Sean Hay Regrets Not Comg Out as Gay Durg 'Will & Grace' First Run - TheWrap

Contents:

• IS SEAN HAY GAY, WHO IS THE HBAND, HOW MUCH IS HE WORTH?
• WILL AND GRACE STAR CONFIRMS HE’S GAY
• SEAN HAY REGRETS NOT COMG OUT AS GAY DURG ‘WILL & GRACE’ FIRST RUN
• SEAN SAV THE WORLD : IS SEAN HAY GAY IN REAL LIFE?
• 'NEWSWEEK' AND SEAN HAY: YOU SAY TOO GAY? NO ICK' WAY!
• “PROBABLY THE HARST THG I’VE DONE”: SEAN HAY ON BRGG OSR LEVANT BACK TO LIFE  GOOD NIGHT, OSRTHE EMMY AWARD–WNG ACTOR SPEAKS WH VANY FAIR ABOUT HIS “EPLY GRATIFYG” TONY NOMATN AFTER WORKG ON THE PROJECT “ON AND OFF FOR OVER 20 YEARS.”BY DONALD LIEBENSONMAY 18, 2023BEN RAPPAPORT, SEAN HAY AND PETER GROSZ GOOD NIGHT, OSR AT THE BELAS THEATER NEW YORK.BY SARA KLWICH/THE NEW YORK TIM/RX. SAVE THIS STORYSAVESAVE THIS STORYSAVEON MAY 2, SEAN HAY EMERGED OM HIS BEDROOM TO THE LIVG ROOM, WHERE HIS HBAND, STT ICENOGLE, WAS WATCHG TELEVISN. ICENOGLE HAD BREAKG NEWS. “YOU’VE BEEN NOMATED,” HE SAID. HAY, STILL WIPG THE SLEEP OM HIS EY, RPOND, “FOR WHAT?”“WHAT” WAS A TONY AWARD—HAY’S SEND NOMATN—FOR HIS VIRTUOSO PERFORMANCE AS OSR LEVANT THE PLAY, GOOD NIGHT, OSR, WHICH DRAMATIZ A LONG NIGHT’S JOURNEY TO THE PSYCHE-SRRED SOUL OF LEVANT, NOW OBSCURE BUT ONCE A STAR OF THE SCREEN (AN AMERIN PARIS), THE NCERT STAGE (THE CLASSILLY TRAED PIANIST WAS REVERED AS THE PREMIER TERPRETER OF HIS IEND, GEE GERSHW), AND THE TALK/GAME SHOW CIRCU, WHERE HIS LACERATG QUIPS (MANY SELF-PRETG AND AIMED AT HIS OWN MENTAL ILLNS) WERE THE 1950S EQUIVALENT OF OMG (“I KNEW DORIS DAY BEFORE SHE WAS A VIRG,” IS ONE OF THIS MOST QUOTED).GOOD NIGHT, OSR, WRTEN BY PULZER PRIZE WNER DOUG WRIGHT AND DIRECTED BY LISA PETERSON, REENACTS A 1958 SWEEPS WEEK APPEARANCE ON THE TONIGHT SHOW, THEN HOSTED BY JACK PAAR (BEN RAPPAPORT), WHO LOOKED AT LEVANT AS RATGS GOLD, AND HE STOKED TENSN OVER WHETHER THIS WOULD BE THE NIGHT LEVANT WOULD GO ONE PILL OVER THE LE. (“TO PUT DLY,” PAAR ONCE TRODUCED HIM, “HE’S AS NERVO AS HE IS CLEVER. FOR EVERY PEARL THAT OUT OF HIS MOUTH, A PILL GO . I ASK YOU TO KEEP THIS MD.”)FOR THIS RISKY LIVE TV APPEARANCE, LEVANT’S LONG-SUFFERG WIFE (EY BERGYL), ARRANG A FOUR-HOUR FURLOUGH OM THE PSYCHIATRIC FACILY TO WHICH SHE HAD HIM MTED. THE CREASGLY PILL-SPERATE LEVANT BOTH FALLS AND RIS TO THE OCSN, AND, THE PLAY’S EMOTNAL CLIMAX, KEEPS HIS MONS AT BAY TO TRIUMPHANTLY PERFORM GERSHW’S “RHAPSODY BLUE.”LEVANT IS FUNNY, Y, (WHEN PAAR ASKS WHAT HE DO FOR EXERCISE, LEVANT RPONDS, “I STUMBLE AND I FALL TO A A”), BUT THE ROLE IS A DRAMATIC PARTURE FOR HAY, WHO IS BT KNOWN FOR HIS INIC EMMY-WNG WILL & GRACE CHARACTER, JACK, A KTEN-WH-A-WHIP NARCISSIST WH A QUIP FOR ALL OCSNS.HIS TRANSFORMATN, PRAISED CHIGO TRIBUNE CRIC CHRIS JON, IS “ONE EP DIVE OF A STAR-TURN, AN ALL-NSUMG (AND NOTABLY ALL-NSUMED) PIECE OF ACTG THAT REVEALS THGS HAY THAT MOST OF HIS WILL & GRACE FANS WILL BE ENTIRELY GOBSMACKED TO DISVER HE HAS HIS ARSENAL.”THIS, HAY TOLD VANY FAIR, WAS THE CHALLENGE THAT DROVE HIM TO SPEND THE LAST TWO S TRYG TO BRG OSR LEVANT BACK TO LIFE.