Eight years after Glee catapulted him to stardom, Alex Newell is back in a new television role that hews closer to his truth than ever.

The Massachusetts natives singing and dancing chops are once again on full display in Zoeys Extraordinary Playlist , NBCs new musical comedy series. The show, which premiered Jan. 7, follows Zoey Clarke (played by Jane Levy ), a San Francisco techie who gains the ability to hear peoples secret thoughts and desires in the form of pop songs.

Newell stars as Mo, a sassy gender-nonconforming neighbor who becomes the first of Zoeys friends to catch on to her newfound superpower. The character gets to take center stage in the shows fourth episode, Zoeys Extraordinary Neighbor.

Airing Sunday, Zoeys Extraordinary Neighbor delves into Mos background and internal struggles. In one of the episodes most poignant scenes, Zoey discovers Mo who shes used to seeing in slinky gowns and impeccably styled wigs presenting as a cisgender man while rehearsing with a church choir.

Newell, who is gay, gender-nonconforming and uses the pronouns he and him, had a lot of real-life experience to draw from when it came to playing Mo. Like his character, the actor and singer had to reconcile his religious faith and his gender identity growing up, and hes been vocal about how that dichotomy informed his work as an artist.