Ben Whishaw Says Being Gay in Early 2000s Was Viewed as 'Disability' Actors 'Shouldn’t Make a Big Thing About'

Mar. 15, 2025

Ben Whishaw on January 09, 2020 in Pasadena, California.Photo:Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty

Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty

Ben Whishawis opening up about being a working actor before he came out.In a new interview withThe Sunday Timespublished on Friday, Sept. 6, theSkyfallactor revealed that he held off from publicly coming out at the start of his career in the early 2000s. Whishaw, 43, did not come out until his mid-twenties.“I think it’s down to every single person to do what’s right for them,” he explained. “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,” thePaddingtonactor said. “So I’m grateful that’s over and also grateful that we live in a world where it’s not a shameful thing.”“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,” he revealed. “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,” he recalled. “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,” he noted.Ben Whishaw on January 21, 2023 in Park City, Utah.Leon Bennett/GettyTwo years ago, Whishaw revealed toThe Guardianthat his sexuality weighed on him and “was really unresolved for [him].”At the time, he explained how growing up, there was a thought that “there’s something wrong with you because you’re attracted to a certain thing.” Revealing, “That takes a lot of time and understanding to get over. And understanding doesn’t just arrive because you’ve been explicit and open to other people.”“The equating of homosexuality with weakness – it’s taken a long time for me to understand there’s no reason why it should be anything of the sort,” he said in the 2022 interview before noting, “Honestly? I feel like I’m only starting to conquer that now.”Ben Whishaw on September 28, 2021 in London, England.Karwai Tang/WireImageNever miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.A few years after he came out, he reflected on the experience withThe Sunday Timesin an August 2014 interview, explaining that his “experiences were not dramatic,” adding, “and everyone was surprisingly lovely. I hadn’t anticipated that they would be, but they were."“I had a lot of fear in doing it for a long time. And who can say why? I’m not sure I know. But it takes courage and people have to do it in their own time,” he said.“It’s massively weighted with all sorts of stuff, whatever the wider world is saying… it’s an intimate and private and difficult conversation for most people.”

Ben Whishawis opening up about being a working actor before he came out.

In a new interview withThe Sunday Timespublished on Friday, Sept. 6, theSkyfallactor revealed that he held off from publicly coming out at the start of his career in the early 2000s. Whishaw, 43, did not come out until his mid-twenties.

“I think it’s down to every single person to do what’s right for them,” he explained. “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,” thePaddingtonactor said. “So I’m grateful that’s over and also grateful that we live in a world where it’s not a shameful thing.”

“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,” he revealed. “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,” he recalled. “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,” he noted.

Ben Whishaw on January 21, 2023 in Park City, Utah.Leon Bennett/Getty

Leon Bennett/Getty

Two years ago, Whishaw revealed toThe Guardianthat his sexuality weighed on him and “was really unresolved for [him].”

At the time, he explained how growing up, there was a thought that “there’s something wrong with you because you’re attracted to a certain thing.” Revealing, “That takes a lot of time and understanding to get over. And understanding doesn’t just arrive because you’ve been explicit and open to other people.”

“The equating of homosexuality with weakness – it’s taken a long time for me to understand there’s no reason why it should be anything of the sort,” he said in the 2022 interview before noting, “Honestly? I feel like I’m only starting to conquer that now.”

Ben Whishaw on September 28, 2021 in London, England.Karwai Tang/WireImage

Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

A few years after he came out, he reflected on the experience withThe Sunday Timesin an August 2014 interview, explaining that his “experiences were not dramatic,” adding, “and everyone was surprisingly lovely. I hadn’t anticipated that they would be, but they were.”

“I had a lot of fear in doing it for a long time. And who can say why? I’m not sure I know. But it takes courage and people have to do it in their own time,” he said.

“It’s massively weighted with all sorts of stuff, whatever the wider world is saying… it’s an intimate and private and difficult conversation for most people."

source: people.com