Zachary Quinto Recalls His '90s-Era “Mickey Mouse Club” Audition — and His 'Full-on Bowl Cut Haircut'

Like many others, Zachary Quinto experienced awkward and embarrassing moments during his tween years. One just happened to take place while auditioning for The Mickey Mouse Club.

During an appearance on the Wednesday, Dec. 4, edition of the Podcrushed podcast, the actor, 47, recalled auditing for the revamped version of the show, The All-New Mickey Mouse Club, which featured the likes of Justin Timberlake, Ryan Gosling, Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera and Keri Russell.

Quinto said he recently came across a videotape of the cattle call audition he did for the show when he was "maybe 12 or 13."

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"I remember it was early in my time as a performer, and I went to this hotel in Pittsburgh, and there were hundreds of kids probably. I mean, it was like pre-American Idol," he said, noting that he auditioned with the song "42nd Street" from the eponymous musical rocking a "full-on bowl haircut."

"Like, really bad," said Quinto. "Not great. It was not good, though, some would say I was doing early research to play Spock, but, but I really went through the world with this haircut. And it was bad guys. I can't really overstate how bad it was." (Quinto starred as Spock in the Star Trek films of 2009 and beyond.)

Related: Stars of 'The All-New Mickey Mouse Club': Where Are They Now?

He added that the casting director was also "mean" and "made fun" about his hair.

"To watch the way that I reacted to it was so insightful because I heard it, I felt it, and then I immediately moved past it," said Quinto, noting that he came back with a response "that was both heartbreakingly self-effacing and self-deprecating."

Related: Britney Spears: Being a Mouseketeer with Christina Aguilera, Ryan Gosling and Justin Timberlake Was a 'Kid's Dream' (Exclusive)

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"But, also, unknowingly savvy and incredibly resilient," he added, describing it as "more kind of esoteric, awkward moment from my tweens, but it was a profound one."

"It was one that I really learned a lot from, and I think really grew from in, a capacity for self love," he said.

Quinto is now starring in the NBC medical drama, Brilliant Minds.

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