with himself. It was a cool thing to portray a different coming out experience.

BLADE: In the episode “The Real Spring Fever,” Kenny experiments with online dating. Do you have any online dating horror stories?

GALVIN: I have a couple dating apps. I have Tinder and what not. I don’t use them per se, but I have them. No horror stories to date, thank God. I’ll let you know when I do though.

BLADE: What’s been your favorite episode to film?

GALVIN: Honestly, I don’t know if I have one. I have favorite moments from all of them. They’re all so close to my heart. I really love this show and I think it’s really great, funny and important. We’ve gotten to work with awesome guest stars. Frances Conroy of “Six Feet Under” fame plays our grandmother, and “Six Feet Under” has been my favorite show forever. So getting to work with her is incredible. Tim Gunn is on an episode and he is just one of the most wonderful men in the world just so sweet, smart and supportive.

BLADE: What’s the atmosphere like on set?

GALVIN: Joyous. We have an amazing time together. Our cast gets along so freakishly well. None of us chemistry tested together and for some reason we just like magically melded together so perfectly. Something that Martha (Plimpton) and Jay (Ferguson) realized like two-thirds of the way into the process, maybe even later, was that we were all child actors. So I think that sort of lent itself to us getting to know each other and liking each other. We all have a similar level of professionalism. We’re all about do the work, leave it at work and then go on with our lives. On set it’s hard; you’re doing 14- and 16-hour days, and it’s a comedy so you’ve got to keep your energy up the whole time. Jay is a big proponent of game playing, so on set it’s mostly just us being told to quiet down because we’re yelling and screaming and playing Catch Phrase.

BLADE: You’re playing a young Dan Savage on the show. Did you get to meet him and what was your impression of him?

GALVIN: Dan is a good friend. We initially met during the filming of the pilot. At first he was sort of distancing himself from me and I didn’t know why. Eventually I sat down with him and was like, “What’s up, man?” And it came out that he thought I was like 15 years old. Upon realizing I was 21, he was like, “Oh thank god” and was able to really get into it with me, and talk about things which was really nice. He’s a very busy man so he wasn’t there for a lot of the filming of the whole series. He’s a non-creative executive producer, so he doesn’t write anything for the show. I was in touch with him and any time I had a question or a problem I would turn to him. Both professionally and unprofessionally he was a source of advice for me.

BLADE: Are you still in school or are you acting full time?

GALVIN: I am acting full time. The college application process was a big point of contention in my family. I’m an actor and I knew I was going to be an actor. I had been working professionally since I was 10. It was kind of a struggle for me to finish school just because I was working. My senior year of high school it came down to it, and I finally decided I wasn’t going to apply to colleges or conservatories. I was just going to start working and see what happens. And this (“The Real O’Neals”) came along months after which was great.

BLADE: Are you concerned about being typecast as the “gay guy” for future roles because of this show?

GALVIN: Definitely. It’s not a fear, but it’s something that’s on my mind and something I think about. It’s something I’ll have to learn how to navigate. I don’t have any interest in being a spokesperson or poster boy for any movement. But I would absolutely love to be an advocate and do advocacy work. But in that, I really just want to be able to do everything. I want to keep working. I want variety in my career. I’m hoping that we’re in a time where I’m not the Rupert Everett of our generation. I’m hoping that casting directors are open minded enough to see that I can do a lot of things.