Gay Wednesday star Hunter Doohan felt he had to ‘hide’ his sexuality
Hunter Doohan felt he had to ‘hide’ his sexuality early in his career. (Netflix)
Hunter Doohan felt he had to 'hide' his sexuality early in his career. (Netflix)
Wednesday actor Hunter Doohan has opened up about feeling like he had to “hide” his sexuality earlier on in his career.
The 31-year-old star identifies as gay, and has been out as such for more than a decade. Yet during the audition processes for some of his earlier roles, he was so convinced that he would have to “hide” his sexuality that he archived photos of his now husband, producer Fielder Jewett, from Instagram.
Doohan spoke to Zach Sang on The Zach Sang Show recently, and reflected on how it felt to audition for Showtime drama Your Honor back in 2019.
“It was the first time I’d done a network test and they were really scrutinising. I really tried to hide it. I went and hid pictures of us on my Instagram, archived them,” he shared.
At the time, Doohan was 26-years-old, yet was still having to come out as queer to his co-stars when taking new roles. When Your Honour began filming, he had to do so with the series lead, actor Bryan Cranston.
“I was at lunch one time with Bryan and I said, ‘Grace called again,’ and I was like, ‘Oh, she’s my friend Grace.’ And he’s like, ‘Oh, just a friend?’ and I thought, ‘Oh God… I’ve been out for eight years and I have to come out of the closet again.’ That was so unsettling and awful,” he shared.
“I was like, ‘I’m never going to do that for a role again.'”
Zang pressed Doohan on why he felt the need to be covert with his sexuality at the time.
“Yeah, I mean, [my partner] was like, ‘Oh yeah, are you worried about this?’ But I don’t know,” he shared. “At the same time, I’ve never been cast. I’ve never played a gay role and I’ve auditioned for them. But all the characters I’ve played have been straight. It’s strange, but I feel really lucky.”
Hunter Doohan is now best known for playing barista and secret Hyde Tyler Galpin in Netflix smash Wednesday, with the actor reprising his role in the recently released second season.
Tyler is straight in the series, but Doohan has previously shared his hopes that he will one day play a gay character.
“I’m out and a gay actor, and I feel really lucky that I’ve gotten to play a wide range of roles. I think I’m so lucky to be living in a time where that doesn’t feel as much of a limitation,” he recently told Out.
“I truthfully haven’t been offered a bunch of gay roles. And I would love to play a queer character, not for the sake of it being queer, but like a great character who is queer. I’ve auditioned for a bunch but haven’t gotten cast as them. But that’ll come and I’ll find a great script.”
Doohan mentioned Bridgerton and Wicked star Jonathan Bailey as an inspiration, as the actor has resisted being pigeonholed into only playing gay characters.
“I’m just grateful for the queer actors before me and just queer people in general who have paved the way for me to be able to have this privilege of being able to play these characters,” he said.
“Jonathan Bailey is a huge inspiration for me. Look at the films and franchises he’s leading as a leading man, and that’s really inspiring.”
Doohan married his partner Fielder Jewett in 2022, just after Wednesday season one dropped on Netflix. The ceremony was officiated by his Your Honour co-star Cranston.
Wednesday is streaming now on Netflix.
Share your thoughts! Let us know in the comments below, and remember to keep the conversation respectful.
