Jim Parsons Expresses Relief from Being Outed as Gay in Interview
NEW YORK, June 19 (UPI) — Jim Parsons said being outed by an interviewer was a “wonderful gift” of relief.
The Big Bang Theory star sat down with James Lipton on Inside the Actors Studio to discuss playing God on Broadway, working on The Big Bang Theory and playing Tommy Boatwright in the HBO drama Normal Heart.
Parsons also said he wasn’t necessarily a closeted gay man before being outed by a New York Times interviewer asking him about his HBO role. “I never had a coming out piece, I just didn’t mention it,” he said.
“I took [my partner] Todd with me to events…and then finally one day while working onHarvey I did a piece with Patrick Healy for The New York Times and he just point-blank asked, ‘Was working on The Normal Heart meaningful to you as a gay man?’ And I was like, ‘Well, yeah. Yeah.'”
Being asked the casual question was a freeing experience for Parsons, who says that Healy had given him the “gift” of making his sexual orientation public. “I can’t tell you what a wonderful thing that was, what a gift he gave me with one question. It was suddenly out there and official,” he said.
The versatile actor, 42, revealed he met his partner, Todd Spiewak, on a blind date with two of their female friends at a karaoke bar. “I hate karaoke. Oh my god do I hate — tell them what song you sang,” Parsons said to Spiewak, who was sitting in the audience.
“‘I Found Someone,'” Spiewak said.