(THIS TERVIEW HAS BEEN EDED FOR CLARY)VANY FAIR: WHAT WAS YOUR REACTN TO THE TONY NOMATN?SEAN HAY: I LLAPSED ON THE UCH. I ULDN’T BELIEVE . IT WAS AN OUT OF BODY EXPERIENCE. IT’S SUCH AN HONOR, AND HOW REWARDG TO JT BE REGNIZED FOR SOMETHG THAT YOU’VE BEEN WORKG ON AND OFF FOR OVER 20 YEARS. IT’S AN CREDIBLE FEELG. FOR TO GO THIS WAY, ’S EPLY GRATIFYG.I RECENTLY HEARD AN TERVIEW WH NATHAN LANE WHICH TALKED ABOUT PURSUG THE TOWERG ROLE OF HICKEY EUGENE O’NEILL’S THE ICEMAN COMETH TO BREAK OUT OF THE MIL-EDY ROL FOR WHICH HE IS MOST ASSOCIATED. WERE YOU LOOKG FOR A SIAR CHALLENGE?ABSOLUTELY. I’D BEEN TOLD SO MANY TIM BY DIFFERENT PEOPLE THE ENTERTAMENT MUNY OVER THE LAST TWO S THAT I SHOULD PLAY OSR LEVANT. WA, WHAT?I DIDN’T KNOW WHO HE WAS. I WENT TO THE LOS ANGEL PALEY CENTER FOR MEDIA AND LOOKED AT ARCHIVAL FOOTAGE OF HIM. I THOUGHT HE WAS FASCATG AND SO FUNNY. PEOPLE SAW SOMETHG ELSE ME BEYOND MY CHARACTER OM WILL & GRACE. I BELIEVED , TOO.  I JT NEED THE RIGHT VEHICLE TO BREAK OUT. OTHER JOBS HAPPENED, TIME WENT ON. OTHER PEOPLE, OUT OF NOWHERE WOULD SAY, ‘HAVE YOU EVER HEARD OF OSR LEVANT?’ I WAS LIKE, ‘WOW, THIS IS SO BIZARRE.’ I LISTENED TO THE UNIVERSE AND VELOPED [THIS PROJECT]. LONG STORY SHORT—TOO LATE—23 YEARS LATER, HERE WE ARE. MOST POPULARSARA RAMIREZ ISSU STHG RPONSE TO ANTI–CHE DIAZ PROFILEBY SAVANNAH WALSHRUDY GIULIANI: I HAVE “SCIENTIFIC EVINCE” THE 2020 ELECTN WAS STOLEN FROM DONALD TMPBY BS LEVHOW MK, THIEL, ZUCKERBERG, AND ANDRESEN—FOUR BILLNAIRE TECHNO-OLIGARCHS—ARE CREATG AN ALTERNATE, AUTOCRATIC REALYBY JONATHAN TAPLWHAT ABOUT LEVANT RONATED WH YOU?I WAS FASCATED BY HIM. PEOPLE WHO KNEW OSR REVERE HIM. I N’T REMEMBER WHO WAS—SOMEBODY FAMO—SAID IF OSR LEVANT DIDN’T EXIST, HE ULD NOT BE IMAGED. FROM AN ACTOR’S STANDPOT, I WAS RPONDG TO THE THGS I ULD TAP TO THAT WE HAVE MON. WE’RE BOTH CLASSILLY TRAED PIANISTS, WE BOTH HAVE A SENSE OF HUMOR—I DON’T KNOW IF ME IS ANYWHERE NEAR HIS, THAT’S NOT FOR ME TO JUDGE. AND HE DIRECTLY SUFFERED OM MENTAL ILLNS AND ADDICTN, AND EVER SCE I WAS BORN, I WAS AN OBSERVER OF . EVERYTHG JT SEEMED TO LE UP WH WHAT I WANTED TO DO TO CHALLENGE MYSELF AS AN ACTOR. FOR PEOPLE TO EXPERIENCE HIM NOW AND TO BRG HIM BACK TO LIFE TO THE ZEGEIST OF AMERIN THEATER IS JT A PRIVILEGE.FROM THE PLAY’S PRE-BROADWAY N CHIGO TO THE BELAS THEATRE, HOW HAS YOUR PORTRAYAL OF OSR EVOLVED?I WOULDN’T BORE ANYBODY THIS TERVIEW, BUT YOU DO FD MOMENTS THE PLAY WHERE YOU DISVER TY THGS THAT SOMETIM PAY OFF BIG WAYS AND SOMETIM LTLE WAYS, BUT THEY ARE WS FOR THE ACTOR. BUT I THK WE LUCKED OUT WH DOUG’S WRG, LISA PETERSON AND A PHENOMENAL ST AND PRODUCERS WHO KNOW WHAT THEY’RE DOG. I FEEL LIKE THIS IS LIGHTNG A BOTTLE. IT’S A MOUNTA YOU CLIMB WH EVERY PERFORMANCE. CAN YOU LEAVE OSR BACK AT THE BELAS OR IS HE HARD TO SHAKE?THERE’S ONE THG THAT I N’T STOP DOG, WHICH IS PUTTG MY HAND MY LEFT POCKET, WHICH I’M DOG RIGHT NOW. OSR SO EQUENTLY ON THE JACK PAAR SHOW WOULD HAVE HIS HAND SPECIFILLY HIS LEFT POCKET. I DON’T KNOW WHAT THAT WAS ABOUT, BUT I KEEP MY LEFT HAND MY POCKET AND I’M LIKE, ‘COME ON, GET THAT OUT OF THERE.’IN THE MIL PROMIS, PROMIS, YOU PLAYED A ROLE LIBLY ASSOCIATED WH JACK LEMMON OM THE MOVIE, THE APARTMENT. HERE, YOU’RE PORTRAYG AN ACTUAL PERSON, ALBE ONE WHO TODAY IS NOT GENERALLY WELL-KNOWN. WHICH IS MORE CHALLENGG? OH, GOD, GOOD NIGHT, OSR IS PROBABLY THE HARST THG I’VE DONE; NOT PROBABLY, IS. YOU TRY YOUR HARST TO EMBODY THE PERSON YOU ARE PLAYG. IT’S A WONRFUL THG TO FD SUCH A GREAT GUY AND A GREAT CHARACTER WHO IS SO RICH AND TO BRG EMOTNS GOG ON AT ALL TIM.BEYOND THE PALEY CENTER, WHAT OTHER REARCH DID YOU DO?I READ HIS BOOKS. HE’S AN CREDIBLE WRER, OSR. [PIANIST] MICHAEL FESTE IS AN OSR LEVANT AFICNADO. HE KNOWS EVERYTHG ABOUT OSR. HE SHARED WH ME HIS OSR ARCHIVE, CLUDG THGS THAT AREN’T PUBLIC, RERDGS OF HIM TALKG AT