In October, former Dynasty star Gordon Thomson came out as gay and shared the reason he was afraid to before (and why closeted actors still are closeted today) is because your career can suffer from coming out.
That said, famous British actor Ian McKellen doesn’t agree with that sentiment.
While McKellen does acknowledge that he was closeted once and he thought he had to be at the time, he also says that things have changed.
McKellen spoke to the Hollywood Reporter to promote his new documentary series McKellen: Playing the Part. And during the conversation he says that coming out actually helped his career.
“Actors think, oh I won’t get jobs anymore. None of it’s true.
“My career as a film actor took off very shortly after I was honest and came out.
“So that’s my message to other actors who are having a problem: don’t.”
McKellen also insisted that coming out can help the person in more than just their career but in their lives and can also make it easier to be happy.
“I think any gay person who does come out will tell you that that is the best thing that they have ever done in their life because they stop lying,” he said.
“They tell the truth about themselves.”
On top of that, he shares that it wasn’t just that people recognized him more as an actor, but that his acting skill became enhanced thanks to his more truthful personal life.
“[Out actors] become altogether a more attractive person, a more confident person. Everything in your life improves, including, in my case, my acting.
“I was able to use my work to tell the truth about human nature rather than using it to disguise it.
“It is not easy to come out for some people. Everyone’s worried that they’ll lose their jobs.”
We can only hope that there’s some actor out there who hears Ian McKellen’s words and decides to come out. Not for us viewers of course, but for himself.
