Jonathan Groff: ‘Falling in love made me come out’
By Nick Levine
Jonathan Groff has revealed that falling in love for the first time gave him the “impetus” to come out as gay.
The Looking star and renowned stage actor spoke publicly about his sexuality for the first time at America’s National Equality March in Washington, DC in October 2009, describing himself as “gay and proud” in an interview with a Broadway website.
“I wasn’t denying it or anything [beforehand],” Groff recalled in a new interview with SCENE magazine. “I knew I would talk about it someday, but I didn’t know how or why or when.
“But then I fell in love for the first time… and I thought ‘Well, I’d rather be out and be in love with this person than try to hide it for any job I had when I came out,’ so I just said fuck it.”
The New York-based actor, now 29, then added: “Being in love was more powerful than any job I’d had before. That was the impetus.”
Groff, who was in a relationship with Star Trek actor Zachary Quinto for a period, is currently single and will begin shooting season two of Looking on location in San Francisco later this year. The new season will air on HBO and Sky Atlantic in 2015.
He can also be seen in HBO’s adaptation of The Normal Heart, which premiered in the UK on Sky Atlantic this Sunday (June 1).
More Jonathan Groff on attitude.co.uk:
‘Looking’ star Jonathan Groff on the cover of ‘Attitude’s 20th Birthday Issue
‘Looking’ star Jonathan Groff gets his leathers on
See ‘Looking’ as a comic with cartoon Jonathan Groff and Russell Tovey