OUT SOURCED

Didn’t Everyone Already Know Book of Mormon’s Andrew Rannells Was Gay?

We’ve reached an interesting place in pop culture, where a celebrity coming-out no longer rates the cover of People magazine or a Barbara Walters’ sit-down. Jim Parsons just came out in the third paragraph of a story about his new Broadway show, Harvey.

We still can’t tell if Matt Bomer ever actually came out or not.

Now, Andrew Rannells—Tony-nominated star of Book of Mormon and a cast member on the upcoming expectant-gay-dads sitcom The New Normal— came out during an interview in Vulture

Discussing his role in HBO’s Girls as Elijah, Hannah’s gay ex-boyfriend, Rannells said:

I am gay in real life, so I definitely get it. But it’s not my story —I wasn’t closeted for any amount of time. I never had a girlfriend who I had that experience with. It’s less that Elijah knew he was gay and continued to date Hannah anyway and more that he wasn’t ready to admit to himself that he was gay. I think that’s probably the more common thing, particularly with young homosexuals.

Coming out can be super super complicated, especially when it comes to families and friends —and if you already have a girlfriend, what does that mean for her? I hope that changes over time, but coming out is very personal and everybody obviously has to do it in their own time.

We didn’t even think Rannells was actually making a confession—just, y’know, stating a fact—until the news went round the blogosphere.

All hail the rise of the anti-coming-out!

It certainly doesn’t seem like Rannells’ speaking frankly about his orientation has hindered his career: Just off a Broadway show and already lined up an critically acclaimed series and a network sitcom? Not too shabby!

Of course, almost all his roles involve playing gay men. Is he being typecast? Does it even matter? At least there are more gay roles for guys like Rannells to take. And he says he feels a certain obligation to do them well. He says he realizes The New Normal  is “sort of a new idea for a lot of viewers and Americans, to see Justin Bartha and I play this very much in love couple who just wants to have a baby. We’re telling that story for the first time, in a way, for a lot of people. for a lot of people, so I think there’s a lot of responsibility there.”

Well don’t try too hard to be well-intentioned, Andrew—we want Modern Family, not It’s All Relative.

Photo: Robert Trachtenberg/NBC

 

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