PARTI. MICHAEL HAS BEEN SO KD TO SHARE THEM. SOMETIM, I LISTEN TO SOME OF THE THGS THAT MICHAEL SENT ME, JT TO FD THE VOICE AND THE CHARACTER RIGHT BEFORE I GO ON. BETWEEN OLYMPIAN SIMONE BIL AND TED LASSO, MENTAL HEALTH IS DISCSED MORE OPENLY TODAY THAN WAS WHEN LEVANT JOKED ABOUT HIS PRCRIPTNS ON THE TONIGHT SHOW. DO YOU THK HE WOULD HAVE BEEN HIS ELEMENT TODAY?MOST POPULARSARA RAMIREZ ISSU STHG RPONSE TO ANTI–CHE DIAZ PROFILEBY SAVANNAH WALSHRUDY GIULIANI: I HAVE “SCIENTIFIC EVINCE” THE 2020 ELECTN WAS STOLEN FROM DONALD TMPBY BS LEVHOW MK, THIEL, ZUCKERBERG, AND ANDRESEN—FOUR BILLNAIRE TECHNO-OLIGARCHS—ARE CREATG AN ALTERNATE, AUTOCRATIC REALYBY JONATHAN TAPLY. IT BLOWS MY MD WHAT A PNEER HE WAS. HE SPOKE SO OPENLY ABOUT HIS MENTAL HEALTH ISSU ON LIVE TELEVISN THE ‘50S AND ‘60S. CAN YOU IMAGE? THERE’S A GREAT LE THE PLAY, WHICH OSR SAYS, ‘I SAY ABOUT MYSELF BEFORE THEY N. I MAKE THEM LGH, BUT I HAVE THE LAST ONE.’ WHICH IS SO PROFOUND TO ME. WHAT HE DID BY OPENLY DISCSG AND MAKG JOK WAS OWN BEFORE ANYONE ELSE ULD. I THK THAT IS SO SAVVY TO DO THAT, PECIALLY BACK THEN.YOU’VE ATTEND THE TONYS AS A NOMEE AND YOU’VE ALSO SERVED AS HOST. WHICH DO YOU PREFER?I N ONLY SPEAK TO MY OWN EXPERIENCE, BUT I WILL NEVER HOST AN AWARD SHOW AGA. IT WAS NICE, BUT PEOPLE ARE MORE TERTED SEEG THE [MIL] NUMBERS AND WATCHG THE NOME THAN WATCHG A HOST E OUT AND DO A FUNNY B. THEY’RE LIKE, ‘LET’S GET ON WH THE SHOW.’ AND BY THE WAY, I OPENED THE SHOW WH A LTLE ‘RHAPSODY BLUE.’ [WHEN WE SPOKE, THE WRERS STRIKE THREATENED TO NCEL THE TONY AWARDS CEREMONY. THE WRERS GUILD AGREED NOT TO PICKET, ALLOWG THE SHOW TO GO ON.] WILL & GRACE HAD SOME OF THE BT WRERS THE BS. I ASSUME YOU SUPPORT THEM THEIR STRIKE?OF URSE I DO. DO ANYBODY SAY THE OPPOSE? YOU HAVE A BOOK G OUT LATER THIS MONTH, TIME OUT, WHICH IS A G-OF-AGE, G OUT STORY ABOUT A HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETE. ARE YOU TRYG TO GET BANNED?[LGHS] MY HBAND HAS SAID, ‘AVAILABLE TO PURCHASE WHEREVER BOOKS AREN’T BANNED.’ I STARTED THIS ABOUT FOUR YEARS AGO. MY PRODUCG PARTNER TODD MILLER AND I GREW UP CHIGO DIFFERENT SUBURBS. TODD WAS A GAY GUY TO SPORTS, AND I WAS A GAY GUY TO THE ARTS. WE WERE HAVG A NVERSATN ABOUT WHAT WOULD HAVE BEEN LIKE HAD WE KNOWN EACH OTHER HIGH SCHOOL? WHAT WOULD THAT RELATNSHIP HAVE BEEN LIKE? WE TOOK THAT IA AND HEIGHTENED , MAKG THE CHARACTER THE NO. 1 BASKETBALL PLAYER THE STATE OF GEIA WHO OUT AT A PEP RALLY AND HOW HIS FAY, TEAMMAT AND THE TOWN WOULD REACT TO THAT, AND HOW THAT WOULD CHANGE HIS TRAJECTORY ABOUT GOG TO SPORTS. WE PARTNERED WH AN CREDIBLE WRER, CARLYN GREENWALD. YOUR BOOK IS G OUT AT A TIME WHEN BOOK BANNG, PECIALLY BOOKS ALG WH LGBTQ CHARACTERS AND ISSU, IS ALARMGLY ON THE RISE. THE BANNERS ARE EMBOLNED AND CREASGLY ANT. WE’VE E A LONG WAY, BUT THERE’S STILL A LONG WAY TO GO. IT IS MDBLOWG. I FEEL LIKE WE’RE GOG BACKWARDS.MORE GREAT STORI FROM VANY FAIRRILEY KEOUGH ON GROWG UP PRLEY, INHERG GRACELAND, AND MORETE CRIME, TE FAH: THE SERIAL KILLER AND THE TEXAS MOM WHO STOPPED HIMTHE TAN SUBMERSIBLE DISASTER WAS YEARS THE MAKG, NEW DETAILS REVEALWHY THE GEIA INDICTMENT AGAST TMP AND HIS ALLI IS THE MOST SWEEPG YETIVANKA TMP IS NOT LETTG HER DAD’S MOUNTG LEGAL WO RU HER SUMMER25 PERFECT TV EPISOS FROM THE LAST 25 YEARSA NEW SLIM AARONS BOOK CAPTUR A LOST WORLDFROM THE ARCHIVE: TOO HEPBURN FOR HOLLYWOOD (2006)DONALD LIEBENSON
• FROM GLEE TO SEAN HAY: GAY ACTORS PLAY STRAIGHT

