You have seen his work everywhere, but have you met Glen Coco?
If you’ve scrolled the feeds of your favorite celebs including Kylie Jenner and Kourtney Kardashian, you should be pretty familiar with Glen Coco’s hairstyling work. Glen Coco is a Bronx, New York, native living in Los Angeles as a professional celebrity hairstylist and emerging actor.
Glen stumbled into his hairstyling career during the 2008 recession. Although he is most known for his sexy glamour styles on women, he got his start working on men.
“In 2008, it was so important for me to dive into this career because I saw through everyone’s financial struggle that people still want to look good, and especially men,” Glen told Very Good Light.
While attending cosmetology school in Philadelphia in 2008, Glen did not necessarily dream of doing celebrity hair, but his colleagues certainly saw that in his future. Fast forward to today, and Glen has worked with some of the biggest stars in the world, but continues to focus on his initial inspiration, which is, “improving the way someone sees themselves.”
While working with his extensive list of A-list celeb clients from Chrissy Teigen to Paris Hilton, Glen has had the opportunity to hear many impactful stories. Although he has many goals when it comes to his hairstyling career, his real goal is to tell great stories. “I feel like innately I’ve always been some sort of storyteller in a way,” says Glen.
In 2019, Glen started pursuing acting, and views this opportunity as a platform to tell stories. “I don’t want to be an actor that just acts, I want to be an actor to tell impactful stories,” says Glen.
Glen Coco makes his acting debut in the new LGBTQ+ web series, “Handsome,” which premieres today, June 4. The series is created by Devon O’Kane and tells the story of a 30-something gay man named Devon who just got out of a 10-year relationship. Since Devon is fresh on the dating scene, he explores modern-day queer dating on apps and social media sites like Tinder. Despite being in a pandemic, Devon is optimistic about finding a new partner, despite various failed dates.
Glen plays the character of Gabriel, who is a romantic love interest to Devon. Gabriel identifies as he/him but enjoys expressing his personality through eccentric makeup looks and feminine clothing. After many failed online dating attempts, Devon finally meets Gabriel and immediately knows something is different.
“On the series, I wear makeup and a skirt. Devon has never really seen anyone that acts more masculine but has a more feminine side to him and is very confident and secure in himself,” says Glen of his character.
While on a dinner date, Gabriel discusses the work that he does for a non-profit that supports LGBTQ+ youth and his passion for spreading awareness about HIV.
Outside of the series, Glen has always been passionate about advocating for the LGBTQ+ community, especially when it comes to blood donation.
This Pride month, celebrate real LGBTQ+ stories being told by watching Glen Coco on “Handsome,” available to stream online via YouTube and Instagram.
