By now you probably know Ben Whishaw for a number of things, including his critically acclaimed performances in recent James Bond films as Q. paragraph And as you might have guessed, his voice Paddington series.
Ben has been openly gay since entering into a civil partnership with his ex-boyfriend Mark Bradshaw in 2012 (they split in 2022). In 2014, he openly discussed being gay for the first time in an interview with The Sunday Times.
In a new interview with The Sunday Times published this week, the actor talks about his years in the public eye before coming out. “I think everyone has to do what’s right for them,” he says. “For me, it was better to come out.”
“I’m definitely happier,” he said of his decision to go public. “I remember when I wasn’t public, it was more stressful and unhappy.”
“So I’m grateful that it’s over, and I’m grateful that we live in a world where that’s not something to be ashamed of.”
Ben explained that when his star was rising in the early 2000s, “if you told another actor you were gay, it was implied, or sometimes explicitly said, that it was something you shouldn’t brag about.”
“It was almost a handicap,” he said.
“There weren’t a lot of (out actors), and there weren’t any my age,” he continued. “But my generation of gays came into the picture at a weird time, post-AIDS, and that had a whole cascade of effects.”
“It’s none of your business, but it’s probably better to be happy with yourself without being ashamed.”
You can read the full interview here.