IS SEAN HAY GAY, WHO IS THE HBAND, HOW MUCH IS HE WORTH?

To improve his chanc of succs the entertament dtry, Hay moved to Los Angel 1995, and two years later he ma a big h wh his role as Jack McFarland, an extravagant gay man Will & Grace. Is He Gay, Who is The Hband? Sean Hay was ma popular by a gay role, and nsequently, his sexualy was one of the ma topics of nversatn whenever the actor’s name me up.

Hay’ homosexualy was somethg of an open secret Hollywood until 2010 when he first hted that he was gay. Hay has always been gay sce his high school days. Yup, he's gay real life, too.

The rolutely private actor recently gave his first terview to gay newsmagaze The Advote after many nied requts. You're gonna shoot the gay guy down? The star of the popular, Emmy-wng gay s adds, "I feel like I've ntributed monumentally to the succs of the gay movement Ameri, and if anyone wants to argue that, I’m open to .

WILL AND GRACE STAR CONFIRMS HE’S GAY

Sean Hay is openg up about when he cid to e out as gay. Hay knew he was gay as a teen when he enjoyed beg plays, which back then was seen as an activy gays were terted , and somethg to be ashamed of. "We got ath threats, [people] uld fd out where I lived, and I was playg a gay character a big h show.

I didn't have the urage and the strength at such a young age to speak on behalf of the gay muny. Everyone remembers the basics: bt iends Will, a gay man, and Grace, a straight woman, live and love Manhattan wh their quirkier iends Jack and Karen.

Mutchnick and Eisenberg dated real life, and then beme close iends after Mutchnick revealed he was gay.

SEAN HAY REGRETS NOT COMG OUT AS GAY DURG ‘WILL & GRACE’ FIRST RUN

She also told Kg that McCormack didn't origally want to play a gay character.

