Andrew Scott perfectly explains why ‘openly gay’ is a term no one should be using any more
All of Us Strangers actor Andrew Scott has expertly broken down why it’s time to stop calling people “openly gay”.
The 47-year-old Irish actor and Fleabag star explained his frustration with the term “openly gay” during a roundtable discussion for The Hollywood Reporter last week.
Speaking to fellow film stars including Rustin actor Colman Domingo and Oppenheimer’s Robert Downey Jr, Scott indicated that the term “openly gay” suggests that someone has decided to live as a gay person without shame.
“I’m going to make a pitch for getting rid of the expression ‘openly gay’,” Scott began.
“It’s an expression that we only ever hear in the media. You are never at a party and you say this is my openly gay [friend]. You never say it,” he explained, to roars of laughter from the rest of the group.
“Why do we put ‘openly’ in front of that adjective. You don’t say you’re openly Irish, you don’t say you’re openly left-handed,” he continued.
“There’s something in it that’s a little near ‘shamelessly’. You’re open about it? I’d nearly prefer shamelessly. If you’ve got to say it to understand it, just say ‘out’ possibly, or, you know what, just don’t say it at all. Now I think it’s just time to park it.”
Scott’s fellow actors appeared to agree with him, particularly Domingo, who is gay himself.
Andrew Scott came out as gay back in 2013, and recently revealed that he was “encouraged” to keep his sexuality a secret when he first started out in the acting industry.
“I was encouraged, by people in the industry who I really admired and who had my best interests at heart, to keep that [to myself],” he told GQ in November.
“I understand why they gave that advice, but I’m also glad that I eventually ignored it.”
Scott is currently receiving critical acclaim for his performance as depressed gay writer Adam in queer film All of Us Strangers.
He stars alongside Aftersun actor Paul Mescal as Harry, a man who he has a whirlwind romance with after a chance encounter in their near-empty London apartment block.
Meanwhile, Adam journeys back to his childhood home in Kent, where he is greeted by the ghosts of his parents (Claire Foy and Jamie Bell), who died in a car crash 30 years earlier.
Adam has the chance to talk to his parents about things he never could before they died, including coming out to them.
Scott will also star in Ripley, the upcoming Netflix adaptation of The Talented Mr. Ripley thriller film.
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