Orphan Black star Jordan Gavaris: I’m gay, but no one ever asked
Jordan Gavaris, who plays gay fan favourite Felix on Orphan Black, has come out himself in real life.
The actor has appeared on the popular sci-fi series as Felix Dawkins, the gay foster brother of main character Sarah.
The show has won praise for its portrayal of LGBT characters including Felix… but it turns out no-one actually asked Gavaris about his own sexuality.
In an interview with Vulture, he confirmed: “Oh, I’m gay.”
The actor elaborated: “Nobody ever asks me. I’ve never been asked. Like, the whole course of the series.
“I guess that’s where I’m at in terms of coming out publicly. I had this position when I started on the show that it shouldn’t matter. And I believe that.
“I hope that one day, the world gets to a place where you don’t need to politicize your sexuality any more than someone needs to politicize their race — that we can just act and we can exist in this Zeitgeist, telling stories about one another.
“And that no one’s afraid, maybe, to come out. But also that no one’s really hyperobsessed with knowing whether or not someone’s gay.
“That would be an amazing world to live in, where people don’t feel the need to protect themselves and other people don’t feel the need to launch an inquisition.”
The star also said he “probably” thinks he’ll have less roles open to him as a gay actor.
He added: “Whatever somebody sees as gayness, whether it’s femininity or hypersexuality or whatever they’ve decided constitutes being gay — if those parts are not right for their character, chances are I don’t want to work with those people and I probably don’t want to play that character.
“I’m much more interested in playing characters, even hetero characters, where I can bring all of myself.
“All of my sexuality. Everything I’ve learned about my own femininity and my own gender fluidity, I’d be interested in playing characters that explore that. And I think we’re going to start seeing more of them.”
Check out the full interview on Vulture.
Orphan Black lead Tatiana Maslany previously opened up about portraying a lesbian character on the show. Maslany plays a number of different clones in the series, one of which is gay.
The show also introduced a transgender clone, also played by Maslany.
