Jim Parsons thinks being gay and out has made him a better actor
- Coming out gave The Big Bang Theory star unexpected ‘happiness and strength’.
Jim Parsons thinks being gay has made him a better actor because there are ‘more layers of yourself you can share’.
The 47-year-old made his name starring in the hit comedy The Big Bang Theory and came out as gay in 2012.
Talking to Attitude magazine about coming out, he said:
‘To suddenly be part of a large group that has been – and still is – maligned at times, with hateful things being said about them by other public figures – there was a sense of happiness and strength for me that I couldn’t have predicted.
‘As soon as it became a story, it made me feel very strong and I think in this day and age it only helped career-wise. I certainly have never felt it hurt my career at all.
‘It probably even helped me be a better actor. There’s always more layers of yourself you can share.’
Fear of losing love
Parsons just starred in a Netflix movie version of the classic gay play, The Boys in the Band, reprising a role he previously performed on the Broadway stage.
The Boys In The Band is about a group of men who gather for a birthday party in 1968 in New York City. However a guest from the host’s past turns the evening into chaos.
The original 1968 off-Broadway play became an unexpected hit. It has sometimes been controversial for fostering gay stereotypes. However, many now consider it an historic achievement in LGBT+ representation.
Parsons previously said working with an all-gay cast for the film was ‘powerful’.
Now he says: ‘I realized that being gay and growing up around people and in a culture where that wasn’t celebrated – where it was reviled, in many ways – had an impact on me.
‘Happy as I am, I’m still working out the fear I grew up with, that by revealing who I really am, I will somehow lose the love of the people who are important to me.’
Both Parsons and his husband Jimmy Fallon had a six-week battle to beat coronavirus after they caught the COVID-19 back in March. Initially they thought they just had colds but soon realized they had lost their sense of taste and smell.