Growing up in Miami as the youngest of three boys, Christian Gabriel had South Florida community built in from the start.

Moving to Hollywood as an adult, Gabriel crossed paths with director Mark Schwab, where Gabriel became a muse of sorts for Schwab, starring in two of his LGBTQ films (“Shadows in Mind” and “Brotherly Lies”). Now residing back in Florida, Gabriel and Schwab are collaborating again, this time on Schwab’s new film “Exteriors” (now available on GayBingeTV). Gabriel and I caught up to discuss his path to Hollywood, his deep roots in the Sunshine State and why advocacy for his community is more important than ever right now.

How did growing up in Miami inform who you are as an actor and who you are as a person?

I wouldn't say like Miami really hasn't influenced me as an actor per se. I would say me as a person, not so much Miami as the city, but like kind of the perspective of I grew up in an area that's like super immigration focused and it was like my family all relied on each other and then we also relied on our neighbors and then it was just like a community-based kind of thing because when nobody's got anything, we all kind of worked together to build something type of thing.

As an actor, what really shaped me was straight up just being raised the way I was raised, growing up talking the way I talked. Then when I moved to Los Angeles, I was kind of told that I was too white and pretty looking to act the way that I act and do the what I do. So I had to learn how to change who I was in order to appease the cameras.

So when you got there, it was like a big culture shock. Now, when you left for Hollywood, did you have aspirations that quickly got dashed it sounds like?

No, I had great success. You know, I have no regrets. I've deleted all my social media, I don't do anything, I don't have any regrets about my time in Los Angeles. I knew what it was and once I saw what people wanted, just because you want me to look a certain way it doesn’t (mean I will). Just because you're telling me I have to look and present a certain way does not mean you hold an advantage over me. It just means you're playing your cards, so I knew how to play the game. I knew how to turn up the charm. I knew how to make them like me, you know? I love you know, I love that.

Tell me about deleting your socials. In this type of industry, is it challenging?

I have an Instagram that's private that I use for like my mom and my postings but I don't want people to follow me. If you're going to be a talented actor and you're going to be a successful actor and you're going to be an artist, your art should be what gets you popularized, not you showing your abs and your ass on Instagram.

Life is so beautiful and the people who you surround you are so amazing. You really have the option of putting down your phone and being present and in the moment.

So you think social media is impacting acting in a negative way.

What we are seeing now is an influx of worse and worse actors. You're just seeing who don't know what life is and don't know what anything is because their only experience of real moments are the ones they pose for. Nobody's in the moment anymore.

Tell me about the amazing new film “Exteriors.” It's the kind of film that is interwoven with all kinds of different actors and stories.

I decided to do “Exteriors” and Mark Schwab reached out to me. “Exteriors” is kind of cool because the first film I did with him would be “Shadows of Mind.” I developed a really deep love working with him, I just love his energy. I just love his eye and his cinematography, it’s my like huge love letter to Mark. He's an amazing person to work with and he is truly passionate about what he does. After he did after “Shadows of Mind” he did "Brotherly Lies,” and I got to see him in a new light and see him do amazing and I remember watching that film being like, "This is so good!”

Originally “Exteriors" was going to be a web series, and we were all going to have our own little stories and it was going to be like short little short films. The beautiful mind of Schwab though, he decided that we’re we're throwing out the script and mixing it together. So actually when we were filming, it was still that idea of being like three three films, all intertwined. I think once he started filming, he saw that they really good and intertwined. I knew that because like it's a runoff of “Brotherly Lies,” which was the first film he did, I knew that my character wasn't in “Brotherly Lies” so I was literally in my own little world, you know? I love that.

Are these the kind of projects you like to work on with real meaty stories like this and like where everybody's kind of intricately woven together?

I only do things that I find interesting and right now in my life, I do a lot of really meaningful work. I have a lot of passion for what I do on a day to day. I'm also not acting right now. So for me to want to do a film, for me to want to like leave my beautiful family in which I am, you know, the glue, it better be a damn good script (laughs).

So on top of that I work for an LGBTQ organization. I stop youth homelessness every single day. I'm really passionate about the work I do and to be honest with you, like, there has not been a script that I have read that has been as interesting as the work I do day to day.

At this point in in our world and in our culture with everything going on, you're working for an LGBTQ organization. So you're seeing what's going on in our towards our community. How do you not let it totally overwhelm you?

It’s food for my soul. At the end of the day, I don’t let it get to me because the high I get from like helping somebody is so much more.

Is there any is there any project or any kind of script you would like to see come across your desk?

I think that if we have like a really nice like queer gay love story like and I don't mean cheesy. It could be difficult, but it needs to be love. I think a beautiful love story would would would make me excited. I think that like a really like deep and crazy psycho thriller may make me like really deep and excited also. Maybe something that analyzes the psychology of like body dysmorphia amongst the community of gay men or how like have a lot of silent activists or actually let's make a documentary about homeless LGBTQ youth because they are disproportionately affected in the foster care system.

Florida is known for politics that can be polarizing, but also a strong LGBTQ community and great advocacy? How do you navigate day to day as an advocate and a community member during these times?

There are things that are happening, but there's also things that aren't happening. There are laws that are being put in place that are going to be very hard to back up. One thing is for sure, though: we are strengthening ourselves individually and we are strengthening our community.

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