Matt Bomer has been through a number of challenges throughout his journey to coming out of the closet, including a producer who once told him that he would not be able to land lead roles if he publicly comes out.
It may have taken him 20 years, but the 46-year-old American actor was able to prove that producer wrong, as he is now starring as the lead character Hawkins Fuller in the LGBTQ+ series ‘Fellow Travelers’
“Before this I was like, why can’t we have our Don Draper? Why can’t we have our Walter White? I don’t think I could have done it if I hadn’t worked on all the projects leading up to it,” Bomer told The New York Times.
The outlet also noted how the actor spent most of childhood and adolescence hiding and running away from his true self, as he grew up in a family who “went to church several times a week,” and how that church considered homosexuality as an “abomination.”
Thereafter, he reportedly began dating men during a year abroad in Ireland back when he was in college. In 2011, a still closeted Bomer married publicist Simon Halls, and he finally decided to publicly come out in 2012 while receiving a humanitarian award.
At the time, his TV series ‘White Collar’ was still airing and the first ‘Magic Mike’ film was set to premiere. Despite being uncertain if it was an ideal time to come out, he was happy to have made that decision in the end.
“I just thought, I don’t want to hide this. Love is more important to me than anything that being my true self cost me,” Bomer expressed.
Source: nytimes.com
I was outed in high school in 1975 and it was traumatic.
I can’t imagine what it’s like coming out as gay as someone so famous. With all the stalkers and crazy people out there who hate gay people it seems very scary to me.