I think it’s down to every single person to do what’s right for them. For me, it’s better to be out. I’m definitely happier. I remember days when I wasn’t out and that was a more stressful and unhappy position. So I’m grateful that’s over and also grateful that we live in a world where it’s not a shameful thing.
Ben Whishaw speaking to ‘The Times’ about being an out gay actor and how the industry has changed since his career first began in the early 2000s.
When I started in the early 2000s, if you had said to another actor you were gay, it was implied or sometimes said explicitly that that was something you shouldn’t make a big thing about. It was a disability, almost. There weren’t a vast number [of out actors], and nobody my age.
But gay people of my generation came in at a strange time post-AIDS, which had a whole knock-on effect. Yet it was one secret I didn’t need to keep. It doesn’t need to be anyone’s business, but being happy in oneself, not ashamed, is probably better.
Related*
The ridiculous reason why Ben Whishaw’s queer drama ‘Passages’ received an NC-17 rating
‘Passages’ is NC-17, ‘Red, White & Royal Blue’ is R—are gay films being rated on a stricter scale?
ingyaom
Totally unrecognizable.
judysdad
Yuck!
linedrive
He’s adorable. And absolutely correct. It’s no one’s business unless you decide you want it to be. Not hiding is better for the soul and there’s certainly nothing to be ashamed of.