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Will & Grace Sidekick Comes Out

'What more do you want me to do?' asks Sean Hayes

By M. Morris,  Newser Staff

Posted Mar 8, 2010 3:05 PM CST

(Newser) – Breaking news from, oh, 1998 or so: Sean Hayes is gay. After years of what many considered equivocating, the actor who gained fame as the flamboyant sidekick Jack on Will & Grace tells the Advocate, "I am who I am. I was never in, as they say. Never." But he also acknowledges what the magazine calls "a 'don't ask, don't tell' strategy."

His reticence was a defense mechanism, designed to counter the inevitable type-casting that grows out of a high-profile role and the industry's lack of imagination. "There were like 50 commercials where I was the husband or the nerdy boy or whatever, and then I became famous for playing this gay guy,” says Hayes, 39. “None of this is up to anybody. It’s what the suits decide for you."

Sean Hayes performs in a preview of Promises, Promises on Feb. 25, 2010, at the Algonquin Hotel in New York.
Sean Hayes performs in a preview of "Promises, Promises" on Feb. 25, 2010, at the Algonquin Hotel in New York.   (Casey Rodgers / AP Images for Promises, Promises)
Actor Sean Hayes poses on the press line at the premiere of the animated feature film Igor in Los Angeles on Saturday, Sept. 13, 2008.
Actor Sean Hayes poses on the press line at the premiere of the animated feature film "Igor" in Los Angeles on Saturday, Sept. 13, 2008.   (AP Photo/Dan Steinberg)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 25 comments
Cat-Lover
Mar 10, 2010 5:55 PM CST
I'm waiting for Rush Limbaugh to tell of his gay sex-capades during his drugged years.

He's such a turn-on and far too sexy for his body!
TessTalks
Mar 10, 2010 2:55 PM CST
I must have lived in the West Village too long . . . I thought this was a given!!
bewilderbeast1
Mar 9, 2010 8:31 PM CST
I just find this so sad. That well-educated citizens in one of the world's advanced countries can still be scared to come out. That is SO SAD. I hope you blossom and thrive now and end up wishing you'd come clean YEARS ago, Jack / Sean. Imagine the fear that must rule gay people in countries that are even more bigoted than the USA. Just so sad . . . Hey! Maybe now we'll grow up n chill and apply the Golden Rule!! Right?

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