‘Sense8’ star Brian J. Smith just came out of the closet in an interview with Attitude magazine
Brian is best known for his role as Will Gorski in the riveting NetFlix series ‘Sense8’ and is currently on the USA Network action drama ‘Treadstone’.
In the interview, Brian says that acting was a way for him as a young gay man to escape from hostile surroundings in rural Texas.
“I was terrified. At school, I really couldn’t fit in anywhere. I wasn’t a jock or a nerd,” Brian says. “Forget about any LGBTQ union or groups. There was absolutely nothing. I was completely alone. I heard all the names: pssy, fggot.”
“In front of an audience,” he says, “I disappeared and became someone else. I had 600 students at school, all of whom probably thought I was an absolute idiot, a nerd. On stage, they paid attention to me, and they saw that I had something. And that’s when I didn’t feel alone.”
Smith says he didn’t come out to his parents until age 30. He’s now 38.
“I was surprised. When I came out to my parents they were wonderful. They said they were just waiting for me to say something. They were a lot more advanced than I gave them credit for,” says Smith. “I think that’s when I became OK with it, too. Just in terms of being, ‘Oh that’s the world, it’s not as dangerous as I thought it was.’”