Ben Whishaw ‘hated’ himself in his early 20s because of his sexuality
James Bond star Ben Whishaw identifies as gay. (Emma McIntyre/Getty)
Actor Ben Whishaw has said he hasn’t had “any negative effects” since publicly coming out, while revealing that he struggled to tell people about his sexuality in his early twenties.
Whishaw, who plays Q in the James Bond films Skyfall (2012) and Spectre (2015), opened up about his sexuality in a new interview with The Sunday Times Magazine published on March 24.
The actor has publicly opened up about his sexuality in recent years, but had previously avoided discussing his private life in interviews.
“I don’t think it’s the be-all and end-all, and since revealing my sexuality I haven’t had any negative effects,” he told The Sunday Times Magazine.
Ben Whishaw reveals he has received therapy
Whishaw, 38, also revealed he had received therapy in relation to his sexuality, which he initially struggled to come to terms with, adding: “It really did help.”
“There was a moment in my early twenties when I did not feel very good about myself,” he told The Sunday Times Magazine.
Hugh Grant as Jeremy Thorpe and Ben Whishaw as Norman Scott in the BBC mini-series A Very English Scandal. (Blueprint Television Ltd – Photographer/Kieron McCarron
“It was to do with my sexuality and not knowing how to be myself and hating myself.
“I did know [my sexuality], I just couldn’t tell anyone.”
The star has played a number of gay characters throughout his career, including being cast as Norman Scott in the BBC mini-series A Very English Scandal, which dramatised the Thorpe affair.
Whishaw entered a civil partnership with his partner, composer Mark Bradshaw, in 2012.
The actor’s representatives confirmed the legal union to the Daily Mail in 2013.
Ben Whishaw: I struggled with telling people about my sexuality in my early twenties
The 38-year-old actor, who is currently rehearsing for a play called Norma Jeane Baker of Troy in London, went on to discuss bisexual erasure.
“I think it’s very unfair when people say they’re bisexual and they’re accused of being gay really,” he said.
“If we’re honest about these things, perhaps most people are on a spectrum.”
“There was a moment in my early twenties when I did not feel very good about myself. It was to do with my sexuality and not knowing how to be myself and hating myself.”
—Ben Whishaw
Whishaw, who , had declined to discuss his personal life earlier on in his career.
In 2011, he told Out magazine: “As an actor you have total rights to privacy and mystery, whatever your sexuality, whatever you do.
“I don’t see why that has to be something you discuss openly because you do something in the public eye.”