Actor Sean Hay, who portrayed openly gay character Jack on Will & Grace, didn't e out real life until five years after the show end.

More recently, Hay has revealed that he's "ashamed and embarrassed" he stayed the closet for so long when he might have ma a difference young gay people's liv by g out sooner. Fellow executive producer David Kohan and producer-director Jam Burrows agreed, notg that the show had troduced and normalized gay people for a swath of the public. Is Sean Hay Gay?

SEAN SAV THE WORLD : IS SEAN HAY GAY IN REAL LIFE?

He adms that he has ntributed a lot to gay movements Ameri. He was also featured the NBC edy seri Will and Grace as Jack McFarland, a flamboyantly gay and a mon unemployed actor. Though Sean was raised a God-fearg fay, he is a gay.

Re: Is Sean Hay Gay In Real Life?

But as was said on Will and Grace, his gayns n be seen om space. Oh, and if you need proof, here's a quote om his "Advote" (a gay publitn) terview - 's the quot sectn of his IMDb page:. Get a tune up on your gaydar not only is he gay he's obvly the she a relatnship!!!

'NEWSWEEK' AND SEAN HAY: YOU SAY TOO GAY? NO ICK' WAY!

"Now, however, the 48-year-old actor is openly gay and has been married to his partner Stt Icenogle sce 2014. I was surprised, therefore, to read a May 10 Newsweek article lled “Straight Jacket, ” which gay wrer Ram Setooh plaed that ’s “distractg” and a “big pk elephant the room” when gay actors play straight rol.

