Benjamin Brian Castro (born December 22, 1989), better known by his stage name Sebastian Castro, is an American actor, singer, and

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

sensation. He is an internet celebrity with a sizeable following in Southeast Asia. Castro is most widely known for his viral gay-themed music video "Bubble," which garnered over three million views. "Bubble" brought Castro fame across South East Asia, most visibly in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

and

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

Early life & Personal life

Born in Long Island, New York, Castro was raised in both New York and Georgia. At age 17, he was disowned by his parents for being gay, leading him to finance his education independently in the

Savannah College of Art and Design Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) is a private nonprofit art school with locations in Savannah, Georgia; Atlanta, Georgia; and Lacoste, France. Founded in 1978 to provide degrees in programs not yet offered in the southeast of the Uni ...

. Sebastian Castro came out as gay on a Philippine Podcast Beki Nights shortly after releasing his viral music video. When asked why he chose to come out on the

GMA Network GMA Network (Global Media Arts or simply GMA) is a Philippine free-to-air television and radio network. It is the flagship property of publicly traded GMA Network, Inc. Its first broadcast on television was on October 29, 1961. GMA Network (f ...

show H.O.T. TV, he responded, "I know there are lots of people out there that are scared to be themselves." In 2014, Sebastian Castro and former

ABS-CBN ABS-CBN (an initialism of its two predecessors' names, Alto Broadcasting System and Chronicle Broadcasting Network) is a Philippine commercial broadcast network that serves as the flagship property of ABS-CBN Corporation, a company unde ...

Reporter Ryan Chua publicly acknowledged their relationship over social media. Castro made the announcement during a trip to London where Ryan was undergoing a masters program from

City University of London City, University of London, is a public research university in London, United Kingdom, and a member institution of the federal University of London. It was founded in 1894 as the Northampton Institute, and became a university when The City Univ ...

. After a public 4-year relationship, the two separated in September 2017. In April of the following year, several showbiz outlets romantically linked Castro to Actor/TV Host Paolo Ballesteros after photos of them together surfaced. Neither ever publicly commented on the rumors. In June, Castro acknowledged that a relationship had ended, but never identified who it was with.

Career

On February 14, 2013, Castro's first music video "Bubble" appeared on YouTube, quickly garnering over 3 million views. Bubble further popularized the dance crazy "Bubble Pop," particularly in the Philippines. The music video was Sebastian Castro's "coming out." Prior to releasing the homo-erotic Bubble music video, Castro was not

publicly In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichkei ...

open about his sexuality. Castro has landed several major product endorsements in SouthEast Asia, including

Jollibee Jollibee is a Filipino chain of fast food restaurants owned by Jollibee Foods Corporation (JFC). As of December 2021, JFC had a total of about 1,500 Jollibee outlets worldwide, with restaurants in Southeast Asia, the Middle East, East Asia ...

, Pantene Hair, and Sun Cellular. He was featured among the Philippine Cosmopolitan Bachelors of 2012 and is currently an endorser of

Fujifilm , trading as Fujifilm, or simply Fuji, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, operating in the realms of photography, optics, office and medical electronics, biotechnology, and chemicals. The offerings from the ...

Durex Durex is a brand of condoms and personal lubricants owned by the British company Reckitt Benckiser. It was initially developed in London under the purview of the London Rubber Company and British Latex Products Ltd, where it was manufactured be ...

, Cathy Valencia, and Blued. After being cast in several minor and supporting roles on TV and Film over the course of five years, Sebastian Castro appeared in his first lead role in full feature film ''4 Days'' (2017), an independent film by Filipino director

Adolfo Alix Jr. Adolfo Borinaga Alix Jr., also known as Adolf Alix Jr. (born October 17, 1978), is a Filipino screenwriter and film director. Biography He was born October 17, 1978 in Makati, Philippines. He graduated magna cum laude at the Pamantasan ng Lung ...

PLM Film Society heralded the film as "one of the more inventive films of the genre in recent memory," adding "

Mikoy Morales Vincent Marco Chu Morales (born December 11, 1993), professionally known as Mikoy Morales, is a Filipino actor, model, singer, comedian, and television personality. Along with Ruru Madrid, Zandra Summer and Elle Ramirez, he is a runner-up on '' ...

and Sebastian Castro complement each other onscreen, Morales with his tough and heartbreaking take on Mark, and Castro filling Derek full of reservations, doubts and an unspoken multitude of feelings."

Film

References

External links

* * * * *
Queerty: Sebastian Castro Pops his Bubble

* ttp://pinoypopbiz.com/ppb2/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=629:jon8888&catid=12:starsandbutterflies&Itemid=101 Pinoy POP BIZ - Sebastian Castro's Art Featured {{DEFAULTSORT:Castro, Seb 1989 births American expatriates in the Philippines American people of Peruvian descent American people of Japanese descent Male actors from New York (state) American LGBT singers LGBT people from New York (state) Living people American gay actors American gay musicians People from Oceanside, New York 20th-century LGBT people 21st-century LGBT people