Jim Parson has opened up about coming out as gay in Hollywood.
Parsons said he had “an awakening” after he portrayed LGTBQ+ characters in recent years.
And the actor has also elaborated on how much he loves bringing himself into the work…
In an interview with Variety for the outlet’s Just for Variety podcast Wednesday, Parsons noted that “the majority” of roles he is offered are gay characters.
He added that he wouldn’t necessarily call it a lot of LGBTQ+ content.
“I wouldn’t necessarily call it a lot of LGBTQ+ content, but there are a lot of gay characters that I get offered,” Parsons said.
“The majority, I would say, that I get offered are gay.
“I think that a decade ago, if you’d have told me I’d be an out actor, and that I would therefore get offered tons and tons of gay roles, I’d have been like, ‘Well, that seems like an easy, tired thing to have happen,'” he added.
In recent years, Parsons who quietly came out as gay via a 2012 profile in The New York Times has played gay characters in HBO’s movie The Normal Heart, The Boys in the Band, and the miniseries Hollywood.
And even in his new role in Spoiler Alert.
“They have been such rich characters and in such interesting storylines that I have had an awakening of how much I love as an actor — and, if I may say, artist — bringing myself to the work,” Parsons said of these roles.
The actor also noted that he “grew up in a time where the first thing I think of every time” on the topic of being openly gay in Hollywood “is when Ellen DeGeneres came out.”
Parsons revealed that helped him so much.
“It was so exciting. As much as it helped ultimately, it was also f***ing scary as a gay person who wanted… a career for themselves, in the same road, in the same industry,” he said.
Spoiler Alert, which stars Parsons and Ben Aldridge, is an adaptation of Michael Ausiello’s heartfelt and critically acclaimed memoir Spoiler Alert: The Hero Dies.
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