“PROBABLY THE HARST THG I’VE DONE”: SEAN HAY ON BRGG OSR LEVANT BACK TO LIFE  GOOD NIGHT, OSRTHE EMMY AWARD–WNG ACTOR SPEAKS WH VANY FAIR ABOUT HIS “EPLY GRATIFYG” TONY NOMATN AFTER WORKG ON THE PROJECT “ON AND OFF FOR OVER 20 YEARS.”BY DONALD LIEBENSONMAY 18, 2023BEN RAPPAPORT, SEAN HAY AND PETER GROSZ GOOD NIGHT, OSR AT THE BELAS THEATER NEW YORK.BY SARA KLWICH/THE NEW YORK TIM/RX. SAVE THIS STORYSAVESAVE THIS STORYSAVEON MAY 2, SEAN HAY EMERGED OM HIS BEDROOM TO THE LIVG ROOM, WHERE HIS HBAND, STT ICENOGLE, WAS WATCHG TELEVISN. ICENOGLE HAD BREAKG NEWS. “YOU’VE BEEN NOMATED,” HE SAID. HAY, STILL WIPG THE SLEEP OM HIS EY, RPOND, “FOR WHAT?”“WHAT” WAS A TONY AWARD—HAY’S SEND NOMATN—FOR HIS VIRTUOSO PERFORMANCE AS OSR LEVANT THE PLAY, GOOD NIGHT, OSR, WHICH DRAMATIZ A LONG NIGHT’S JOURNEY TO THE PSYCHE-SRRED SOUL OF LEVANT, NOW OBSCURE BUT ONCE A STAR OF THE SCREEN (AN AMERIN PARIS), THE NCERT STAGE (THE CLASSILLY TRAED PIANIST WAS REVERED AS THE PREMIER TERPRETER OF HIS IEND, GEE GERSHW), AND THE TALK/GAME SHOW CIRCU, WHERE HIS LACERATG QUIPS (MANY SELF-PRETG AND AIMED AT HIS OWN MENTAL ILLNS) WERE THE 1950S EQUIVALENT OF OMG (“I KNEW DORIS DAY BEFORE SHE WAS A VIRG,” IS ONE OF THIS MOST QUOTED).GOOD NIGHT, OSR, WRTEN BY PULZER PRIZE WNER DOUG WRIGHT AND DIRECTED BY LISA PETERSON, REENACTS A 1958 SWEEPS WEEK APPEARANCE ON THE TONIGHT SHOW, THEN HOSTED BY JACK PAAR (BEN RAPPAPORT), WHO LOOKED AT LEVANT AS RATGS GOLD, AND HE STOKED TENSN OVER WHETHER THIS WOULD BE THE NIGHT LEVANT WOULD GO ONE PILL OVER THE LE. (“TO PUT DLY,” PAAR ONCE TRODUCED HIM, “HE’S AS NERVO AS HE IS CLEVER. FOR EVERY PEARL THAT OUT OF HIS MOUTH, A PILL GO . I ASK YOU TO KEEP THIS MD.”)FOR THIS RISKY LIVE TV APPEARANCE, LEVANT’S LONG-SUFFERG WIFE (EY BERGYL), ARRANG A FOUR-HOUR FURLOUGH OM THE PSYCHIATRIC FACILY TO WHICH SHE HAD HIM MTED. THE CREASGLY PILL-SPERATE LEVANT BOTH FALLS AND RIS TO THE OCSN, AND, THE PLAY’S EMOTNAL CLIMAX, KEEPS HIS MONS AT BAY TO TRIUMPHANTLY PERFORM GERSHW’S “RHAPSODY BLUE.”LEVANT IS FUNNY, Y, (WHEN PAAR ASKS WHAT HE DO FOR EXERCISE, LEVANT RPONDS, “I STUMBLE AND I FALL TO A A”), BUT THE ROLE IS A DRAMATIC PARTURE FOR HAY, WHO IS BT KNOWN FOR HIS INIC EMMY-WNG WILL & GRACE CHARACTER, JACK, A KTEN-WH-A-WHIP NARCISSIST WH A QUIP FOR ALL OCSNS.HIS TRANSFORMATN, PRAISED CHIGO TRIBUNE CRIC CHRIS JON, IS “ONE EP DIVE OF A STAR-TURN, AN ALL-NSUMG (AND NOTABLY ALL-NSUMED) PIECE OF ACTG THAT REVEALS THGS HAY THAT MOST OF HIS WILL & GRACE FANS WILL BE ENTIRELY GOBSMACKED TO DISVER HE HAS HIS ARSENAL.”THIS, HAY TOLD VANY FAIR, WAS THE CHALLENGE THAT DROVE HIM TO SPEND THE LAST TWO S TRYG TO BRG OSR LEVANT BACK TO LIFE.(THIS TERVIEW HAS BEEN EDED FOR CLARY)VANY FAIR: WHAT WAS YOUR REACTN TO THE TONY NOMATN?SEAN HAY: I LLAPSED ON THE UCH. I ULDN’T BELIEVE . IT WAS AN OUT OF BODY EXPERIENCE. IT’S SUCH AN HONOR, AND HOW REWARDG TO JT BE REGNIZED FOR SOMETHG THAT YOU’VE BEEN WORKG ON AND OFF FOR OVER 20 YEARS. IT’S AN CREDIBLE FEELG. FOR TO GO THIS WAY, ’S EPLY GRATIFYG.I RECENTLY HEARD AN TERVIEW WH NATHAN LANE WHICH TALKED ABOUT PURSUG THE TOWERG ROLE OF HICKEY EUGENE O’NEILL’S THE ICEMAN COMETH TO BREAK OUT OF THE MIL-EDY ROL FOR WHICH HE IS MOST ASSOCIATED. WERE YOU LOOKG FOR A SIAR CHALLENGE?ABSOLUTELY. I’D BEEN TOLD SO MANY TIM BY DIFFERENT PEOPLE THE ENTERTAMENT MUNY OVER THE LAST TWO S THAT I SHOULD PLAY OSR LEVANT. WA, WHAT?I DIDN’T KNOW WHO HE WAS. I WENT TO THE LOS ANGEL PALEY CENTER FOR MEDIA AND LOOKED AT ARCHIVAL FOOTAGE OF HIM. I THOUGHT HE WAS FASCATG AND SO FUNNY. PEOPLE SAW SOMETHG ELSE ME BEYOND MY CHARACTER OM WILL & GRACE. I BELIEVED , TOO.  I JT NEED THE RIGHT VEHICLE TO BREAK OUT. OTHER JOBS HAPPENED, TIME WENT ON. OTHER PEOPLE, OUT OF NOWHERE WOULD SAY, ‘HAVE YOU EVER HEARD OF OSR LEVANT?’ I WAS LIKE, ‘WOW, THIS IS SO BIZARRE.’ I LISTENED TO THE UNIVERSE AND VELOPED [THIS PROJECT]. LONG STORY SHORT—TOO LATE—23 YEARS LATER, HERE WE ARE. MOST POPULARSARA RAMIREZ ISSU STHG RPONSE TO ANTI–CHE DIAZ PROFILEBY SAVANNAH WALSHRUDY GIULIANI: I HAVE “SCIENTIFIC EVINCE” THE 2020 ELECTN WAS STOLEN FROM DONALD TMPBY BS LEVHOW MK, THIEL, ZUCKERBERG, AND ANDRESEN—FOUR BILLNAIRE TECHNO-OLIGARCHS—ARE CREATG AN ALTERNATE, AUTOCRATIC REALYBY JONATHAN TAPLWHAT ABOUT LEVANT RONATED WH YOU?I WAS FASCATED BY HIM. PEOPLE WHO KNEW OSR REVERE HIM. I N’T REMEMBER WHO WAS—SOMEBODY FAMO—SAID IF OSR LEVANT DIDN’T EXIST, HE ULD NOT BE IMAGED. FROM AN ACTOR’S STANDPOT, I WAS RPONDG TO THE THGS I ULD TAP TO THAT WE HAVE MON. WE’RE BOTH CLASSILLY TRAED PIANISTS, WE BOTH HAVE A SENSE OF HUMOR—I DON’T KNOW IF ME IS ANYWHERE NEAR HIS, THAT’S NOT FOR ME TO JUDGE. AND HE DIRECTLY SUFFERED OM MENTAL ILLNS AND ADDICTN, AND EVER SCE I WAS BORN, I WAS AN OBSERVER OF . EVERYTHG JT SEEMED TO LE UP WH WHAT I WANTED TO DO TO CHALLENGE MYSELF AS AN ACTOR. FOR PEOPLE TO EXPERIENCE HIM NOW AND TO BRG HIM BACK TO LIFE TO THE ZEGEIST OF AMERIN THEATER IS JT A PRIVILEGE.FROM THE PLAY’S PRE-BROADWAY N CHIGO TO THE BELAS THEATRE, HOW HAS YOUR PORTRAYAL OF OSR EVOLVED?I WOULDN’T BORE ANYBODY THIS TERVIEW, BUT YOU DO FD MOMENTS THE PLAY WHERE YOU DISVER TY THGS THAT SOMETIM PAY OFF BIG WAYS AND SOMETIM LTLE WAYS, BUT THEY ARE WS FOR THE ACTOR. BUT I THK WE LUCKED OUT WH DOUG’S WRG, LISA PETERSON AND A PHENOMENAL ST AND PRODUCERS WHO KNOW WHAT THEY’RE DOG. I FEEL LIKE THIS IS LIGHTNG A BOTTLE. IT’S A MOUNTA YOU CLIMB WH EVERY PERFORMANCE. CAN YOU LEAVE OSR BACK AT THE BELAS OR IS HE HARD TO SHAKE?THERE’S ONE THG THAT I N’T STOP DOG, WHICH IS PUTTG MY HAND MY LEFT POCKET, WHICH I’M DOG RIGHT NOW. OSR SO EQUENTLY ON THE JACK PAAR SHOW WOULD HAVE HIS HAND SPECIFILLY HIS LEFT POCKET. I DON’T KNOW WHAT THAT WAS ABOUT, BUT I KEEP MY LEFT HAND MY POCKET AND I’M LIKE, ‘COME ON, GET THAT OUT OF THERE.’IN THE MIL PROMIS, PROMIS, YOU PLAYED A ROLE LIBLY ASSOCIATED WH JACK LEMMON OM THE MOVIE, THE APARTMENT. HERE, YOU’RE PORTRAYG AN ACTUAL PERSON, ALBE ONE WHO TODAY IS NOT GENERALLY WELL-KNOWN. WHICH IS MORE CHALLENGG? OH, GOD, GOOD NIGHT, OSR IS PROBABLY THE HARST THG I’VE DONE; NOT PROBABLY, IS. YOU TRY YOUR HARST TO EMBODY THE PERSON YOU ARE PLAYG. IT’S A WONRFUL THG TO FD SUCH A GREAT GUY AND A GREAT CHARACTER WHO IS SO RICH AND TO BRG EMOTNS GOG ON AT ALL TIM.BEYOND THE PALEY CENTER, WHAT OTHER REARCH DID YOU DO?I READ HIS BOOKS. HE’S AN CREDIBLE WRER, OSR. [PIANIST] MICHAEL FESTE IS AN OSR LEVANT AFICNADO. HE KNOWS EVERYTHG ABOUT OSR. HE SHARED WH ME HIS OSR ARCHIVE, CLUDG THGS THAT AREN’T PUBLIC, RERDGS OF HIM TALKG AT PARTI. MICHAEL HAS BEEN SO KD TO SHARE THEM. SOMETIM, I LISTEN TO SOME OF THE THGS THAT MICHAEL SENT ME, JT TO FD THE VOICE AND THE CHARACTER RIGHT BEFORE I GO ON. BETWEEN OLYMPIAN SIMONE BIL AND TED LASSO, MENTAL HEALTH IS DISCSED MORE OPENLY TODAY THAN WAS WHEN LEVANT JOKED ABOUT HIS PRCRIPTNS ON THE TONIGHT SHOW. DO YOU THK HE WOULD HAVE BEEN HIS ELEMENT TODAY?MOST POPULARSARA RAMIREZ ISSU STHG RPONSE TO ANTI–CHE DIAZ PROFILEBY SAVANNAH WALSHRUDY GIULIANI: I HAVE “SCIENTIFIC EVINCE” THE 2020 ELECTN WAS STOLEN FROM DONALD TMPBY BS LEVHOW MK, THIEL, ZUCKERBERG, AND ANDRESEN—FOUR BILLNAIRE TECHNO-OLIGARCHS—ARE CREATG AN ALTERNATE, AUTOCRATIC REALYBY JONATHAN TAPLY. IT BLOWS MY MD WHAT A PNEER HE WAS. HE SPOKE SO OPENLY ABOUT HIS MENTAL HEALTH ISSU ON LIVE TELEVISN THE ‘50S AND ‘60S. CAN YOU IMAGE? THERE’S A GREAT LE THE PLAY, WHICH OSR SAYS, ‘I SAY ABOUT MYSELF BEFORE THEY N. I MAKE THEM LGH, BUT I HAVE THE LAST ONE.’ WHICH IS SO PROFOUND TO ME. WHAT HE DID BY OPENLY DISCSG AND MAKG JOK WAS OWN BEFORE ANYONE ELSE ULD. I THK THAT IS SO SAVVY TO DO THAT, PECIALLY BACK THEN.YOU’VE ATTEND THE TONYS AS A NOMEE AND YOU’VE ALSO SERVED AS HOST. WHICH DO YOU PREFER?I N ONLY SPEAK TO MY OWN EXPERIENCE, BUT I WILL NEVER HOST AN AWARD SHOW AGA. IT WAS NICE, BUT PEOPLE ARE MORE TERTED SEEG THE [MIL] NUMBERS AND WATCHG THE NOME THAN WATCHG A HOST E OUT AND DO A FUNNY B. THEY’RE LIKE, ‘LET’S GET ON WH THE SHOW.’ AND BY THE WAY, I OPENED THE SHOW WH A LTLE ‘RHAPSODY BLUE.’ [WHEN WE SPOKE, THE WRERS STRIKE THREATENED TO NCEL THE TONY AWARDS CEREMONY. THE WRERS GUILD AGREED NOT TO PICKET, ALLOWG THE SHOW TO GO ON.] WILL & GRACE HAD SOME OF THE BT WRERS THE BS. I ASSUME YOU SUPPORT THEM THEIR STRIKE?OF URSE I DO. DO ANYBODY SAY THE OPPOSE? YOU HAVE A BOOK G OUT LATER THIS MONTH, TIME OUT, WHICH IS A G-OF-AGE, G OUT STORY ABOUT A HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETE. ARE YOU TRYG TO GET BANNED?[LGHS] MY HBAND HAS SAID, ‘AVAILABLE TO PURCHASE WHEREVER BOOKS AREN’T BANNED.’ I STARTED THIS ABOUT FOUR YEARS AGO. MY PRODUCG PARTNER TODD MILLER AND I GREW UP CHIGO DIFFERENT SUBURBS. TODD WAS A GAY GUY TO SPORTS, AND I WAS A GAY GUY TO THE ARTS. WE WERE HAVG A NVERSATN ABOUT WHAT WOULD HAVE BEEN LIKE HAD WE KNOWN EACH OTHER HIGH SCHOOL? WHAT WOULD THAT RELATNSHIP HAVE BEEN LIKE? WE TOOK THAT IA AND HEIGHTENED , MAKG THE CHARACTER THE NO. 1 BASKETBALL PLAYER THE STATE OF GEIA WHO OUT AT A PEP RALLY AND HOW HIS FAY, TEAMMAT AND THE TOWN WOULD REACT TO THAT, AND HOW THAT WOULD CHANGE HIS TRAJECTORY ABOUT GOG TO SPORTS. WE PARTNERED WH AN CREDIBLE WRER, CARLYN GREENWALD. YOUR BOOK IS G OUT AT A TIME WHEN BOOK BANNG, PECIALLY BOOKS ALG WH LGBTQ CHARACTERS AND ISSU, IS ALARMGLY ON THE RISE. THE BANNERS ARE EMBOLNED AND CREASGLY ANT. WE’VE E A LONG WAY, BUT THERE’S STILL A LONG WAY TO GO. IT IS MDBLOWG. I FEEL LIKE WE’RE GOG BACKWARDS.MORE GREAT STORI FROM VANY FAIRRILEY KEOUGH ON GROWG UP PRLEY, INHERG GRACELAND, AND MORETE CRIME, TE FAH: THE SERIAL KILLER AND THE TEXAS MOM WHO STOPPED HIMTHE TAN SUBMERSIBLE DISASTER WAS YEARS THE MAKG, NEW DETAILS REVEALWHY THE GEIA INDICTMENT AGAST TMP AND HIS ALLI IS THE MOST SWEEPG YETIVANKA TMP IS NOT LETTG HER DAD’S MOUNTG LEGAL WO RU HER SUMMER25 PERFECT TV EPISOS FROM THE LAST 25 YEARSA NEW SLIM AARONS BOOK CAPTUR A LOST WORLDFROM THE ARCHIVE: TOO HEPBURN FOR HOLLYWOOD (2006)DONALD LIEBENSON

And you’re tellg me that beg gay is an impediment for this particular role? If you have a ser problem wh gay actors playg straight rol, you’re gog to have a lot of ee evengs on your hands.

Call me crazy, but knowg Groff is gay don’t shatter what would otherwise be Glee‘s unflchgly grty documentary realism.

FROM GLEE TO SEAN HAY: GAY ACTORS PLAY STRAIGHT

The Newsweek article suggts that gay actors take a lson om Denzel Washgton and Tom Hanks, who apparently “guard their privacy refully. And yet, somehow I was able to watch Hanks play a gay man Philalphia whout beg nfed or disoriented. There’s a rigid cultural nservatism unrneath this le of thkg, an sistence that homosexualy is so alarmg and obtsive that nobody will ever be able to look past 
 .

For all s uptight grog about who’s “queeny” and who isn’t, the real ugls of this argument is s suggtn that the very act of g out is a kd of self-
sabotage for which you need to atone by makg sure you never aga do anythg that will remd anyone you’re gay.