EDGE Rewind: '9-1-1: Lone Star' Actor Ronen Rubinstein Gets Nixed from IG for Sexy Thirst Trap
EDGE is reaching into its archive and sharing some of our favorite stories from the past.
"9-1-1: Lone Star" actor Ronen Rubinstein discovered he was too risqué for Instagram after a post on the site was taken down. In it, a scruffy Rubinstein is seen sitting nude in a sauna under red light with his arm strategically placed over his privates.
Twitter, though, has less strict standards.
On the show, Rubinstein plays firefighter T.K. whose relationship with co-star Rafael Silva (who plays the police officer Carlos) has developed over the show's three seasons. On last season's finale, T.K. proposed to Carlos in a surprising, late night phone call.
"It sort of feels like a full circle for T.K. — quite a beautiful sort of arc," Rubinstein told Entertainment Weekly in May. "I'm relieved that [show runner Tim Minear] decided that it was going to be T.K. that proposes to Carlos. I feel like it was a way for T.K. to close that chapter on his previous failed engagement and the trauma that came from that, with trying to commit suicide and overdosing."
Rubinstein came out as bisexual in April 2021. "I fully identify as bisexual," Rubinstein told Variety in an exclusive interview over Zoom from his Los Angeles home. "I literally just got goosebumps saying that. It feels so good to talk about it...feels so good to finally be comfortable with it."
Coming out as bisexual was difficult for Rubinstein, having grown up in a conservative New York City borough. "The biggest thing for me is where I come from, it's like people like me and people who have identified as bisexual or gay or as any part of the community, you're just not welcomed. It's as brutally honest as that," he told Variety.
"I want people to know that this is a hopeful and a happy story," he said. "I want people to know that they're not alone, and it's definitely okay. Trust me, I know that it is not easy. My path has not been easy at all, but it's just one more thing that I can share with people to help them and let them know that I'm here for them."
And he got support from a seemingly unlikely source: his girlfriend Jessica Parker Kennedy, who actually called him out on the subject of his sexuality.
"She's like, 'Is there something we need to talk about?' I said, 'Maybe.' I didn't know how that conversation would go. And it went probably as good as it can go. She definitely encouraged me to be vocal about it, just to live my truth. She's like, 'I love you for who you are, your full self, and people will love you for who you are.'"
But, she added: "Just don't leave me for Harry Styles."
More recently, Rubinstein was vacationing in Italy where he shared a clip of himself skinny-dipping.
Check out these pics from Rubinstein's Instagram account: