For years, Sean Hayes portrayed the character of Jack on the sitcom Will & Grace, a hilarious, over-the-top, eccentric gay man.
And, for years, it was an open secret in Hollywood that the actor himself was also gay.
But Hayes never spoke on the issue, actually earning the wrath of The Advocate because the publication felt he was obligated to step up and own his sexuality.
Now, the Emmy Award winner has sat down with that same magazine and come out of the closet. Well, sort of. He doesn’t see it that way.
“I am who I am. I was never in, as they say,” Hayes tells The Advocate in its latest issue.
It’s true: Hayes never paraded around any red carpets with a woman by his side. He never lied about his sexual orientation. He simply took the novel approach that it’s no one’s business who he sleeps with.
There were also professional reasons behind his silence. Hayes says:
“When I play a gay character I want to be as believable as possible. And when I’m playing a straight character I also want to be as believable as possible. So the less that people know about my personal life, the more believable I can be as a character.”
Makes perfect sense to us.
However, some morons (e.g. Perez Hilton) place pressure on famous gay people (such as Adam Lambert and Neil Patrick Harris) to come out as soon as possible and to base everything around their sexuality. To this, Hayes responds:
“Nobody owes anything to anybody. You are your authentic self to whom and when you choose to be, and if you don’t know somebody, then why would you explain to them how you live your life?”
Sean Hayes might be our new favorite celebrity.