Watch Colton Haynes Read an Excerpt From His Upcoming Emotional Memoir

The out actor also gave an update on the upcoming Teen Wolf movie.

Colton Haynes is baring his heart and soul for the world.

The 33-year-old out actor, who we know and love from fan-favorite television projects like MTV's Teen Wolfand The CW's Arrow, took to an Instagram live stream over the weekend to give fans a brief excerpt of his emotional, upcoming memoir Miss Memory Lane, a project he calls a veritable "love letter" to his late mother that was "extremely emotional" to craft.

"It's not a comedy, I can say that," Haynes tells fans during the IG live about the tone of the book, which is slated for release later this spring in May. "It definitely means the world to me." 

"I really think that even if you don't really know too much about me, I really think there's a lot of things in the book that you guys can relate to," he continues, before adding that the volume is a dedication to his mother, noting that it has been a little over four years since her passing.

Haynes also gave an update on Paramount+'s upcoming Teen Wolf film, which he and a bunch (though not all) of the MTV series' original cast members are reuniting for and participating in.

"We started this week and it's so fun getting to be back with the people that I've worked with so far," he said of getting to reunite and work with his colleagues from the show, which originally ran for six seasons from 2011-2017. "It's crazy because it doesn't feel like a lot of time has changed."  

Haynes isn't one to shy away from hard, personal topics.

In a piece for Vulture published last December, he went into detail about the homophobia, sexual harassment, and exploitation he, and other young actors faced in the 2000s, like being told his mannerism were "too gay" and the humiliating incident of stripping naked and performing sex scenes with fellow actors (simulating real sex) in front of an acting class.

And in another emotional Instagram post from June of last year, Haynes shared an image of the March 2006 cover of XY Magazine (a long-running, gay publication) showing a shirtless Haynes (who was a working, teen model at the time) getting pinned up against a wall by another unnamed, also topless model. That magazine cover was a sore point for Haynes for a while now, he admitted, but after not addressing it for the longest time, he finally opened up and let go of any of the shame and guilt he had built over the years.

"I’ve never posted this picture before. In fact, I spent a big part of my career trying to erase it from the internet while I was still in the closet," he wrote. "Partly because so many ppl in Hollywood told me I would never work as an openly gay actor, but part of it was because I was incredibly ashamed."

Speaking about how he felt jealous of the younger version of himself on the cover of XY because of how open and free he looked and felt back then, he continued:

"It made me sad to see these pictures I had taken as a teenage model…before I was placed with voice and movement coaches to straighten me up for the cameras…before I learned to see my queerness as a liability. I was jealous of him. The boy in these pictures was so open, so free. He had to be taught that it wasn’t ok to be who he was."

"Being gay is worth celebrating," Haynes concluded in his Pride Month post. "I wish I’d figured that out sooner, but I’m so glad I know it now. To everyone in the LGBTQIA+ community, I hope you celebrate yourselves this month and always, exactly as you are." 

Miss Memory Lane hits bookstore shelves on May 31. Pre-order the memoir from Simon & Schuster here. 

RELATED | Colton Haynes Opens Up About the Homophobia & Sexual Exploitation He Faced in His Early Career

Watch Colton Haynes Read an Excerpt From His Upcoming Emotional Memoir