Emily Rios, an actress who starred in the critically acclaimed AMC series Breaking Bad has revealed she is a lesbian.

Rios, who played Breaking Bad central character Jesse’s recovering addict girlfriend on the mega hit show, is currently starring as a gay character on FX drama series The Bridge.

The 25 year-old told reporters while promoting her new show, “I’m gay personally, so being Mexican and a lesbian – this is why I love the character because I deal with the same type of things with my own family”.

She continued, “Mexican-Americans especially, because this generation, we come into America and your family wants to be proud. For my family, my mum didn’t want me to live a difficult life. She brought me here for a better one so she’s like ‘You’re coming out…I want you to be comfortable’.”

On The Bridge, Rios’ character Adrianna is less fortunate – her parents are ashamed and embarrassed. “Mostly what I find in the community I grew up in, which is highly populated with Hispanics, my family and a lot of my friends who are gay and lesbian, they have an initial backlash, an initial ‘Oh no, this is not happening’. But for any parent, I’m sure, it’s a big slap in the face, especially for our heritage, but more than ever I want to say 90 percent of them have big support systems”, the actress concluded.