‘I’m a lesbian bachelor’: Lea DeLaria opens up about her love life
Lea DeLaria. (Christopher Polk/Getty Images for Turner)
Orange is the New Black star Lea DeLaria has said she is a “lesbian bachelor” – and compared her relationships with younger women to those of American actor Jack Nicholson.
DeLaria also discussed her experiences of dating guys until she was 16, and coming out to her Catholic father.
Speaking to the Australian newspaper the Sunday Morning Herald, DeLaria said: “I think of myself as a lesbian Jack Nicholson, in that I am going to go out with a lot of young girls.
“Jack is my idol – when he was 60, he got two women in their 20s pregnant, so that’s my goal!”
She added: “I am not the marrying kind. I got close [with ex-fiancée Chelsea Fairless], but don’t think it’s something I will ever do. I’m all about being a lesbian bachelor and having fun.”
The actor and comedian, who plays Carrie “Big Boo” Black on Netflix series Orange is the New Black, has previously compared herself to Nicholson.
She said on Conan O’Brien’s show last year: “I can’t be the lesbian Brad Pitt. I think Rachel Maddow is the lesbian Brad Pitt. I picked him [Nicholson] very carefully, he had two children and I also just want to get two girls pregnant.”
Lea Delaria as “Big Boo’ on Orange is the New Black. (Netflix)
Elsewhere in the interview, DeLaria spoke out about growing up gay.
“I am of a generation that wasn’t as open to being gay,” she said. “I dated guys and hated it right up until I realised, ‘Wait a minute, I don’t have to do this.’ I was 16 when I realised I couldn’t date guys any more.”
Of her relationship with her dad, she said: “When I came out to him, it was hard for an Italian Catholic man to hear what I had to say. But he listened to me and I listened to him. He knew I had to be who I am. For a man in his 70s to accept that is a huge deal.”
Lea DeLaria is also a jazz musician. (Photo by realleadelaria/Instagram)
DeLaria, who is currently touring for her jazz comedy show, also praised the late US actor Andy Griffith for being her mentor.
“[Griffith] was a huge star in America and taught me to act for TV. He thought I was funny and didn’t care that I was gay.
“He wanted me to appear on his show, Matlock, at a time, in 1994, when other people weren’t going to give me that shot.”
Delray previously dated fashion editor Chelsea Fairless for four years, with the pair even getting engaged, before announcing their split in a hilarious but heartwarming post on Instagram.
