Ceci Balagot Knew He Was a Boy since Childhood – All We Know about the 'Monster High' Actor

"Girl Meets World" actor Ceci Balagot revealed he had always known "something was wrong" growing up; and thanks to representation, the actor came out as non-binary and transgender and strived to play more inclusive roles.

Balagot is most commonly known for his role on Disney Channel's "Girl Meets World" as Smackle; with over 100 thousand followers on Instagram, Balagot documents his life as openly transgender and non-binary.

Later in the year, Nickelodeon and Paramount are said to release Nickelodeon's first musical movie after reviving the "Monster High" franchise. After being cast to play Frankie Stein, a character reimagined as a part of the LGBTQ+ community, Balagot could not contain his excitement to play the inclusive role.

Who Is Ceci Balagot?

Balagot was born on April 2 and took to social media to celebrate the occasion; he posted a picture wearing a long yellow skirt and wrote, "21 orbits around the sun and all I got was this lousy back pain." In 2019, he graduated from high school.

Balagot posted a picture with his classmates, commemorating six years of studying theatre at the Musical Theatre Conservatory. Balagot has been acting, singing, and dancing since he was a child; he played Grace in ABC's "Desperate Housewives" and starred alongside Jason Segel & Sally Field as Clara in "Dispatches From Elsewhere."

Outside of acting, Balagot has a lot of experience with children; he worked as a camp counselor, a teaching assistant at a kindergarten school, and a babysitter. The actor said about his love for children:

"It's one of my favorite things, getting to entertain [kids] because I kind of understand them a little bit because I hung out with little kids all the time."

Ceci Balagot's Coming Out

In 2020, Balagot celebrated Pride Month and the anniversary of the legalization of same-sex marriage in America with outdoor pictures of himself with a rainbow. At that time, the actor had not officially come out on social media but revealed that he was willing to talk to fans about queer topics.

After coming out as transgender and non-binary in 2021, Balagot announced on Instagram that his pronouns were "he/ they." The post received over 27 thousand likes at the time of publication, and he wrote, " I finally love being trans and can see a future for myself."

Although he eventually chose to come out on social media, Balagot agreed that there should be less pressure for members of the LGBTQ + when coming out and revealing how they identify. During an interview, Balagot spoke further about coming into his skin:

"I can't believe I didn't realize this earlier, that my advantage is just being me. I should have never tried to blend in."

A large part of Balagot's coming out story was not seeing a lot of the LGBTQ+ community in the media; in high school, he did a presentation about the number of queer actors in media and found all but none. It soon became his goal to increase the number of queer actors in media and put his name on that list.

The Importance of the Role of Frankie in "Monster High"

Growing up, Balagot was a fan of "Monster High," the line of toys that had a twist in the collaboration of Barbie and supernatural monsters like Dracula and Frankenstein. His mother did not allow him to own the toys, so he would sneak them around and play with them with his friends.

Once Nickelodeon announced its relaunch, which includes a live-action movie and an animated series, Balagot said it was essential for young people to see more representation of the LGBTQ+ community:

"When I was growing up, there was absolutely zero representation for trans people. I didn't know what a trans person was."

Like Elliot Page, Balagot has joined a list of actors advocating for the LGBTQ+ community; his character Frankie resonated with him as Frankie's non-binary identity was only one aspect of a character that could leave a positive portrayal of transgenderness in people's minds.