NEWSIan McKellan Urges Closeted Actors to Come Out, Says 'Being in the Closet Is Silly'
Ian McKellan urged closeted actors to come out, saying 'being in the closet is silly.'
Actor Ian McKellan is calling for gay actors who are hiding their sexual orientation to come out of the closet.
Ian McKellan came out in 1988.
“I have never met anybody who came out who regretted it,” McKellen said in an interview with The Times of London. “I feel sorry for any famous person who feels they can’t come out. Being in the closet is silly — there’s no need for it. Don’t listen to your advisers, listen to your heart. Listen to your gay friends who know better. Come out. Get into the sunshine.”
The X Files star, who came out during a radio interview with the BBC in 1988, discussed how there’s never been an openly gay U.K. prime minster, best actor Oscar winner or Premier League soccer player.
“In women’s sport it’s not an issue,” he continued. “I would imagine young footballers are probably, like actors, getting very bad advice from agents who are worried about their own incomes. But the first Premier League footballer to come out will become the most famous footballer in the world, with all the agencies begging for his name on their products.”
Ian McKellan said he feels 'sorry for any famous person who feels they can't come out.'
Even though McKellan is encouraging people to come out, he’s not immune to the state of the world. In the United States, multiple states are looking to revoke gay marriage, which has been legal since 2015.
“We always have to be alert,” he noted. “In this country, I hope because of gay marriage, more people are less frightened and more accepting of gay people. Elsewhere the picture is not so good.”
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Kate Winslet said it's 'dated c---' for Hollywood to overlook gay actors for straight roles.
Kate Winslet weighed in on gay actors coming out to The Sunday Times in 2021, calling it “dated c---” for Hollywood to overlook gay actors, especially for straight parts, adding it should be “almost illegal.”
“I cannot tell you the number of young actors I know — some well known, some starting out — who are terrified their sexuality will be revealed and that it will stand in the way of their being cast in straight roles,” the Titanic star elaborated. “Now that’s f----- up… I can think of at least four actors absolutely hiding their sexuality. It’s painful because they fear being found out. And that’s what they say, ‘I don’t want to be found out.’”
Ian McKellan wishes he had come out sooner.
McKellan first came out in response to schools in the United Kingdom attempting to stop local governments and schools from “promoting homosexuality.” Ten years later, he shared one regret: he wished he'd done it sooner.
